Threat of protracted civil war in Libya

Libyan rebels have sustained heavy losses after pro-regime forces besieged the country's third-largest city, Misurata. Meanwhile, UN and European Union teams have been sent to Libya assess humanitarian needs. Threat of protracted civil war in Libya An onslaught by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi prompted the United Nations to demand access to the "injured and dying" on Sunday as a secret British diplomatic mission to contact rebel forces proved to be an embarrassing failure. UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos called for "urgent access" to the city of Misurata after Gadhafi's forces launched a deadly attack on Libya's rebel-controlled, third-largest city. "People are injured and dying and need help immediately. I call on the authorities to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives," Amos said in a statement. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib as a special envoy to undertake "urgent negotiations" with Libyan authorities on the humanitarian situation. A UN team was to be immediately dispatched to Libya to assess the humanitarian needs there, after the UN secured the agreement of Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa. The European Union has also sent a team to the country, according to the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, which was being headed by Italian emergency aid expert Agostino Miozzo. Fears grew Sunday that the four-week conflict between regime and rebel forces could enter into a protracted civil war. Witnesses said the military shelled the city's central square and opened random fire on houses, using mortars and rockets in an attempt to take back the rebel-controlled city. A rebel spokesperson maintained late Sunday that both Misurata and the besieged city of Zawiyah remained in opposition hands. Meanwhile, thousands of Gadhafi supporters in the capital celebrated state television news reports claiming the regime had taken back Misurata, strategically located between the capital Tripoli and Gadhafi's north-central hometown and stronghold of Sirte. Rebels advancing toward Sirte traded rocket and machine-gun fire with the army, eventually retreating after suffering heavy losses. Rebels also faced brutal defeat in the coastal hamlet of Bin Jawad, east of Sirte. After having taken the town Saturday, they were ambushed by pro-regime snipers, who mingled with civilians and occupied homes in order to attack the rebels from rooftops. A French cameraman, shot in the leg while traveling in a car with a group of rebels, said his shattered camera had saved his life. A day before, in the rebel-controlled western town of Zawiyah, a local doctor reported a "massacre" Saturday, as a Sky News journalist said Gadhafi's forces fired on civilians. An air strike by Libyan warplanes a rebels' checkpoint in Ras Lanuf (Beta/AP)

Threat of protracted civil war in Libya

An onslaught by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi prompted the United Nations to demand access to the "injured and dying" on Sunday as a secret British diplomatic mission to contact rebel forces proved to be an embarrassing failure.

UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos called for "urgent access" to the city of Misurata after Gadhafi's forces launched a deadly attack on Libya's rebel-controlled, third-largest city.

"People are injured and dying and need help immediately. I call on the authorities to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives," Amos said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelilah Al-Khatib as a special envoy to undertake "urgent negotiations" with Libyan authorities on the humanitarian situation.

A UN team was to be immediately dispatched to Libya to assess the humanitarian needs there, after the UN secured the agreement of Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa.

The European Union has also sent a team to the country, according to the bloc's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, which was being headed by Italian emergency aid expert Agostino Miozzo.

Fears grew Sunday that the four-week conflict between regime and rebel forces could enter into a protracted civil war. Witnesses said the military shelled the city's central square and opened random fire on houses, using mortars and rockets in an attempt to take back the rebel-controlled city.

A rebel spokesperson maintained late Sunday that both Misurata and the besieged city of Zawiyah remained in opposition hands. Meanwhile, thousands of Gadhafi supporters in the capital celebrated state television news reports claiming the regime had taken back Misurata, strategically located between the capital Tripoli and Gadhafi's north-central hometown and stronghold of Sirte.

Rebels advancing toward Sirte traded rocket and machine-gun fire with the army, eventually retreating after suffering heavy losses. Rebels also faced brutal defeat in the coastal hamlet of Bin Jawad, east of Sirte. After having taken the town Saturday, they were ambushed by pro-regime snipers, who mingled with civilians and occupied homes in order to attack the rebels from rooftops.

A French cameraman, shot in the leg while traveling in a car with a group of rebels, said his shattered camera had saved his life.

A day before, in the rebel-controlled western town of Zawiyah, a local doctor reported a "massacre" Saturday, as a Sky News journalist said Gadhafi's forces fired on civilians.