UN envoy pushes for Libya cease-fire

UN special envoy to Libya, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib in the Qatari capital Doha, on April 13, 2011.NEW: U.N. envoy Abdul Ilah al-Khatib held talks in Tripoli, Libyan officials say NEW: New NATO airstrikes were reported in western Libya on Sunday The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor is expected to seek arrest warrantsSource: Gadhafi is among those facing arrest warrants for alleged crimes against humanity

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- A U.N. envoy held talks in Libya for a few hours Sunday as NATO warplanes kept up their bombardment of forces loyal to longtime strongman Moammar Gadhafi, Libyan government officials said.

The envoy, Abdul Ilah al-Khatib, left the country after brief talks aimed at negotiating a cease-fire between government and rebel forces, two Libyan officials told CNN. No details were immediately released.

Meanwhile, Libyan state television reported that a fresh NATO airstrike hit the western city of Zuwara, near the Tunisian border. Tunisia's state news agency TAP also reported an airstrike on government troops and radar installations near the border, where thousands of refugees have been pouring out of Libya amid the conflict.

There was no immediate confirmation of the attacks from NATO. Allied warplanes have been bombing Libya since March 31 under a U.N. resolution that authorized "all necessary measures" to protect civilians during the uprising against Gadhafi that began in February.

Opposition fighters are demanding freedom and an end to Gadhafi's nearly 42-year rule. Rebel forces now control most of eastern Libya and have set up a provisional government headquartered in Benghazi.

Gadhafi is among three Libyans facing arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity, an official with direct knowledge of the case told CNN Saturday. The court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is expected to announce Monday that he's seeking the warrants.

Moreno-Ocampo said in early March that he planned to investigate Gadhafi, the first time the court has launched a probe into allegations of crimes against humanity as a conflict unfolded. The allegations include the killings of unarmed protesters by security forces and the use of displacement, illegal detentions and airstrikes against civilians.

Investigators have looked at the most serious accusations in Libya since February 15, when demonstrations against Gadhafi ramped up, Moreno-Ocampo said. The chief prosecutor must present all his evidence to a panel of judges before the court in The Hague, Netherlands, can decide whether to issue arrest warrants, which can take time.

It's unclear whether or how the ICC's actions would affect any negotiations.

A spokesman for the Transitional National Council declined to comment on the ICC action, noting that it has not yet been officially announced. But in Benghazi, hundreds of protesters marched in the streets Saturday demanding justice be served on Gadhafi, his family and senior officials for alleged crimes they committed against humanity.

"We want Gadhafi to be arrested and then possibly executed," said Noha Salem, a protester who marched along Amr ibn Alas street near the old section of Benghazi.

"All Libyans have been affected by those crimes, even little kids," she added. "He has been committing atrocities since 1969, not just since the start of this revolution."

The International Criminal Court's actions come after speculation last week about whether the combative Gadhafi had been injured in NATO airtstrikes on his compound. However, Gadhafi's voice was heard on Libyan state-run television Friday in an attempt to assure his people that he is alive and in a place where "you cannot kill me."

Rebel leaders have been trying to drum up international support, dispatching top leaders of their Transitional National Council to Europe and Washington.

Mahmoud Jibril, the top representative of the council, met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Francois Fillon in Paris Saturday. France has been the strongest backer for the Libyan rebels and the NATO air campaign that is targeting Gadhafi's resources on the ground.

Jibril had tried to secure formal recognition for the interim council from the White House in meetings in Washington on Friday, but fell short of getting one. However, National Security Adviser Tom Donilon said the U.S. views the group "as a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people," according to a White House statement released after the Friday meeting.

CNN's Chuck Hadad, Jomana Karadsheh and Amir Ahmed contributed to this report.

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Libya rebel boss pushes for recognition

Washington (CNN) -- A top Libyan opposition leader was urging formal U.S. recognition at the White House on Friday, a day after the interim council secured strong support from Britain.

Mahmoud Jibril's meetings with top Obama administration officials came as the Italian foreign minister raised the possibility that embattled leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi has been injured.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said he did not have any evidence as to Gadhafi's fate, but Monsignor Giovanni Martinelli, the Catholic archbishop of Tripoli, told him that Gadhafi was wounded, the Italian ANSA news agency reported. Martinelli said Gadhafi was most likely not in Tripoli anymore, Frattini said.

However, Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim said Friday that Ghadafi was in "good health and high spirits" in Tripoli.

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Four rockets struck Gadhafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound Thursday and killed at least three people, according to a Libyan government official. The Libyan government took journalists near the site of the blast, from where smoke could be seen still rising from the compound.

NATO military spokesman Mike Bracken said NATO had struck a command and control center but did not know whether anyone was inside.

Libyan state television broadcast video late Wednesday that it said showed Gadhafi meeting with tribal elders in a Tripoli hotel, marking the strongman's first public appearance in nearly two weeks.

The camera panned from a television program bearing the date of May 11 to the group of more than a dozen men, including Gadhafi.

Gadhafi, wearing sunglasses and dark clothing, had not been seen on television since April 30, the same day a NATO airstrike hit the Tripoli compound reportedly housing him and one of his sons. Libyan officials said at the time that Saif al-Arab Gadhafi was killed but that his father had escaped.

In Washington, Jibril said he intended to clear up "misperceptions" about extreme elements in the opposition and ask the Obama administration for formal U.S. recognition of Libya's Transitional National Council.

"We need the recognition as the sole legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people," said Jibril, the interim prime minister of council, who was meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and national security adviser Tom Donilon.

In talks Thursday with the council's chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, British Prime Minister David Cameron invited the group to establish a formal office in London. Cameron said Britain would also boost its presence in Benghazi, the de facto rebel capital.

The United States has not recognized the opposition formally, although it has provided aid. Italy and France have recognized the opposition group.

As the opposition sought greater support, the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands said it will unveil Monday the names of those who are "most responsible for crimes allegedly committed in Libya."

The names will be submitted to the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who has been seeking warrants for three individuals in crimes against humanity allegedly committed since February, when the Libyan uprising erupted.

Gadhafi has been firm in his attempt to retain power in Libya. Loyalist forces and rebel fighters, aided by NATO airstrikes, have been fighting each other for weeks.

The bloodshed continued Friday.

Libyan state television reported Friday that NATO airsrikes hit a guest house in the eastern oil town of al-Brega, killing 11 people and injuring about 45 others.

Ibrahim condemned the attack, calling NATO "barbaric" and inhumane" in its actions for striking attendees of a religious conference while they were asleep. He showed a video that showed the imams in prayer and then bodies being taken away.

"Now is this protection of civilians?" Ibrahim asked. "Is this legitimate under any Security Council resolution to kill people in their sleep?"

NATO's military office confirmed that NATO conducted an air strike in al-Brega earlier Friday but said the target was clearly identified as a command and control structure, which was being used by Gadhafi regime to coordinate attacks against the civilian population.

And Ahmed Bani, a rebel military spokesman, denied that civilian casualties were caused by NATO strikes.

All civilians have left the al-Brega area, Bani said. The remaining population are pro-Gadhafi forces and have taken up positions in civilian neighborhoods, hiding equipment and ammunition, he said.

In the contested western city of Misrata, a doctor said rebels were able to maintain control of the airport and a civil defense base beyond the airport.

The doctor said that at least 10 people, including two babies, were killed and at least 20 were injured Friday in sporadic shelling.

A rebel spokesman, who asked to be identified only as Mohamed, also said rebels were controlling Misrata's airport and civil defense base, which are about 17 kilometers (10 miles) from the city center.

In Jibril's first official visit to Washington, the opposition leader is scheduled to meet Friday with Donilon as well as other senior administration officials and members of Congress.

Jibril said Thursday that the United States should turn over some of Libya's frozen assets to his group because "a human tragedy is in the making right now." He said Libyan rebels are facing a "big hurdle" in getting the U.S. government to free up some of the $30 billion-plus in frozen Libyan assets to help those suffering under Gadhafi's regime.

"Time is the crux of the matter, because having solved this problem in a matter of four or five weeks might be too late," Jibril told a group gathered at the Brookings Institution.

He said he wanted to clarify a misunderstanding about the council: that it was not a political organ but an administrative one that was managing the situation in Libya until the fall of Gadhafi's regime.

"The political question of who should rule Libya and how he or she should rule it, this is for the Libyan people to decide through a political democratic process based on constitutional grounds, based on an active civil society, based on equal rights and natural human rights for everybody," he said.

In March, Jibril met privately with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she was in Paris for a meeting with the Group of Eight foreign ministers. At the State Department on May 5, Clinton said, "Clearly on our agenda is looking for the most effective ways to deliver financial assistance and other means of supporting and helping the opposition."

CNN's Amir Ahmed contributed to this story.

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McCain pushes heavier U.S. involvement in Libya

McCain urges help for Libyan rebelsvar cnnWindowParams = window.location.toString().toQueryParams();if(typeof cnnWindowParams.video != "undefined") {if(cnnWindowParams.video) {cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/04/22/bts.mccain.libya.presser.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);}} else {$('cnnCVP2').onclick = function() {if ($$('.box-opened').length) {$$('.box-opened').each(function(val){Element.fireEvent(val, 'click');});}cnnLoadStoryPlayer('world/2011/04/22/bts.mccain.libya.presser.cnn', 'cnnCVP1', '640x384_start_art', playerOverRide, T1);};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseover = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn cnn_mtt1plybttnon';};$('cnnCVP2').onmouseout = function() {$('cnnCVP2').className = 'cnn_mtt1plybttn';};}Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, says the U.S. should do more to oust Moammar GadhafiMcCain is a senior congressional authority of military and foreign affairsMcCain made a surprise visit to the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Friday A foreign policy analyst says the visit will increase pressure on the Obama administration

Benghazi, Libya (CNN) -- Libyan opposition leaders received a major morale boost Friday when a top U.S. senator made a surprise visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and urged greater American involvement in the bloody campaign to oust strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

The visit from Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, came a day after the United States said it was deploying predator drones to Libya.

McCain said the drones would increase NATO's capability in the war-torn North African country, but not enough to make up a shortfall in assets needed to break a "significant degree of stalemate."

He said he was against U.S. troops on the ground -- echoing Obama administration policy -- but argued that Western powers need to do more to "facilitate" the delivery of weapons and training for the rebels.

"We have prevented the worst outcome in Libya," McCain told reporters. "Now we need to increase our support so that the Libyan people can achieve the only satisfactory outcome to this mass protest for universal rights -- the end of Gadhafi's rule and the beginning of a peaceful and inclusive transition to democracy that will benefit all Libyans."

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McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is a former presidential nominee and decorated Navy veteran. The five-term senator is considered a senior congressional spokesman on military and foreign policy matters.

McCain is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Libya since the conflict erupted in February. During his visit, he challenged critics of NATO's intervention to tour Benghazi and see a "powerful and hopeful example of what a free Libya can be."

The senator was greeted by a crowd of roughly 100 Libyans waving American flags.

"Thank you John McCain! Thank you Obama," people chanted. "Thank you America! We need freedom! Gadhafi go away!"

McCain visited Benghazi's Freedom Square, accompanied by, among others, Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, deputy chairman of the opposition Transitional National Council. He paused at a courthouse wall covered with scores of pictures of people allegedly killed by Gadhafi's forces and others who have gone missing since uprisings began.

"The American people support you very strongly, and we know it's necessary to help as much as we can," McCain told a woman who thanked him for U.S. support.

As McCain met with the rebels, miles away in western Libya, a fierce battle continued to rage for control of Misrata, the country's third-largest city. Misrata has been under siege for seven weeks by Gadhafi loyalists.

"Let's face it. This is not a fair fight," McCain asserted. "Maybe we should be doing everything we can to help these people and maybe we're not, and they're dying."

While McCain insisted he would not have gone to Libya without the backing of the White House, a top Middle East analyst told CNN the senator's trip would increase the pressure on President Barack Obama to step up U.S. involvement.

McCain "brings more limelight to the rebels," said Michael Rubin, a Middle East scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. "His visit forces some American officials to reconsider their assessment of the rebels."

"The fact that McCain was able to conduct this meeting shows a modicum of organization (among the rebels) and also raises the question: if McCain can meet the people for whom we are fighting, why not Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? Why not Vice President Joe Biden?"

If McCain returns to Capitol Hill and demands formal recognition of the rebel government as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, it is certain to shift the debate on U.S. diplomatic posture, Rubin said.

If all opponents of the intervention "have done is sit back comfortably in Washington, it will be harder for them to drum up moral authority to back their arguments," he noted.

Asked by CNN to define the U.S. end game in Libya, McCain said he envisions "a departure of Moammar Gadhafi and the Libyan people being able to set up a government by themselves, with the assistance primarily of the Europeans but also the United States of America."

"Libya is much closer to Europe, and Europeans have greater ties to Libya and greater interests," McCain noted.

The United Nations has sanctioned military action only to protect civilians. Both American and European leaders, however, have repeatedly stated that their political goal is the ouster of Gadhafi.

What would the Gadhafi's departure mean?

"It means one of three things," McCain said. "He joins Hugo Chavez in Venezuela or he goes to International Criminal Court, which is my preference, or he joins Hitler and Stalin."

The senator noted that rebel leaders have insisted Gadhafi step down from power, significantly reducing the chances for a political settlement.

When Gadhafi's forces were outside Benghazi, the dictator said he "was going to go house to house and kill every person that he could," McCain added. "There is no doubt what Col. Gadhafi will do to his own people if he has the opportunity. ... That's not a settlement. That's a massacre."

McCain defended the track record of predator drones in Pakistan and Afghanistan, arguing that their use has only resulted in civilian deaths when targets have been misidentified.

Contacted by CNN, McCain's office declined to state how the senator's surprise trip was funded.

CNN's Moni Basu, Reza Sayah, and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report

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