Monday, March 21, 2011
ZWITINA, Libya (AP) — Energized by international strikes on Moammar Gadhafi's forces, rebels advanced in an attempt to reclaim an eastern city under siege by the Libyan leader's troops today as the U.S. commander of the allied campaign warned that a stalemate could emerge from the bombardment.
That could mean a longer conflict and an unclear end game as the U.S. and European countries try to calibrate how much their now three-day old air campaign — officially intended to protect civilians — should go toward actively helping the rebel cause. Henri Guaino, a top adviser to the French president, said the allied effort would last "a while yet."
Ali Zeidan, an envoy to Europe from the opposition-created governing council, told The Associated Press that rebels want to drive Gadhafi from power and see him tried — not have him killed. He said that while airstrikes have helped, the opposition needs more weapons to win the fight.
"We are able to deal with Gadhafi's forces by ourselves" as long as it's a fair fight, he said in Paris. "You see, Gadhafi himself, we are able to target him, and we would like to have him alive to face the international or the Libyan court for his crime. ... We don't like to kill anybody ... even Gadhafi himself."