Col Gaddafi refuses calls for ceasefire
Col Muammar Gaddafi is refusing United Nations calls for a ceasefire to allow aid into the beleaguered city of Misurata according to a senior envoy.
A baby hit by shrapnel in Misurata Photo: GETTY
By Ben Farmer, Benghazi 4:44PM BST 18 Apr 2011
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Baroness Amos, the UN’s head of humanitarian relief, said she had personally asked ministers in Tripoli to end fighting so supplies could enter and trapped civilians could leave.
Misurata has been cut off and shelled for two months and rebel leaders told the Daily Telegraph aid ships were refusing to enter while the port was being hit by Col Gaddafi’s artillery.
Baroness Amos said: “We got no guarantees with respect to my call for an overall cessation of hostilities to allow people to move and allow people to deliver supplies.” The former Labour minister said her delegation had met the Libyan prime minister, foreign minister and health minister in Tripoli on Sunday for talks.
They had agreed to open a UN humanitarian office in the Libyan capital and said an assessment team could travel to Misurata to judge the aid needed.
“Different parts of the city are controlled by different people and we have very little sense of what’s going on,” she said.
At least 4,000 refugees, who are mainly African migrant labourers, were still waiting to leave the town.
However, it was unclear if the United Nations team could enter while the town was engulfed in fighting which doctors estimate has killed at least 600 and left 3,000 wounded.
Baroness Amos said: “We will try to carry out that needs assessment as quickly as possible, but you will know that the security situation is such that that may be difficult to do.” Her comments seemed at odds with the Gaddafi regime’s declaration on Sunday that it was ready to allow humanitarian assistance to reach the city of 500,000.
The port district of Ghasr Ahmad has been under barrage from loyalist Grad rockets in recent days killing dozens of civilians and damaging port buildings and ships according to reports.
The city’s only lifeline is a trickle of fishing boats carrying supplies and arms across the Gulf of Sirte from Benghazi and occasional international aid ships sailing from Turkey, Malta and Qatar.
Dr Suleiman Fortia, Misurata’s representative on the rebels’ national council, said: “The harbour is under shelling which is frightening the humanitarian vessels.
“They come near to the port and then they find the situation is not safe so they go away until it’s suitable.” Last week, the Daily Telegraph saw Misurata’s defenders were well-organised and holding their ground, but short of medical supplies. Power was rationed and food stocks were also dwindling they said.
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