Fighting in Misrata has claimed hundreds of lives with no sign of a breakthrough for either side Friday 22 April 2011
Libya tribes' Misrata 'ultimatum'
Fighting in Misrata has claimed hundreds of lives with no sign of a breakthrough for either side Tribes loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have said that if the army cannot drive rebels from the besieged port city of Misrata, they will, a senior official says.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the army had tried to keep civilian casualties low but the tribes would not show the same restraint.
Col Gaddafi's forces have been pounding Misrata for weeks.
Meanwhile, Nato forces carried out more air strikes on the capital, Tripoli.
Correspondents reported hearing loud explosions early on Saturday in the area of Col Gaddafi's compound.
A Libyan government spokesman in Tripoli told the BBC that a car park close to the Bab al-Aziziyah compound had been hit.
Aid organisations say Misrata - the main rebel-held area in western Libya - faces a humanitarian crisis after weeks of fighting. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people there have died.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Tripoli says the government has previously used the prospect of tribal civil war in Libya as a threat against rebel leaders and Nato intervention.
He says the regime is feeling increasingly isolated and is hoping for some kind of a diplomatic solution.
The ultimatum came in a meeting between tribal leaders and the military in the area of Misrata still controlled by the government, Mr Kaim said.
He said the tribes were angry that people's lives had been disrupted by weeks of fighting that had cut the main coastal road and stopped trade in the city.
Tribal leaders say the seaport is for all Libyans and not just the rebels, Mr Kaim said.
In normal times Misrata is a major commercial centre and its port is second only to Tripoli.
"Now there is an ultimatum before the Libyan army. If they can't resolve the problem in Misrata then the people from the region... will move in," he told reporters.
He said the tribes would first try to persuade the rebels to lay down their arms, but if that failed they would move in. The army would stay where it was, he added.
"The tactic of the army is to have a surgical solution but with the (Nato) air strikes it doesn't work," Mr Kaim said.
A fourth evacuation ship chartered by the International Organisation for Migration is on its way to rescue stranded migrant workers and wounded civilians from the besieged city.
Earlier, the most senior US soldier, Adm Mike Mullen, said the war in Libya was "moving towards stalemate", even though US and Nato air strikes have destroyed 30-40% of Libya's ground forces.
The US has authorised the use of armed, unmanned Predator drones over Libya to give "precision capabilities".
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