Food, medicine become scarce amid Libya fighting

AJDABIYA, Libya — Muammar Qaddafi's forces fired rockets along the eastern front line and shelled the besieged city of Misrata on Tuesday as France and Britain said NATO should be doing more to pressure the Libyan regime.

Several rockets struck Ajdabiya, the main point leading into the rebel-held east, and witnesses also reported shelling in Misrata, the only major city in the western half of Libya that remains under partial rebel control.

Weeks of fierce government bombardment of Misrata have terrorized the city's residents, killing dozens of people and leaving food and medical supplies scarce, according to residents, doctors and rights groups. International groups are warning of a dire humanitarian crisis in Libya's third-largest city.

"Unfortunately, with the long-range war machines of Qaddafi forces, no place is safe in Misrata," a medical official in Misrata told The Associated Press, asking that his name not be published for fear of reprisals. Six people were killed Monday and another corpse was brought in Tuesday, he said.

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Libyan opposition spokesman Ali al-Issawi, meanwhile, said Qaddafi's soldiers have killed about 10,000 people throughout the country and injured 30,000, with 7,000 of the injured facing life-threatening wounds. He said another 20,000 people were missing and suspected of being in Qaddafi's prisons.

There was no way to independently verify the report.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday that NATO was not doing enough to ease the pressure on Misrata. He also said the alliance should be firing on the weapons being used by Qaddafi's troops to target civilians in Misrata.

Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague agreed that the allies must "intensify" their efforts.

France has played a particularly aggressive role in Libya in recent weeks, pushing diplomatically for a U.N. resolution to allow the international military operation and firing the first strikes in the campaign. France also was the first to recognize the Libyan opposition and to send a diplomatic envoy to the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

A NATO general rejected the criticism and said the alliance is performing well and protecting civilians.

Dutch Brig. Gen. Mark Van Uhm said the alliance was successful in enforcing an arms embargo, patrolling a no fly zone and protecting civilians. "I think with the assets we have, we're doing a great job," he said.

NATO took over command of the operation over Libya from the U.S. on March 31.

NATO said Tuesday that its aircraft destroyed four tanks near Zintan, 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Tripoli. A separate strike also destroyed an ammunition storage site southwest of Sirte, a Qaddafi stronghold and home to the Libyan leader's tribe, the military alliance said.

"We will continue to strike at the regime's supplies and supply lines and reduce their ability to fight," said the commander of the NATO operation, Canadian Lt. Gen. Charles Bouchard.

Also Tuesday, a British government official said Libya's former Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is traveling to Qatar to share his insight on the workings of Qaddafi's inner circle.

Koussa, who fled to England in late March, is the highest ranking member of Qaddafi's regime to quit so far. He had been a longtime aide throughout Qaddafi's 42-year rule.

Koussa has been asked to attend the conference on Libya being held in Doha as a valuable Qaddafi insider, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.

MI6 agents stopped questioning Koussa last week, according to the official. Koussa had been staying in a safehouse until late Monday night, according to Noman Benotman, an ex-member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and relative of Koussa who has been in regular contact with the former foreign minister since he fled to Britain.

Although Koussa was provided with legal advice, Benotman said he believed he had "cleared most of the legal hurdles in the U.K." surrounding his alleged involvement in the Lockerbie bombing and arming the IRA.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the trip in a statement Tuesday, saying that Koussa was "traveling today to Doha to meet with the Qatari government and a range of other Libyan representatives."

African mediators were meeting in Algeria to discuss Libya on Tuesday, a day after the rebels rejected their cease-fire proposal. The rebels' leadership council has insisted that Qaddafi must give up power.

"Col. Qaddafi and his sons must leave immediately if he wants to save himself," said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, a former justice minister who split with Qaddafi and heads the Benghazi-based Transitional National Council. "If not, the people are coming for him."

On Monday, the government escorted an Associated Press television crew on a trip to Misrata, where soldiers said the rebels had attacked them along the main coastal road.

Heavy shelling and machine gun battles were heard. A convoy carrying old men and women raced outside the city, escorted by the Qaddafi army and an ambulance.

Dozens of white Toyota pick up trucks filed with ammunition and soldiers were parked near a checkpoint 4 miles (7 kilometers) from the center of town.