Libya rebels want 'explanation' after NATO deadly raid

BENGHAZI, Libya - Libya's rebels are "not seeking an apology but an explanation" from NATO after a friendly fire

Between NATO's lack of response and its friendly fire

Rebels in Misrata criticise NATO for lack of response as Gathafi's forces relentlessly pound Libyan city.

incident that killed four of their members, a spokesman said Friday.

"We are not questioning the intention of the NATO," Shamsiddin Abdulmolah, said.

"It appears that there has been a breakdown of communication, perhaps due to the visibility on the ground ... and that the positions of our tanks have not make clear to the NATO," he said.

On Thursday, a NATO air strike hit rebel tanks west of the town of Ajdabiya, killing two rebel fighters and two medics in the second friendly fire incident in a week.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rassmussen on Friday expressed regret over the deaths caused in the "very unfortunate incident."

But the deputy commander of the alliance's mission over Libya, British Rear Admiral Russell Harding, refused to apologise for the incident, saying NATO was unaware the tanks belonged to the rebels.

Yet General Abdelfatah Yunis, the rebel commander, said in Benghazi on Thursday night that the insurgents had informed NATO that they were moving T55 and T72 heavy tanks from Benghazi to Brega.

A source close to key Western envoys in Benghazi who are in regular contact with the opposition Transitional National Council said "The problem is there are no official direct links" between the rebel military leadership and NATO.

"It would make sense to get a NATO situational awareness team on the ground" to gather information that would "cut down the chances of situations like yesterday (Thursday)," the source said.

The source added that communications equipment was due to arrive in Benghazi Friday to give the rebels a link to one of the European capitals, and messages to NATO could be passed through that channel as an interim measure.

However, the source stressed that equipment was just to aid situational awareness on the ground. "It won't be used for targeting. We're not looking at becoming the air arm of the opposition."

Libyan rebels in the besieged city of Misrata, meanwhile, Friday criticised NATO for what they said was its lack of response to Gathafi's forces who have relentlessly pounded the city for more than a month.

"We doubt the intentions of NATO. We have informed (NATO) of the positions of Gathafi's forces in the city which are far from any civilians," a spokesman for the rebels said on condition of anonymity.

"We have officially informed NATO and have assumed responsibility for any presence of civilians, but they have not acted so far," the spokesman said without specifying how the information was passed on to the alliance.

The UN announced that a World Food Programme (WFP) ship carrying food, medicines and doctors, arrived late Thursday at Misrata with 600 tonnes of foodstuffs "enough to feed more than 40,000 people for a month."

The WFP also sent two doctors to the city, as well as enough medical supplies from the UN's children's agency UNICEF and the World Health Organisation to cover the urgent needs of 50,000 people for a month.

Misrata, about 215 kilometres (130 miles) east of Tripoli, has seen fighting for more than 40 days since the start of the uprising against Gathafi. Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed there since the fighting began.

With little headway being made by the rebels on the battlefield despite the support off NATO airpower, General Carter Ham, head of US Africa Command, said in Washington it was unlikely they could launch an assault on Tripoli and oust Gathafi.

Asked at a Senate hearing about the chances that the opposition could "fight their way" to Tripoli and replace Gathafi, Ham replied: "Sir, I would assess that as a low likelihood."

His comments underscored growing concern in Washington and European capitals that the conflict is heading toward a stalemate, with Gathafi firmly in control in Tripoli and badly organised rebels unable to turn the tide.

But Harding denied there is a stalemate and said on Friday rival forces had been "moving up and down" a highway between Brega and Ajdabiya in the past 48 hours.

"If someone wants to define that as a stalemate that's fine, all I'm saying is that yes, it's fluid, but it's fluid in a relatively small area," he said during the videconference.

Meanwhile, a UN human rights team set up to investigate violations in Libya will leave Sunday from Geneva to undertake a field mission, the head of the team, Cherif Bassiouni said Friday.

"Our travel schedule for reasons which you'll appreciate is not going to be made public," said Bassiouni, who heads the team of three.

The 47-member UN Human Rights Council had unanimously decided to set up the investigation into suspected crimes against humanity after Gathafi's regime dispatched Libya's army and air force to fire on civilians.

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