THE MILITARY situation in Libya was “very uncertain”, French prime minister François Fillon said yesterday as rebels spent a fourth day fighting Muammar Gadafy’s forces for control of the eastern oil town of Brega.
With the front lines having shifted little since rebels’ gains were reversed by Col Gadafy’s units early last week, signs have been emerging that both sides have been exploring political avenues to end the fighting. Mr Fillon said the French government believed defections within Col Gadafy’s inner circle were increasing.
He indicated Paris differed from London by being in favour of offering immunity to Moussa Koussa, the foreign minister who defected to Britain last week, as it believed this would encourage others to follow suit.
After Tripoli confirmed on Friday it had sought to open lines of communication with the coalition in the hope of bringing the conflict to an end, it was reported Abdelati Obeidi, the deputy foreign minister, flew to Greece yesterday to deliver a message from Col Gadafy to Greek prime minister George Papandreou.
His trip came after Mr Papandreou had a phone conversation with Libyan prime minister Al-Baghdadi Ali Al-Mahmudi on Saturday. The nature of the message was unclear, but over the weekend Mr Papandreou also spoke with Qatar prime minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al Thani, Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan and British prime minister David Cameron.
Last week, Mr Obeidi, a former prime minister, revealed Tripoli was trying to contact Washington, Paris and London to try and “find a mutual solution”.
A rebel leader offered a ceasefire on condition that Col Gadafy left Libya and his forces withdrew from cities under government control, but this was dismissed as a tactic by Tripoli yesterday.
On the ground a territorial stalemate in place since early last week persisted near the oil town of Brega. The fighting near the small coastal settlement has gone on for four days, with the rebels holding their ground after beating a chaotic retreat from near Col Gadafy’s home town of Sirte, more than 300km to the west.
A western coalition air strike killed 13 rebels late on Friday near Brega’s eastern gate. The rebel leadership called the bombing an unfortunate mistake and said air strikes were still needed against Col Gadafy’s better-armed units.
Nato has conducted at least 547 sorties since it took over command of Libya operations last Thursday, including more than 200 intended as strike missions; it has not confirmed hitting any targets. It also has 21 ships patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to enforce an arms embargo mandated by the UN.
While the eastern front remained static, in the west Col Gadafy’s forces continued to besiege the city of Misrata, reportedly shelling a building that had been used to treat wounded, killing one person and wounding more.
The opposition leadership has sought to break the stalemate near Brega by deploying heavier weapons and a firmer line of command. The cavalcade of lightly armed volunteer fighters has spent days dashing back and forth along the coast road on Brega’s eastern outskirts, scrambling away in their cars and vans as the Gadafy forces fired rockets.