Doha meeting reveals divisions on Libya

A Libyan rebel gestures as he sits behind a heavy machinegun, near the western gate of the town of Ajdabiya, yesterday. Italy and Qatar saying they need arms to defend themselves and Britain urging regional aid in a summit on Libya recognising their need.Photo: AFP

Britain pressured other Nato members to step up ground attacks in Libya yesterday but cracks appeared in the alliance as foreign ministers met in Qatar to try to break the deadlock in the civil war.
Nato divisions surfaced at the international "contact group" meeting, not only over arming the rebels and increasing air strikes but also on creating a fund from frozen Libyan assets to help the opposition trying to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underlined the humanitarian disaster caused by the war, telling the meeting that up to 3.6 million people, or more than half the population, could need assistance.
Paris and London are increasingly frustrated that air strikes have neither tipped the balance of the war in favour of rebels trying to end Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year rule nor even ended devastating shelling of the besieged city of Misrata.
Libyan state television said yesterday that Nato planes had bombed Misrata's main Tripoli street, scene of repeated battles between rebels and government troops. It said people were killed, without giving details.
It said alliance planes also attacked Gaddafi's birthplace of Sirte, east of Misrata, and Aziziyah, south of Tripoli.
British Foreign Minister William Hague told Reuters that other coalition aircraft must join ground attacks.
Nato said it destroyed 16 tanks, an anti-aircraft gun and a pickup truck in operations on Tuesday.
Rebels attending the Doha meeting said they expected more support, saying Nato was using "minimum" power and needed to step up attacks on Gaddafi's heavy weapons.
Britain and France, western Europe's two main military powers, are delivering most of the air strikes on Gaddafi's armour since President Barack Obama ordered US forces to take a back seat.
Other Nato countries are either keeping their distance from the campaign or enforcing a no-fly zone but not bombing.
A wide gap appeared at once between Nato hawks and doves.
In another disagreement, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle voiced reservations about an Italian call to create a fund from frozen assets to aid the rebels. "The question is, is it legal? The answer is we don't know," he said.
Britain's Hague called for a temporary financial mechanism to fund rebel government in the eastern territory they control. The rebels said they needed $1.5 billion in aid for civilians.
The "contact group" agreed to meet again in Italy in the first week of May to discuss Libya's future, an Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
A spokesman for the rebel national council at the Doha talks said the coalition was considering supplying arms which should go to soldiers who have defected from the army. The rebels only had "primitive weapons" taken from Gaddafi's troops, he said.
Hague also sought a clear statement from the ministerial group that Gaddafi must go, a demand reiterated in Doha by the rebels. The group of international powers has struggled to reach a consensus on calling for regime change.
Rebel spokesman Mahmud Awad Shammam said the national council took a positive view of an initiative by Muslim Nato member Turkey for a peaceful transition in Libya. But he added: "They have to say the magic word -- that Gaddafi must go."
On the eastern front, rebels at Ajdabiyah said they were exchanging rocket fire with Gaddafi's forces from a point about 40 km east of the long contested oil port of Brega, which the government holds.
Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim lashed out against the West's "imperialist way of thinking," accusing world powers of trying to impose political change on Libya.
Germany said it had expelled five Libyan diplomats for intimidating the country's citizens living there.
Rebel spokesman Shammam said the rebels wanted to increase exports of crude oil to secure humanitarian aid rather than cash.