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Libyan rebel fighters defiantly raise their weapons after a bomb dropped by an airforce fighter jet explodes (AFP: Roberto Schmidt)
Libyan crisis descends into 'civil war'
Updated March 8, 2011 00:46:00
Libyan rebels have ceded ground to Moamar Gaddafi's advancing forces, with troops loyal to the embattled leader launching major assaults on three towns held by the opposition.
As battles continue to rage to the west and east of the capital Tripoli, the United Nations has expressed concern about the plight of those caught up in the conflict and the United States has been urged to arm the opposition rebels.
Pro-Gaddafi troops have launched major assaults in three towns held by the opposition，
chi flat irons, with fighter jets, attack helicopters and artillery used to strike in Misrata, Zawiyah and the eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf.
The rebels began pulling back from the key oil-terminal centre of Ras Lanuf on Monday as a fighter jet blasted defences on the edge of town, throwing up palls of smoke amid rumours that government forces were gearing for an attack.
Explosions thudded in the desert and smoke coiled into the sky. Each time, a chaotic band of Libyan rebels manned anti-aircraft batteries to unleash a deafening barrage of retaliatory fire.
Government forces have retaken the strategic town of Bin Jawad, close to Ras Lanuf and on the road to Mr Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte.
Amid the ebb and flow on the battlefield at Bin Jawad，
griffey shoes, at least 12 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in the fierce clashes, medics said after evacuating Ras Lanuf's sole hospital and ferrying the wounded further east into rebel territory at Ajdabiya.
The anti-government forces appear disorganised but determined. The ABC has been told that the pro-Gaddafi fighters are not much better.
One rebel says attempts to continue to push towards the key town of Sirte will not be thwarted.
"There are two things we want to tell him. We swear we'll enter Tripoli. Sirte is not a problem. We'll enter Sirte. It's easy，
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"Tripoli is the goal and after we enter Tripoli you'll see the real Libyan spirit."
The UN is continuing to press for urgent access to western Libya, in particular to Misurata.
The organisation say it is also making plans for how to deal with what it calls a worst-case scenario of thousands of Libyans fleeing across the border into Tunisia.
'Civil war'
Dr Binoy Kampmark, a lecturer in the School of Global Studies at RMIT University in Melbourne, says the situation can only now be described as civil war.
"I think at this stage it's very hard to see how it couldn't be described as a civil war，
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"We're dealing with those who are loyal to Gaddafi and we're certainly dealing with the revolutionary and rebel councils that are arising from the movement.
"It's one of those things you're always sort of hesitant to label, but it looks certainly like we're seeing a civil war taking place."
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has secured an agreement from Mr Gaddafi's foreign minister that a humanitarian assessment team will be allowed into the capital.
Dr Kampmark says he is sceptical about the agreement.
But Martin Nesirky from the UN says progress has been made.
"The secretary-general made it clear there was a need for immediate access to the country. What the foreign minister has immediately agreed to is for a team to go to Tripoli," he said.
"But that's not the end of the story of course. The whole point of going there would be to discuss and to secure even further access.
"So really a quick snapshot as soon as possible so that then UN humanitarian agencies can make the next step, which is to try to get that required aid in."
'Arm the rebels'
With the military situation worsening and population centres threatened, key figures in American politics have argued strongly for a US operation to arm the rebels and secure a no-fly zone over Libya to thwart Mr Gaddafi's air force.
In Washington, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, a leading Democrat，
mbt sandals, says he assumes "a lot of weapons are going to find their way there from one means or another over the course of the next weeks".
Former US ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, says it is time to "covertly arm the rebels" and enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
Stephen Hadley, national security adviser to former president George W Bush, says Washington should look at the potential for funnelling arms to Mr Gaddafi's opponents.
"Obviously, if there is a way to get weapons into the hands of the rebels, if we can get anti-aircraft systems so that they can enforce a no-fly zone over their own territory, that would be helpful," he said.
Meanwhile, French officials have announced the Arab League supports imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Mr Gaddafi's government forces attacking rebels.
Mr Gaddafi has not hesitated to use his air power against rebel positions，
nike air yeezy, and reports that his jets bombed protesters in Benghazi in the early days of the revolt are among reported atrocities being investigated by war-crimes prosecutors from the International Criminal Court.
But Mr Gaddafi has denied his security forces have killed innocent people, repeating his earlier assertion that the violence gripping his country is orchestrated by Al Qaeda.
"The world has an image which is not based on anything and which is unreasonable," he told French television.
"A distorted image has been formed of peaceful demonstrations."
The British government, meanwhile, has been left with egg on its face after a group of SAS commandos and diplomats trying to make contact with anti-government forces were captured and sent home.
Richard Ottaway，
chi iron, the chair of the UK's foreign relations committee, says the incident does not look good.
"I mean, the British government does, like many governments, engage in covert activities and this one clearly didn't go to plan，
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British officials say they will continue their efforts to reach out to opposition groups in Libya but say next time they might do it differently.
- ABC/AFP
Tags: government-and-politics, world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war，
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First posted March 7, 2011 20:48:00
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