Head of the rebel forces Abdel Fattah Younes attends a news conference in Benghazi April 5, 2011.Reuters/Reuters
Libyan rebels are lashing out at NATO for the first time since air strikes started, blaming their allies for excessive caution and a sluggish response in the face of continued attacks by government troops.
General Abdel-Fattah Younis, the rebel military chief, gave voice to the frustration brewing within his ranks during an emotional news conference on Tuesday evening.
"Unfortunately, NATO has disappointed us," said the grey-haired former interior minister, surrounded by bodyguards. "Gadhafi is killing civilians every day, women and children, with his weapons and with shortages of food."
Foreign jets continue to patrol the skies as rebels battle Colonel Moammar Gadhafi's troops in the western city of Misrata and the central oil port of Brega. On both fronts, rebels complain that air support has become frustratingly rare in the past several days.
An initial onslaught of attacks from cruise missiles and warplanes last month forced Col. Gadhafi's troops to pull back almost 600 kilometres along the main coastal highway, causing euphoria among the rebels as they advanced past the charred remains of their enemies. Had the bombings continued, rebels believed they would be dancing in the capital within days.
The air strikes slowed down as the rebels approached the Gadhafi stronghold of Sirte, however, and the rebels soon lost almost half of the ground they had captured. No statements from NATO have explained the change in tactics to the satisfaction of the rebels, although some admit that the alliance may have feared what could happen if rebellious youths rampaged into a city known for its loyalty to the regime.
The rebel military chief said NATO could also break the siege of Misrata with air strikes, but apparently it fears killing civilians with errant bombs. Such concerns are misplaced, he argued, because Col. Gadhafi's forces are inflicting far greater harm with their brutal encirclement of the country's third-largest city.
"Myself and many of my officers have tried to contact NATO and give them targets to bomb," Gen. Younis said. "If NATO wanted to end the siege of Misrata, they could have done that days ago."
Even when the foreign jets respond to the rebels' pleading, he added, they're slow to arrive.
"Their reaction takes up to eight hours," he said. "NATO must do its job properly."
The general's criticism of his foreign allies marks a sharp departure from earlier statements by the rebels. Even when a NATO warplane mistakenly killed 13 rebels on Saturday, everybody who spoke about the incident - doctors, rebel fighters, even the families of the victims - refrained from blaming the foreign pilots.
Frustrations are growing inside the rebellion, however, as the front lines have barely moved in the past week and ambulances continue screaming back with the wounded.
Military leaders of the uprising also felt thwarted by their allies in recent days, as they quietly tried to get NATO clearance for a shipment of weapons into Misrata. They loaded an arsenal onto an old Libyan warship docked at Benghazi, but reporters aboard the ship said a Turkish navy vessel forced it to turn around and return home. Boats carrying humanitarian supplies have been permitted, but Gen. Younis said the weapons are also desperately needed.
"Misrata is facing annihilation the truest sense of the word, deprived of electricity, water and basic needs for many days," the general said.
As the rebels become less sure of their international support, many have laid the blame on Turkey. Protesters filled the street outside the Turkish consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday morning, holding signs accusing the Turks of mediating on behalf of the regime in Tripoli.
Turkey sent a medical ship to rescue patients from hospitals in Misrata this week and Turkish Red Crescent workers handed out freshly baked bread to the protesters in front of the consulate. Such gestures are appreciated in Benghazi, but many residents continue worrying that Ankara does not share their desire to see Col. Gadhafi removed.
"We want the air strikes to continue," said Galia Safaz, 26, who wore a modest head scarf but said she would pick up a gun and join the rebellion herself, if necessary. "Why don't they announce the deals that are happening under the table?"
Tofik Al Tarrat, 41, a businessman, stood quietly on the fringes of a crowd that chanted "God is Great." Like many others, he expressed concern that his country's fate was being decided in the back rooms of faraway lands.
"If NATO wants peace," he said, "we don't need them."