Misrata Rebels Push back Gov’t Troops
Libya, Tripoli
Rebels in Libya’s western city of Misrata say they have pushed back government troops from positions surrounding the city, as NATO airstrike continues to intensify. Rebel forces are believed to be now in control of the city’s coastline stretch and have advanced 30 km heading towards the capital, Tripoli. The revolutionaries are controlling the western part of the city while forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi are still holding the south-eastern part of the airport. The progress by the rebels is said to have been aided by the Monday’s NATO airstrike on government weapons depot near Misrata.
UN’s under-secretary for humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos has called for a pause to ease the humanitarian crisis in Libya, where he described the situation in Misrata as being dire.
“In Misrata, which is at the forefront of our concerns, shelling and fighting has been ongoing in parts of the city for over two months. Stocks are available, but some people are running short of food, water and other basics,” he said.
Over 300 people have been reported to have died in Misrata only in the weeks of fighting that has enveloped the northern Africa country. The Libyan unrest began as peaceful demonstrations that were calling for an end of Col Gaddafi’s 41-year rule.
On Monday a Red Cross Ship carrying medical supplies, food stuffs and spare parts for electrical and water systems successfully docked in Misrata port. The port remains the lifeline for the besieged city, whose water, electricity and other basic supplies have been cut off for the past two months. Last week the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) chartered aid ship carrying 180 tonnes of supplies came under rocket attack from government troops after docking at the port killing at least five people.
A series of blasts were heard from an apparent NATO missile strike on Tuesday at 0200 GMT targeting Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli. Jets in a heavy bombardment of the capital carried out eight strikes lasting for three hours. Reports say that smoke was seen rising from a site near offices of Libyan state television as two big hits were heard at Col Gaddafi’s residence and four others at an intelligence building in the capital.
Libyan officials claim that four children were wounded in the overnight NATO strikes, two of whom sustained serious injuries from flying glass caused by the blasts are said to be in intensive care in hospital.
The airstrike comes after NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told the CNN that the game was over for Col Gaddafi who was running out of time. He said Col Gaddafi had been stopped had been stopped in his track and should realise soon or later that there is no future for him or his regime.
The military alliance took over command of implementation of a UN resolution in March to protect civilians under attacks from government forces and enforce a declared no-fly zone over Libyan airspace.
A ship carrying 600 refugees from Libya sank off the country’s coast on Friday. The boat is said was heading to Italy from Tripoli when it hit rocks and capsized. The Italian coast agents rescued many of the passengers but no details on death toll have been released.
NATO has denied reports by the British Newspaper The Guardian that its units failed to save dozens of African immigrants fleeing Libya when the vessel they were travelling in had been adrift at sea for 16 days leading to death of 61 people.
Khartoum, Sudan
North, South Agree on Abyei Troops Pull-Out
The United Nations has said the north and south Sudan have agreed to withdraw all unauthorised troops from the disputed oil-rich Abyei region.
The UN mission in Sudan-UNMIS said in a statement on Sunday that there was good will in the latest round of talks between the two sides and had committed to the pullout exercise beginning on Tuesday.
Representatives from both north’s Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and south’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) signed the agreement for implementing the January accord that mandated the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs).
The unauthorised troops are to be replaced by the task force, as UNMIS said it will meet with both sides again on Thursday to assess the progress of the withdrawal which is expected to complete by May 17 according to the signed agreement.
Both sides have been trading claims over sending unauthorised troops to the disputed region against the 2005 peace accord. North and south troops have been clashing recently over control of Abyei region which both sides claim. A recent clash between forces from the two sides left 14 killed and several other combatants wounded.
Development Ministers from Norway, UK and US have advised that the Abyei conflict should be resolved peacefully to avoid situations likely to drag the country back to civil war. The three, Erik Solheim, Norway's minister for environment and international development, UK secretary of state for international development and Rajiv Shah, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) administrator said in a joint statement during a press briefing in Juba after meeting South Sudan leader Salva Kiir.
Eritrean leader Isaias Afewerki has termed the split of Sudan as an inevitable result of political blunders and international interventions in the south. Afewerki held that Eritrea had worked for Sudan’s unity over the last twenty years emphasizing that breaking up of its territory into blocks may cast a shadow on the fate of the state which has seen a quantum leap in the areas of development.
He was speaking during an interview with local Al-Shoroog TV where he called on the Sudanese people to preserve the unity of the remaining land.
The Abyei vote on fateful citizenship of residents was scheduled along with the South’s on referendum but was delayed over outstanding differences over voting rights of a nomad community and possible border separation.
The south is against enlisting members of the Misseriya- Arab nomads, whom it accuses the north of transferring them from the north to influence the vote against the native Dinka Ngok who are expected to vote in favour of joining the south. The Misseriya have threatened to carry out acts of violence in the region if they won’t be allowed to vote.
The south awaits legitimate recognition as an independent state in July following January’s overwhelming vote in favour of secession. The referendum was part of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) brokered, ending a two-decade long north-south civil strife that claimed an estimated 2 million lives.
President Omar Al-Bashir has said that he would not recognise south’s independence if it did not give up claims on Abyei.