West mulls strikes as Benghazi under siege
Source: Agencies |
March 20, 2011, Sunday
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MOAMMAR Gadhafi took advantage of international indecision to attack the heart of the five-week-old uprising yesterday, sending troops, tanks and warplanes to swarm the first city seized by the rebels. Crashing shells shook buildings, and the sounds of battle drew closer to Benghazi's center.
"Where is France, where is NATO?" cried a 50-year-old woman. "It's too late."
Leaders from the Arab world, the United States and other Western powers were holding urgent talks in Paris over possible military action, and France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, told BBC Newsnight that he expected military action to begin within hours of the meeting. In an open letter, Gadhafi warned: "You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country."
Yesterday, a warplane was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, sending up a massive black cloud of smoke. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire.
Before the plane went down, journalists heard what appeared to be airstrikes from it. Rebels cheered and celebrated at the crash, though the government denied a jet had gone down - or that any towns were shelled yesterday.
The fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks.
Abdel-Hafez, a 49-year-old Benghazi resident, said rebels and government soldiers were fighting on a university campus on the south side of the city, with government tanks moving in, followed by ground troops. In the city center, tank fire drew closer and rebel shouts rang out.
At a news conference in the capital, Tripoli, the government spokesman read letters from Gadhafi to United States President Barack Obama and others involved in the international effort.
"Libya is not yours. Libya is for the Libyans. The Security Council resolution is invalid," he said in the letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
To Obama, the Libyan leader was slightly more conciliatory: "If you had found them taking over American cities with armed force, tell me what you would do."
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the rebels are the ones breaking the cease-fire by attacking military forces. "Our armed forces continue to retreat and hide, but the rebels keep shelling us and provoking us."
In a joint statement to Gadhafi late on Friday, the US, Britain and France - backed by unspecified Arab countries - called on Gadhafi to end his troops' advance toward Benghazi and pull them out of the cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiya.
Parts of eastern Libya, where the rebels have found their hold slipping, erupted into celebration at the passage of the UN resolution. But the timing and consequences of any international military action remained unclear.
"Where is France, where is NATO?" cried a 50-year-old woman. "It's too late."
Leaders from the Arab world, the United States and other Western powers were holding urgent talks in Paris over possible military action, and France's ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, told BBC Newsnight that he expected military action to begin within hours of the meeting. In an open letter, Gadhafi warned: "You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country."
Yesterday, a warplane was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, sending up a massive black cloud of smoke. An Associated Press reporter saw the plane go down in flames and heard the sound of artillery and crackling gunfire.
Before the plane went down, journalists heard what appeared to be airstrikes from it. Rebels cheered and celebrated at the crash, though the government denied a jet had gone down - or that any towns were shelled yesterday.
The fighting galvanized the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make gasoline bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks.
Abdel-Hafez, a 49-year-old Benghazi resident, said rebels and government soldiers were fighting on a university campus on the south side of the city, with government tanks moving in, followed by ground troops. In the city center, tank fire drew closer and rebel shouts rang out.
At a news conference in the capital, Tripoli, the government spokesman read letters from Gadhafi to United States President Barack Obama and others involved in the international effort.
"Libya is not yours. Libya is for the Libyans. The Security Council resolution is invalid," he said in the letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
To Obama, the Libyan leader was slightly more conciliatory: "If you had found them taking over American cities with armed force, tell me what you would do."
Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the rebels are the ones breaking the cease-fire by attacking military forces. "Our armed forces continue to retreat and hide, but the rebels keep shelling us and provoking us."
In a joint statement to Gadhafi late on Friday, the US, Britain and France - backed by unspecified Arab countries - called on Gadhafi to end his troops' advance toward Benghazi and pull them out of the cities of Misrata, Ajdabiya and Zawiya.
Parts of eastern Libya, where the rebels have found their hold slipping, erupted into celebration at the passage of the UN resolution. But the timing and consequences of any international military action remained unclear.
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