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Fighting In Libya
By KTM Metro Reporter
March 7, 2011: anti-rebel warplanes have dropped bombs on a key oil complex in Ras Lanuf today sending residents into a panic and triggering a mass exodus eastward.
Fighters loyal to Gaddafi have seized Bin Jawwad from the rebels in a surprise counterattack on Sunday, March 6. The two sides have continued fighting on Monday for the control of the town.
Over the weekend, Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi fought bitter clashes with rebels in the town of Zawiya just 30 miles (48 kilometres) west of the Libyan capital Tripoli. Rebel fighters have said that they have repulsed the government forces. The town has experienced heaviest fighting since mid-February, BBC reports.
BBC reports: NATO is considering military options in response to the situation in Libya, US President Barack Obama has said. "We've got NATO consulting in Brussels around a wide range of potential options, including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place in Libya," he said. "We send a very clear message to the Libyan people that we will stand with them in the face of unwarranted violence and the continuing suppression of democratic ideals that we have seen there."
Events in Libya were "absolutely outrageous", NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the BBC. "These systematic attacks against the civilian population may, as stated by the UN Security Council, amount to a crime against humanity," he said.
According to the BBC news reports, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Jordan's former foreign minister, Abdelilah al-Khatib, as his special envoy to Libya. A statement from Mr Ban's office said, "that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has opposed any military intervention in Libya, the RIA Novosti news agency reports. Russia has the power to veto any UN Security Council resolution.
According to the news posted on the Guardian.co.uk, the US lawmakers have put pressure on the president to make air strikes on Libya to stop the Gaddafi air force from striking the civilian targets.
