Libyan rebels have said that NATO is too slow to act and that they would ask the UN Security Council to suspend its operation unless it ‘did its job properly’.
‘Either NATO does its work properly or we will ask the Security Council to suspend its work,’ said Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel forces, speaking at a news conference in Benghazi in the rebel-held east.
He said NATO's inaction was allowing forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi to advance and letting them kill the people of the rebel-held city of Misrata ‘every day’.
‘NATO is moving very slowly, allowing Gaddafi forces to advance,’ he said. ‘NATO has become our problem.
‘If NATO waits one more week, there will be nothing left in Misrata.’
NATO's chief of allied operations, Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, said earlier today that the alliance was doing all it could to protect civilians in the city.
‘Misrata is a number one priority because of the situation on the ground over there,’ Gen van Uhm.
’We have confirmation that in Misrata tanks are being dispersed, being hidden, (and) humans being used as shields in order to prevent NATO sorties to identify targets.’
Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed there since the fighting began, a figure that is likely to have risen in recent days.
Government ready to negotiate reforms
Meanwhile, the Libyan government claimed it was ready to negotiate reforms, but has refused any talk of Gaddafi stepping down, saying he was a unifying figure after ruling the nation for four decades.
'We could have any political system, any changes: constitution, election, anything, but the leader has to lead this forward. This is our belief,' said government spokesperson Mussa Ibrahim.
But he stressed Gaddafi's future was non-negotiable, only hours after opposition rebels rejected a reported peace deal that could see the embattled leader's son take charge.
A Gaddafi envoy has held talks in Turkey and Malta amid US media reports that two of the leader's sons were offering to oversee a transition to democracy.
However the claims have been dismissed as not credible, with fierce fighting continuing and rebel fighters launching a new attempt to recapture the oil refinery town of Brega.
The rebels, battling for the past seven weeks, advanced to the outskirts of Brega only to be forced back by fierce artillery fire.
