April 7, 2011

From correspondents near Ajdabiya

LIBYAN insurgents and civilians stampeded out of Ajdabiya overnight on rumours that loyalist forces were outside the eastern town, hours after an air strike tore into the rebels' defences.

The panicked flight came as a top American general said it was unlikely the rebel forces could launch an assault on Tripoli and oust Muammar Gaddafi, while France confidently predicted the strongman's downfall.

Four journalists were reported missing in east Libya, while 26 foreign reporters were expelled from Tripoli and Microsoft said it was seeking the release by the Libyan authorities of its country manager.

Families packed into cars and trucks joined rebel military vehicles in a charge northeast towards the insurgent stronghold of Benghazi, some 160 kilometres away, AFP correspondents said.

The administrator of the hospital in Ajdabiya said many civilians fled in panic because of the unconfirmed rumours of advancing Gaddafi forces, but that the rumours were unfounded.

Many rebel fighters remained in the town along with doctors at the hospital, after its patients were evacuated to Benghazi as a precaution, administrator Majbali Yunis said by telephone.

The flight began soon after rebels were hit by an air strike near the key oil town of Brega, 80 kilometres west of Ajdabiya, they said was carried out by NATO jets in which two fighters and a paramedic were killed and 10 fighters were wounded.

The wounded were rushed to Ajdabiya in ambulances followed by a convoy of rebel military vehicles.

The fighters, already angry at what they perceive to be lack of air support from NATO, which is enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya under a UN mandate aimed at protecting civilians, vented their fury over the air strike.

"Instead of attacking Gaddafi they are attacking us," said Suleiman Rifadia, a volunteer medic at the hospital.

"How come NATO is dropping bombs east of Brega when Gaddafi's forces are to the west (of the town)?" asked another rebel fighter, Omar Mohammed, who like two other comrades at the hospital, fell to his knees sobbing.

Saleh Faraj, a former soldier siding with the rebels, said at least three rebel tanks were hit in the air strike.

"There was no fighting anywhere. (The warplanes) flew back and forth and then they struck our forces," said Mr Faraj.

In Brussels, NATO said it was trying to confirm the reports, but it warned that it would strike any forces threatening civilians.

The alliance insists that it is not taking sides in the conflict and that its sole mission is to defend the population from attacks.

Rebels seized Ajdabiya on March 26, a week after coalition forces, through air strikes and cruise missiles, beat Gaddafi's forces back from the gates of Benghazi.

After edging to within 60 kilometres of Mr Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte on March 28, the rebels have since been steadily pushed back almost 400 kilometres by the superior fire power of Gaddafi's forces, despite the coalition air strikes.

It was unclear overnight exactly where the front line was or whether any rebels were making a stand against Mr Gaddafi's army.

Despite Mr Gaddafi's apparent battlefield advances, France said overnight that it was now only a question of how his regime meets its downfall rather than whether the veteran Libyan ruler can survive in power.

"The question today is to know under what conditions Gaddafi goes, not how he's going to be able to hold on to power," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told legislators in Paris.

General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, said in Washington, however, that it was unlikely the rebel forces could push Mr Gaddafi out.

Asked at a Senate hearing about the chances that the opposition could "fight their way" to Tripoli and replace Gaddafi, Gen Ham replied: "Sir, I would assess that as a low likelihood."

His comments underscored growing concern in Washington and European capitals that the conflict in Libya is heading towards a stalemate, with Mr Gaddafi firmly in control in Tripoli and badly organised rebels unable to turn the tide even under the cover of NATO-led air power.

Besides being routed in the east, the rebels are struggling to defend Misrata, Libya's third city, under an onslaught from better armed regime forces.

The United Nations called for a halt to hostilities around Misrata, about 215 kilometres east of Tripoli, saying several weeks of "heavy shelling" by Mr Gaddafi's forces had killed or wounded hundreds.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon made a new "urgent call for an immediate cessation of the indiscriminate use of military force against the civilian population", his spokesman said.

"Conditions in Misrata are especially grave, with reports of the use of heavy weapons to attack the city, where the population is trapped and unable, as a result of heavy shelling that has continued over several weeks, to receive basic supplies, including clean water, food, and medicines," he said.

Rebels in Benghazi are using fishing vessels and tugboats to send food, medicine and military supplies - including weapons, ammunition and men - to help defend the city.

NATO, accused of mission failure by the rebels, said government troops are using civilians as human shields in Misrata, making its task more precarious.

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders meanwhile said it has learned "from a reliable source" that four journalists - a South African, two US citizens and a Spaniard - have been missing in east Libya since April 4.

The Paris-based organisation also said it was "outraged" by the deportation of 26 foreign journalists by the Libyan government on the grounds that their visas had expired.

US software giant Microsoft said its Libya country director Khalid Elhasumi has been held by the authorities in Tripoli since March 19 and called for his release.