Libyan government promises access to Misrata, UN says

Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya

The U.N. humanitarian chief said Monday that the Libyan government has promised her access to the besieged rebel city of Misrata but with no guarantees that the assault by Moammar Gadhafi’s forces would cease.

A Libyan official said the government is willing to set up “safe passage” into Misrata, the only city still partly held by rebels in Gadhafi-controlled western Libya. But at the same time, a witness in Misrata reported Monday that government forces continued to pound the city with rockets and artillery.

At least 267 people have been killed in Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city, during more than seven weeks of siege, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Monday. It said the final toll likely is higher. After inspecting impact sites and talking to witnesses, the group accused Libyan forces of launching indiscriminate rocket and mortar attacks on residential neighborhoods.

Rebels and civilians evacuated from Misrata by boat as part of an international rescue mission were taken off on gurneys or in wheelchairs Monday. Some women carried babies. One of the rebels carried fragments of rockets as he disembarked in the rebels’ de facto capital Benghazi late Monday.

“I brought this to show people what’s going on there [in Misrata]. Somebody has to do something about it,” said the rebel, 38-year-old Ali Milad.