Libya action ‘could last a while’

Libya rebels advance amid strikes

Libyan men celebrate on a destroyed tank belonging to Gaddafi forces

Energised by international strikes on Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, Libyan rebels have advanced in an attempt to reclaim an eastern city under siege by the leader’s troops.

Meanwhile, the US commander of the allied campaign warned that a stalemate could emerge from the bombardment.

That could mean a longer conflict and an unclear end game as the US and European countries try to calibrate how much their campaign – officially intended to protect civilians – should go toward actively helping the rebel cause. Henri Guaino, a top adviser to the French president, said the allied effort would last “a while yet”.

Ali Zeidan, an envoy to Europe from the opposition-created governing council, said rebels want to drive Gaddafi from power and see him tried – not have him killed. He said that while air strikes have helped, the opposition needs more weapons to win the fight.

“We are able to deal with Gaddafi’s forces by ourselves” as long as it is a fair fight, he said in Paris. “You see, Gaddafi himself, we are able to target him, and we would like to have him alive to face the international or the Libyan court for his crime... We don’t like to kill anybody... even Gaddafi himself.”

Gaddafi forces are currently besieging two rebel-held cities – Misrata in the west and Ajdabiya in the east.

So far, the international air strikes do not seem to have targeted those troops, which have repeatedly shelled both cities.

Allied bombardment has concentrated on knocking out Libyan air defences, but a significant test of international intentions will be whether the strikes by ship-fired cruise missiles and warplanes will eventually try to break those sieges by targeting troops on the ground.

Doing so would appear to come under the UN mandate for the strikes, which allows countries to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians in Libya.

In Washington, the American general running the assault said there is no direct co-ordination between the allies and rebels and no attempt to provide air cover for their operations. General Carter Ham warned Gaddafi might cling to power once the bombardment finishes, setting up a stalemate with allied nations enforcing a no-fly zone.