Libya gov't tour of besieged town reveals struggle

MISRATA, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi's government brought foreign journalists to Misrata on Friday to show that its forces hold significant control over the only major city in western Libya still in rebel hands, but the trip suggested that their situation had if anything grown more dire after weeks of laying siege to the enemy's stronghold.

Reporters were bused to the same intersection, more than a mile (2 kilometers) from downtown, where government officials took them about 10 days ago. Back then, it was to show the effects of a NATO airstrike. This time, it was simply as far as the tour could go before the sounds of gunfire and shelling forced officials to turn around.

At one point, the journalists took cover amid gunfire. A Libyan soldier, Walid Mohammed Walid, received a head wound in the shooting and was taken to a hospital.

Buildings were heavily pockmarked from battle, as they were previously. But while Gadhafi's forces at the intersection were seen on open ground on the earlier visit, this time the few soldiers there were hiding out in buildings or on rooftops.

The scene along the road from Tripoli, dotted with burned-out tanks, anti-aircraft guns hidden by vegetation and checkpoints made of tires and sand banks, underscored the devastating struggle over Misrata. It is the most sustained conflict in the Libyan uprising and the focus of a growing international efforts to bring aid by sea to besieged residents caught in the crossfire.

Just 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tripoli, Misrata is symbolic and strategic for both sides, each of which holds key parts of Libya's third-largest city.

Rebels, who hold central neighborhoods and the critical port area, want to hang onto an important foothold deep in Gadhafi's territory.

Government forces surround the city and patrol the main roadways. Their aim is to consolidate control over the west in preparation for a possible push against largely rebel-held eastern Libya.

As a group of international journalists approached Misrata on Friday's government-controlled visit, smoke could be seen coming out of the city from the distance. In the area where the tour turned back, streets and homes were utterly deserted.

Even as the showdown deepens, NATO has struggled with how to work Misrata into its airstrike missions. The alliance has been cautious about waging bombing runs in the city because of the risk of civilian casualties.

Even the limited look inside Misrata was unusual. Libyan officials have tried to block journalists from entering the city, although a few reporters have entered previously by sea.

It was unclear which side had the upper hand in the latest fighting. But a witness said rebel forces were trying to keep Gadhafi's troops from taking full control of a route linking central Misrata to its port, a crucial lifeline for ships carrying humanitarian supplies into the battle zone.

The witness's account could not be independently verified. There also were no credible reports on casualties.

But Misrata has become a rallying cry for aid efforts. In Geneva, UNICEF spokeswoman Marixie Mercado told reporters that the agency has received "reliable and consistent reports of children being among the people targeted by snipers in Misrata."

A ship from the U.N.'s World Food Program reached Misrata on Thursday, delivering 600 tons of food as well as medical supplies. The food, including flour, vegetable oil and high-energy biscuits, are enough to feed 40,000 people for a month, the Rome-based WFP said in a statement.

A vessel chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross is expected Saturday, and a Turkish charity planned to dispatch an aid ship to the city next week.

In Brussels, the European Union's foreign policy chief told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the EU is ready to launch a humanitarian mission to Misrata if approved by the world body, officials said. The special task force for Misrata could be in action within several days, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

At the same time, Washington is looking for other ways to further squeeze Gadhafi after turning over the air campaign to NATO last week.

The Treasury Department expanded economic sanctions to five additional Libyan officials, including the prime minister and the ministers of oil and finance. The U.S. has already frozen more than $34 billion in assets.

Pentagon officials also are considering plans to provide the rebels with non-lethal aid, including Humvees, medical supplies, body armor and colored panels that can be used on vehicles to help identify them as opposition forces, a defense official said.

The official said that the aid must be approved by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and no final list has been given the green light. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because no final decisions have been made.

The shifting battle lines and similar equipment on both sides are among the complications for NATO airstrike missions, which included an accidental hit on a rebel tank and other vehicles Thursday that killed at least five people.

In the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in eastern Libya, angry crowds fired into the air and chanted against Gadhafi's regime as those killed were carried for burial. "The martyrs' blood is not shed in vain!" cried some of the thousands gathered.

NATO expressed regret but did not apologize.

"The situation on the ground was and remains extremely fluid, and until yesterday we did not have information that (rebel) forces are using tanks," British Rear Adm. Russell Harding told reporters in Naples, Italy, where the alliance's operational center is located.

Harding said Friday that NATO jets had conducted 318 sorties and struck 23 targets across Libya in the past 48 hours.

Over the past week, Gadhafi's forces have switched tactics by leaving their heavy armor behind and using only light trucks armed with heavy machine guns and fast-firing anti-aircraft cannons on the front lines between Brega and Ajdabiya in eastern Libya.

These have proven very effective in disrupting repeated rebel attempts to push west, but Gadhafi's forces have not been able to drive the rebels back toward Benghazi or establish a solid front line.

Outside Ajdabiya, rebel fighters slapped peach-colored paint on their vehicles to try to distinguish from the pro-Gadhafi units.

"We are painting the trucks so NATO won't hit us," said Salam Salim, a 29-year-old rebel militiaman.

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