Attempts to secure a truce in Libya have failed and the humanitarian crisis is worsening, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said, as Nato said yesterday Muammar Gaddafi’s military power has been significantly degraded.
Rebels fighting to overthrow the Libyan strongman said meanwhile they were increasingly concerned about the humanitarian situation in the Nafusa mountains even after a gaining control of the western lifeline city of Misurata.
UN secretary general Ban said his special envoy to Libya, Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib, has been “working very hard” without progress to report in his efforts to sway Col Gaddafi to declare an immediate and verifiable ceasefire.
“In view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation, the crisis is getting worse,” he warned in an interview in New York. UN secretary general Ban said he was very concerned about rebel-held Misurata, which was under siege from Gaddafi forces for more than two months and where hundreds were killed. “The situation is getting very bad,” he added.
Mr Khatib travelled to Tripoli last Sunday where he held talks with officials on the need for a ceasefire and access to stricken cities.
He did not meet Col Gaddafi, who has been stubbornly refusing to call a halt to the conflict which erupted when he ordered his forces to put down pro-democracy protests launched on February 15 against his autocratic four-decade rule.
Thousands of people have died in clashes between rebels and loyalists, and some 750,000 have been forced to flee, according to the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.Having lost vast swathes of Libya’s east to rebels, and with almost daily bombardments by Nato jets acting under a UN mandate to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians, the regime has its back to the wall.
Rebels said yesterday they were increasingly concerned about a humanitarian crisis in the Nafusa mountains in the west, where Col Gaddafi’s forces were blocking humanitarian aid and the evacuation of the wounded.
“Our biggest concern is the western mountain range,” rebel spokesman Jalal al-Gallal said.
Mr Gallal added that the rebels were suffering “heavy losses” on the outskirts of the western city of Misurata, where they were being ambushed by Gaddafi loyalists despite having secured the airport on May 12.