EU foreign policy chief visits Libya rebel zone

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton pledged support for rebels in east Libya on Sunday, making the most senior visit to the area by a foreign official since the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi began.

European Union foreign policy Chief Catherine Ashton gestures during her visit to the court house in Benghazi May 22, 2011. Ashton pledged support for rebels in east Libya on Sunday, making the most senior visit to the area by a foreign official since a revolt against Muammar Gaddafi began.

“We are here for the long term and what we can offer is support to Libyan institutions and the economy. We will be here to support you all the way,” Ashton said in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, where she opened an EU representative office.

France, Britain and other European states have backed Libya’s poorly trained and equipped rebels against a government that has held onto power for more than four decades.

French planes were the first to bomb Gaddafi’s forces in March after the United Nations voted to allow intervention to protect civilians. The air strikes, now led by NATO, were launched as Gaddafi’s troops advanced on Benghazi after the Libyan leader vowed “no mercy, no pity”.

“I’m very clear that protecting civilians and the people of Libya is fundamental,” said Ashton. “Too many people have died already it is important to realise that Gaddafi should leave.”

Ashton’s visit “shows the increased support of the European Union in supporting us to have a democratic and free state”, said the head of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil.

“The Libyan people appreciate this visit and appreciate the European Union for supporting the revolution,” he said.

Several Libyans surrounded her in the city where the revolt against Gaddafi began in mid-February, flashing “V-for-Victory” signs. One man said: “Every Libyan is very happy.”

MISRATA SCARRED

NATO airstrikes that began on March 31 have stopped Gaddafi’s tanks on their tracks, preventing them from overrunning rebel-held towns.

But an uneasy stalemate has since settled on the battle space with a nearly static frontline in the east in the desert between the towns of Ajdabiyah and Brega, and fighting in western Libya around the rebel controlled city of Misrata.

In Misrata, residents also hailed the West for intervening, their city scarred from weeks of street fighting and bombardment by shells and rockets and damaged shops spilling their meagre wares onto the streets.

Rebels say they have pushed Gaddafi’s forces 25 km (15 miles) from the centre of Misrata after weeks of street fighting and bombardment. Government forces shelled residential areas of Misrata on Saturday, according to rebels.

“If God hadn’t brought us NATO, they would have burned us all,” said Amran Zoufrey, 84. “Even in the Second World War, when I was young, we didn’t have this destruction. Now I wonder when the next rocket will come and kill me.”

Gutted restaurants were heaps of tables, chairs and shattered glass. A clock atop a tower in a central square had stopped at 7.45. The turret of a dismembered tank was leaning upright against the entrance to a watch shop.

“It’s a catastrophe but we have hope. We’ve liberated our city,” said Ali el-Houti, a 42-year-old civil servant, as he walked through the street.

The sound of battle rumbled far in the distance. Abdelsalam, a rebel spokesman in Misrata, said there was fighting in the Defniyah area 30 km west of Misrata, and in Kararim, about 35 km to the east.

He said Gaddafi’s forces are bombarding Defniyah from the nearby town of Zlitan, with one rebel killed and four others wounded in clashes between troops and rebel forces on Saturday.

CLASHES

In the east, Gaddafi’s forces ambushed a group of rebels east of the contested oil town of Brega, near al-Arbaeen, a desert outpost on the coast road from rebel-held Ajdabiyah.

“The rebels sent forces to check out the al-Arbaeen area, then Gaddafi forces surrounded them and started attacking with heavy weaponry,” said Baloun el-Ferjani. “Forces of the national (rebel) army intervened to help.”

A rebel fighter and an ambulance driver were killed, he said, and 12 insurgents were wounded.

In the capital, NATO planes hit a site near Gaddafi’s compound late on Saturday. Libyan officials said the alliance had attacked close to Gaddafi’s Bab al-Aziziyah complex. A column of smoke rose over Tripoli.

There was no immediate word on what the target of the attack was and reporters escorted by Libyan officials were unable to get close to the site.

Gaddafi’s sons show psychological warfare is not all on the western side

As the Libya conflict enters its third month, Whitehall is full of whispered talk of secret defections and cloak-and-dagger deals with more “reasonable” elements within the much-weakened Tripoli regime. The embattled sons of Muammar Gaddafi are looking for a way out, and may even be prepared to dump their father to save their own skins – or so the grapevine has it.

Back door deal: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Security analysts and diplomatic insiders see things differently. It’s clear, they say, that after weeks of inconclusive conflict, neither side can win a military victory. Without a western ground invasion, the rebels are not strong enough to dislodge Gaddafi. So instead, Britain and the US are increasingly engaged in psychological warfare in the hope of fomenting internal dissension and regime collapse. This campaign includes disinformation about the other side’s intentions.

The revamped approach apparently scored a big success this week with the defection of Moussa Koussa, Gaddafi’s foreign minister. But two can play at this game. Gaddafi’s most prominent sons, Saif al-Islam and Mutassim, the national security adviser, were also waging their own “war of nerves”, the sources said. They appeared to be calculating that the Nato-led coalition will run out of time, split apart, and forfeit crucial Arab and domestic support.

Far from genuinely looking for a solution, the brothers’ strategy comprises unofficial “back door” offers of time-consuming talks, floating vague ideas of an “honourable” exit for their father, and impracticable suggestions that they could help form a unity government, the sources suggested.

“Psychological warfare is being waged by western governments in order to hasten the crumbling of the regime,” said Jonathan Eyal, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. “The big hope for western strategy is to avoid a drift into stalemate and avoid putting boots on the ground and hope it [the regime] collapses from within.

“But they don’t have much time. So they are saying, look, the foreign minister has defected to London, there are lots of other defections, look, the [regime] structure is folding. They say this to sow confusion in Tripoli and also to reassure the media, people like yourselves, that they know what they are doing. The London conference [on Libya last Monday] delivered the same message,” Eyal said. “There is a slight element of hype. It suits western governments to fluff it up as much as possible.”

A diplomatic source with close knowledge of Libya expressed scepticism about uncorroborated suggestions that Saif, Mutassim and another Gaddafi son, Saadi, had proposed a deal in which they would stay in office but their father would give up real power.

The Guardian disclosed on Friday that one of Saif’s close aides, Mohammed Ismail, has held talks in London with government officials.

“Saif has had to do what his dad says,” the source said. “He’s had to choose between family loyalties and the need for reform and bringing Libya up to date. For the past eight or nine years, he chose reform. But blood has proved stronger.”

The idea of a national unity government including Gaddafi’s sons and members of the rebels’ national council was probably unworkable and would not satisfy the western coalition as, under that scenario, the Gaddafi clan would have survived in power. At the same time, the sons were too tainted by their close association with the regime to hope to successfully distance themselves from it at this late stage, the source added.

“It’s a pretty dire look-out for all the brothers. No one wants them. Where would they live? What sort of life would it be? We can’t just tell them to surrender and come to the UK. The law would catch up with them,” the source said.

“There are a lot of rumours being put about. A lot of material has been put in play. The fact is, they [the Nato coalition] have not had a lot of success in getting rid of Gaddafi. They don’t want to put boots on the ground. They’ve said they’re going to do it legally. But they can’t do it militarily. So they’ve found other means of proceeding.”

Psychological pressure on the regime increased significantly on Thursday when the New York Times and the Washington Post had stories, quoting unidentified US officials, claiming that Barack Obama had secretly authorised covert operations inside Libya to assist the rebels. David Cameron’s statement this week that Britain has not ruled out supplying arms to the rebels in eastern Libya also appeared to be part of the escalating war of nerves. No weapons have actually been sent.

Eyal said it was likely Gaddafi’s sons were also pursuing a form of psychological warfare by making proposals that could deflect the US and Britain from their purpose of removing Gaddafi.

“It’s plausible that feelers [about a deal] are being put out. But it’s unlikely anyone is going to like it. It would indicate a certain sense of desperation in the Gaddafi ranks,” Eyal said.

“It may also be an attempt to divide the coalition and knock out the Arab countries. The Arabs are hardly involved already. What the regime is saying to the Arab world is that there could be a reasonable deal on the table and the west won’t take it. They want to turn the conflict into the west versus the Arabs.”