MISRATA: A rebel official in Libya’s besieged city of Misrata pleaded for Britain and France to send troops to help fight Muammar Qadhafi’s forces, while a son of the strongman said he was “very optimistic” his father's regime will prevail.
A senior member of Misrata's governing council, Nuri Abdullah Abdullati, said they were asking for the troops on the basis of “humanitarian” principles, in the first request by insurgents for boots on the ground.
Previously, he told reporters, “we did not accept any foreign soldiers in our country, but now, as we face these crimes of Qadhafi, we are asking on the basis of humanitarian and Islamic principles for someone to come and stop the killing.”
Before we were asking for no foreign interference, but that was before Qadhafi used Grad rockets and planes. “Now it's a life or death situation.” His plea came as Qadhafi and rebel forces engaged in fierce fighting in southeast Misrata.
The din subsided only briefly when Nato planes were heard overhead, but picked up immediately afterwards.
The rebels in Misrata, which has been under siege for more than a month and seen hundreds killed, have no direct contact with coalition forces. Abdullati said the request was sent last week to the rebel Transitional National Council (TNC) in Benghazi, but there had yet been no reply.
Separately, Saif al-Islam, a son of Qadhafi, said he was confident the rebellion would fail. “I am very optimistic and we will win,” Saif said on Allibya television.
“The situation changes every day in our favour,” he said before a group of about 50 attending the television broadcast. He did not give details.
Saif vowed that his father's regime would “not seek revenge” against the rebels fighting to oust him.
But he warned that “the use of weapons and force will only be met by force and those who cross the four red lines, set in 2007 (Qadhafi, Islam, state security and national unity) will have to bear the consequences”.
Earlier on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he was “entirely hostile” to sending troops into Libya, even special forces to guide in air strikes.
Nato allies began their second month bombing Qadhafi forces on Tuesday, but there appeared no end in sight to what experts are warning will be a prolonged stalemate with mounting civilian casualties.
But France did say it will step up air strikes on Qadhafi forces to protect civilians, and Britain promised to put military advisers on the ground.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France will “intensify our military effort from our air force to prevent Qadhafi forces from pursuing their attacks on civilian populations.” But at the same time, we will need to find a political solution, that is conditions for a dialogue so that the Libyan crisis can be resolved,” he said in Kiev.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London would send military officers to rebel-held eastern Libya, but that they would not be involved in training or arming the rebels, or help in planning operations.
US Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview published Tuesday that Nato can handle Libya without US help, saying Washington's efforts are better focused on places like Pakistan or Egypt.
“If the Lord Almighty extricated the US out of Nato and dropped it on the planet of Mars so we were no longer participating, it is bizarre to suggest that Nato and the rest of the world lacks the capacity to deal with Libya, it does not,” Biden told the Financial Times.
Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the conflict had so far killed 10,000 people and wounded 55,000, citing TNC figures.
Frattini, speaking in Rome after talks with rebel leader Mustafa Abdel Jalil, also said Italy will host talks next month on allowing oil exports from eastern Libya and could provide rebels with night-vision kit and radars.
The meeting would also try to find ways of using Qadhafi regime assets frozen around the world to aid the rebels and would discuss the question of arming the rebels.
Hague said Britain is sending “experienced” officers to help rebels improve their organisation, communications and logistics.
However, he said they “will not be involved in training or arming the opposition's fighting forces.” Instead, they will advise rebels on how to improve their organisational structures, communications and logistics, including how best to distribute humanitarian aid.
France and Britain, which launched the first air strikes on March 19, have struggled to convince allies to intensify the air war while Nato commanders are scrambling to obtain even a few more ground-attack jets.
Last week, London, Paris and Washington jointly vowed to keep up the campaign until Qadhafi leaves power, but the resilient strongman has defied his foes.
Meanwhile, the world community scrambled to provide humanitarian aid to Libya and to evacuate those fleeing the fighting, mostly foreign workers.
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