Rebel Commander Says World `Has Failed Us'

Qaddafi Forces Near Benghazi as Rebel Commander Says World `Has Failed Us'

By Ola Galal and Massoud A. Derhally -

A family fleeing the the eastern Libyan city of Ajdabiya look over at rebels filling up their gas tank at a station on the edge of town on March 15. Photographer: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

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March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Aaron David Miller, a public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discusses the crisis in Bahrain and outlook for the region. Miller talks with Margaret Brennan on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness." (Source: Bloomberg)

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi set his sights on Benghazi as government forces fought rebels for control of the cities of Ajdabiya and Misrata and prospects faded for an internationally imposed no-fly zone.

Libya’s state-run television appealed to residents of Benghazi, the center of the rebellion in the east of the country, to join Qaddafi’s troops. The army “is coming to secure you and to lift the injustice and horror off you and to protect your pure souls and precious blood,” said the broadcast, which has been airing since yesterday.

Pro-Qaddafi forces attacked Ajdabiya, a city 100 miles (160 kilometres) from the rebel capital, using airstrikes and artillery late yesterday, Ahmed Omar, a military spokesman for the opposition, said today by telephone. Misrata, the largest rebel stronghold in western Libya, was shelled by government tanks from three directions early today, Reda Almountasser, a resident, said by phone.

Libya’s crude oil exports may be halted for “many months” because of damage to facilities and international sanctions, the International Energy Agency said yesterday. Daily supply from Africa’s third-largest producer has dropped to a “trickle” by this week from 1.58 million barrels in January, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly Oil Market Report.

Oil Markets

Oil rose from the lowest in two weeks in New York as escalating violence in Libya and Bahrain stoked concern about possible disruptions to Middle East crude supplies. Crude for April delivery rose $1.05 to $98.23 a barrel at 11:14 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil earlier rose as high as $99.60 a barrel.

Libyan rebels yesterday seized a vessel carrying 25,000 metric tons of fuel that was heading to Tripoli and reversed its course to Benghazi, Mustafa Gheriani, a media coordinator for the rebels, said today by telephone from the city. The fuel will be used in power plants and other facilities in rebel-held areas, he said.

The Anwaar Afriqya, with a crew of 22, was hijacked and diverted to the port of Tobruk near the border with Egypt, where it is now docked, GNMTC, a Libyan-owned shipping line, said today in an e-mailed statement. The ship holds 23,800 metric tons of gasoline loaded in Greece, it said. It was not immediately clear if GNMTC was referring to the same vessel.

Death Toll

The death toll from the fighting could reach as high as 15,000, Gheriani said, adding that it’s “very difficult” to confirm given the lack of information on ongoing fighting in Misrata and other cities

“So far we have 11 dead and 20 wounded,” Almountasser said today. “Qaddafi’s people are attacking us with tanks and cars manned with his loyalists.”

Dozens were killed and hundreds wounded in air strikes on Zwara, west of Tripoli, Gheriani said.

In Benghazi, three fighter jets from Qaddafi’s fleet carried out air strikes on the airport that is currently being used by the rebels as an airbase, breaking off their attack after anti-aircraft missiles were fired at them, Omar said.

A group of soldiers, who were fighting with Qaddafi’s forces in Ajdabiya, surrendered to opposition troops in Tobruk, a city close to the Egyptian border, Omar said. Rebel aircraft bombed government forces near the city today, Al Jazeera television said, without saying where it got the information.

No-Fly Zone

Foreign Ministers from the Group of Eight nations failed to agree yesterday on imposing a no-fly zone. In Paris, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe of France, which along with the U.K. has pressed for aggressive action against Qaddafi, said he couldn’t persuade Russia to agree to a no-fly zone as other allies, including Germany, raised objections to military intervention. Juppe hosted a meeting of his G-8 counterparts yesterday in Paris.

“One has to ask the question whether military intervention would hurt more than it helps,” German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told reporters at the meeting. “We do not want to get sucked into a war in North Africa and we would not like to step on a slippery slope.”

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini proposed the convening of a European, Arab and African summit to discuss the almost monthlong fighting in Libya, Al-Jazeera reported today.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said leaving Qaddafi in power would send a “terrible message” not only to the Libyan people but also to those in the region who desire democracy and stability.

Pushing a resolution on establishing a no-fly zone over Libya through the United Nations Security Council will not be “simple,” Cameron told lawmakers in Parliament in London today. “I am not arguing a no-fly zone is a simple solution to the problem, of course it’s not.”