Nato planes hit arms depots in Libya

Libyan rebel leaders say Nato planes bombed government weapons depots near Zintan four times on Monday.

|||

Tripoli - Nato planes pounded Libyan government targets on Monday but stalemate in the rebel war to unseat Muammar Gaddafi has presented Western powers with a dilemma over whether to offer covert aid to the rebel cause.

Rebels said that four times during the day Nato bombed government weapons depots around 30km southeast of Zintan, a town in the Western Mountains region where conflict is escalating.

“The site has some 72 underground hangars made of reinforced concrete. We don't know how many were destroyed. But each time the aircraft struck we heard multiple explosions,” a rebel spokesperson who gave his name as Abdulrahman said in an email.

He said the planes also struck around Tamina and Chantine, east of Misrata, where besieged rebels are clinging on in the last city they control in western Libya.

A ferocious assault from Tripoli has left hundreds dead during weeks of fighting.

Two months into a conflict linked to this year's uprisings in other Arab countries, rebels hold Benghazi and towns in the east while the government controls the capital and other cities.

The government says most Libyans support Gaddafi, the rebels are armed criminals and al Qaeda militants, and Nato's intervention is an act of colonial aggression by Western powers seeking to steal the country's oil.

Libyan state television reinforced that view, saying Nato warships bombed “military and civilian targets” in Misrata and in the adjacent town of Zlitan on Monday.

The military deadlock confronts allies including the United States, Britain and France with a choice over whether to exploit loopholes in the sanctions regime they engineered in February and March to help the rebels, analysts and United Nations diplomats said.

Another alternative would be to circumvent the sanctions secretly but both courses risk angering Russia and China who wield vetoes on the UN Security Council and are increasingly critical of Nato’s operation to protect civilians in Libya.

“The problem for the West is that several key players on the council now feel that the authority they granted was abused and they're not inclined to help the West extricate itself,” said David Bosco of American University in Washington.

The rebels face a government with superior firepower and resources but they achieved a financial breakthrough on Monday, selling oil worth $100-million paid for through a Qatari bank in US dollars, a member of their oil-and-gas support group said.

Given the rebels' failure to achieve their primary target of unseating Gaddafi, the war increasingly is focused on Misrata, Zintan and a Libyan border crossing near the Tunisian town of Dehiba.

Two rebel spokesmen in Misrata spoke of intense fighting in the city and at its strategically important airport.

“There is fighting also near the airport. The revolutionaries control the western side while the (government) brigades are still holding the southeastern side of the airport. Nato struck today in the areas of Tamina and Chantine, east of the city,” Reda told Reuters by telephone.

Rebels are trying to extinguish fires at a fuel storage depot bombarded by the government on Friday. The attack created fuel shortages, rebel spokesperson Abdelsalam said.

A ship chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived in Misrata, bringing medical supplies, spare parts to repair water and electrical systems and baby food. - Reuters

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/nato-planes-hit-arms-depots-in-libya-1.1066577

Paul Myners Fifa Christmas and New Year Buenos Aires Radio Wales