NATO air raids shake Libyan capital

Five powerful explosions shook Tripoli as warplanes overflew the Libyan capital which has been the target of intense NATO air raids for the past two weeks, according to an AFP reporter.

A powerful but distant blast was felt in the centre of the city at around 9:00pm (1900 GMT) on Sunday, followed by stronger explosions a few minutes later, said the correspondent who was unable to immediately determine the targets.

NATO fighter jets earlier launched intensive air raids on the capital and its eastern suburbs.

Blasts shook Tripoli at around 2:30am (00:30 GMT). A Libyan government official, speaking to the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity, said British jets had hit a military barracks in Tripoli, but there were no casualties.

Two powerful but distant blasts were also felt in the centre of Tripoli on Saturday at around 6:30pm (16:30 GMT), followed by several others a few minutes later. Witnesses said the explosions came from Tajura.

For months, Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have been battling rebels who are seeking to end his four-decade rule. Despite mounting international pressure, including NATO air attacks against him, the Libyan leader refuses to step down.

‘No deadline’

The developments came as William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said there is no deadline for NATO’s Libya operation, and Russia voiced concerns that the use of helicopters showed NATO was sliding towards a land campaign.

“We’re not going to set a deadline. You’re asking about Christmas and who knows, it could be days or weeks or months, [but] it is worth doing,” Hague told an interviewer on BBC television on Sunday.

Hague, who held talks with Libyan rebel leaders in their stronghold Benghazi on Saturday, ruled out putting ground forces, saying NATO would stick to the terms of a UN Security Council resolution passed in March to protect civilians.

“We will continue in that way, intensifiying what we’re doing – the Apache helicopters are an example of that – but that’s different from mission creep,” he said.

“This is not mission creep, changing the nature of the mission, this is intensifiying what we are doing in order to make this mission a success.”

Hague’s trip came just hours after British Apache helicopters attacked forces loyal to Gaddafi. Hague held talks in Benghazi with the head of the rebel Interim National Council, Mustafa al-Jalil. He also toured the city’s landmark seafront as well as a medical centre treating war wounded.

“We’re encouraging the National Transitional Council to put more flesh on their proposed transition – to lay out in more detail this coming week what would happen on the day that Gaddafi went – who would be running what, how would a new government be formed in Tripoli?” Hague told the BBC. 

‘For as long as it takes’

Hague earlier said Britain would support demining efforts in Misurata, the main rebel-held city in western Libya, and deliver “more equipment, uniforms, bullet-proof jackets” to rebel fighters.

“We have no combat troops in Libya,” he said. But Britain, he said, would stand with the Libyan people “for as long as it takes”.

“We could not, and did not, turn a blind eye when Gaddafi turned his forces against innocent civilians,” Hague said.

“For as long as Gaddafi continues to abuse his people, we will continue and intensify our efforts to stop him.”

Earlier, Russia, which is calling for a negotiated solution to the Libyan conflict, has expressed alarm over the use of helicopters by NATO, with Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, saying that the decision was “deplorable”.

“We consider that what is going on is either consciously or unconsciously sliding towards a land operation,” he said on Saturday.

NATO’s stepped-up offensive comes as Libyan opposition fighters make a major advance towards Tripoli, after claiming victory in western Libyan towns against forces loyal to Gaddafi.

An opposition military leader said on Friday that local fighters won control of four towns in the Nafusa mountain range, where government forces had besieged and randomly shelled rebel-held areas for months.

Opposition fighters have also pushed government troops from Shakshuk and Qasr al-Haj, two towns near a key road that runs along the mountain range’s northern edge, Ibrahim, the rebel officer, said.

Rebel progress

After a siege by pro-Gaddafi forces, Misurata is now in opposition hands.

Opposition fighters there have now pushed halfway to the town of Zlitan, on the way to Tripoli, after taking control of Zintan.

At one stage, their advance came to within 60km of Sirte, but the government troops held their line and repelled the attack.

Gaddafi’s government has been slowly crumbling from within. A significant number of army officers and several cabinet ministers have defected, and most have expressed support for the opposition.

NATO attacks on the Libyan military and government infrastructure have been occurring daily since March 31 in an operation that has just been extended for another 90 days.

The 18-country mission, led by the US, UK and France, has several core goals: enforcement of a no-fly zone, maintenance of an arms embargo, protection of civilians and facilitation of humanitarian assistance.