— Fighting between rebels and government loyalists in Libyan cities
intensified Monday as the United Nations reported that more than
100,000 refugees had fled into
Rebels in the city of Misurata, about 120 miles east of the capital of
The fighting across
the foreign policy chief for the European Union, said: “What is going
on — the massive violence against peaceful demonstrators — shocks our
conscience. It should spring us into action.”
French Prime Minister
supplies to the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Meanwhile, the United
Nations warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis as refugees, many of
them migrant workers, fled into
“We call upon the international community to respond
quickly and generously to enable these governments to cope with this
humanitarian emergency,” said
On Sunday, Zawiya, a city of 210,000 just 30 miles west of
was shaping up to be a potential focal point for clashes as
anti-government forces with tanks and antiaircraft guns massed
throughout the city center, and Gadhafi forces surrounded the outskirts
with tanks and military checkpoints, residents said.
From the east, small bands of armed men traveled in the direction of the capital from Benghazi.
The developments in
But the world’s attention remained focused on
as military and civilian leaders in Benghazi, the city that gave birth
to the uprising, said they had no immediate plans to send large groups
of fighters to
Khaled ben Ali, an organizer of the provisional government in Benghazi where the eastern uprising against Gadhafi erupted
said Sunday that a total of about 300 men were traveling in small
groups in private cars, with little or no coordination among them or
with protesters in
At a Benghazi army barracks, rebels collected
weapons — including antiaircraft guns and Kalashnikov rifles — taken
from Gadhafi loyalists. There was continuous talk about going to
“Our bodies are here, but our hearts are in
A few men phoned the provisional government center
in Benghazi’s central courthouse Sunday to report that they had arrived
on the eastern outskirts of
leaving Benghazi over the last several days, other officials said.
Most of the fighters are impassioned young men eager
to play a role in deposing Gadhafi, who has ruled for 41 years. A few
are soldiers who defected from Gadhafi’s army,
Inside
the situation was grim. Two-hour lines awaited people seeking bread or
fuel. Official forces melted away to be replaced by young men or
teenagers who were armed by Gadhafi, giving the city a sense of wild
unpredictability.
“The city is controlled by these mad dogs. They make
it absolutely impossible to enunciate any view against the government,”
a sobbing 62-year-old businessman said by phone.
The Gadhafi government attempted to appease the uprising with an announcement on state television Sunday that
grants would be distributed to each Libyan family as part of the
“beginning of the redistribution of oil wealth to Libyans.” But long
lines of people at the banks were turned away, residents said.
Efforts by foreign governments inside
performed secret rescues, when planes fetched more than 100 people from
a private runway, its foreign minister announced Sunday. The British
said they again used three aircraft at multiple locations in the
eastern Libyan desert to spirit away an additional 150 Britons. A
similar, earlier operation also was successful.
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Fleishman reported from
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