A Danish F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighter flies over a NATO Airbase in the southern Italian island of Sicily.
The Libyan government has accused the Western-led forces of crimes against humanity, saying their bombing strikes have killed civilians.
The US-led strikes on Libyan targets are “immoral” and Western-led forces have committed “crimes against humanity,” AFP quoted Libyan government’s spokesman Mussa Ibrahim as saying on Friday.
Ibrahim said six civilians were killed on Thursday in the village of Bouargoub near the strategic oil city of Brega, east of Tripoli, where Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s loyalists and revolutionary forces have been engaged in heavy battles.
Medical sources also said at least seven civilians were killed in Wednesday’s raid on the village of Zawia el Argobe, 15 km (9 miles) from Brega.
The airstrike also wounded more than 25 civilians and destroyed several nearby homes.
The Libyan government spokesman also accused the Western-led forces of targeting checkpoints manned jointly by civilians and police along the 400 kilometer (244 miles) road between Sirte and Ajdabiya.
Charles Bouchard, Commander of NATO operations in Libya, said on Friday that NATO would investigate reports that up to 40 civilians were killed in a Western bombing strike near the capital, Tripoli.
Meanwhile, China, Russia, the Arab League and the African union have condemned Western airstrikes.
This is while American military chiefs announced that Gaddafi’s armed forces are not close to breaking point despite hundreds of airstrikes by NATO forces.
Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen told a US Congressional committee that Gaddafi forces still have 10 times the firepower of the revolutionaries.
Mullen said bad weather has stopped Western forces from identifying targets over the past few days.
On the ground in Libya, revolutionary forces have been fighting Gaddafi troops for control of the oil-rich town of Brega. They earlier lost the eastern port of Ras Lanuf. Further west, regime forces continue to pound Misratah with artillery and tank fire.
However, the noose is tightening around Gaddafi as more officials in his government defect to anti-regime forces.
Former foreign minister Ali Abdessalam Treki has become the latest Libyan public figure to abandon Gaddafi. He was designated to be Libya’s next envoy to the United Nations.
On Wednesday, Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa fled to the UK and is now being questioned by British intelligence officials.
There are also reports that a key figure in Gaddafi’s regime, Mohammed Ismail, has been in London in the past few days for talks with British officials.
Ismail is an aide to one of Gaddafi’s sons and it seems that the envoy may have wanted to explore a possible exit strategy for the Libyan leader.
The British government has refused to comment.
Experts say the main motive behind the Western attack on Libya is the vast oil reserves of the North African country.
MN/AGB
source : http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172667.html
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