Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi pummeled rebel positions near the key eastern oil town of Brega Tuesday, forcing opposition fighters into their biggest retreat in several days of inconclusive battles.
Anti-government forces abandoned Brega and headed east toward Ajdabiya in the face of a sustained rocket and mortar bombardment by Mr. Gadhafi’s well-armed troops. Both sides exchanged heavy fire on Tuesday, one day after rebels had taken over a residential part of the city.
The loyalist gains came as the head of Libya’s opposition forces lashed out at the NATO alliance, saying it was failing in its mission to protect civilians.
Abdel Fattah Younes Tuesday accused NATO of indecision and lengthy delays in carrying out needed airstrikes while loyalist troops killed residents in the besieged western city of Misrata. He said when rebels request an airstrike, they can wait for up to 10 hours.
Younes said when the opposition asks to use its fighter jets to aid ground forces, NATO has denied permission. He said he may urge rebel leaders to take opposition grievances to the United Nations Security Council, which authorized force in Libya to stop government troops from harming civilians.
NATO officials say air power over Libya is undiminished but that Mr. Gadhafi has been using civilians as human shields and hiding his armor in populated areas.
Brigadier General Mark van Uhm, chief of allied operations, said NATO’s operational tempo remains, but loyalist troops had changed tactics.
The general said that in Misrata, the alliance has “absolute confirmation” that tanks are being dispersed and humans used as shields “in order to prevent NATO sorties to identify and target those assets.”
Rebel officials disputed Van Uhm’s claim that civilians are present in all areas where pro-Gadhafi forces are positioned.
NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said Tuesday that “the pace of operations since NATO took over has not abated.” The alliance reported that coalition airstrikes have destroyed 30 percent of Libya’s military while enforcing the U.N.-authorized no-fly zone aimed at protecting civilians.
U.S. envoy Chris Stevens met with members of the opposition Transitional National Council Tuesday in Benghazi to better understand who the rebels are and what they need. Qatar, France and Italy have already granted official recognition to the rebel administration.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to end the conflict continue. Libyan envoy Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi ended a shuttle mission to Greece, Malta and Turkey after setting out Libya’s official position. The government said Tuesday that Obeidi has been appointed to replace Moussa Koussa as foreign minister after the close Gadhafi ally defected to Britain.
Both rebel and Western leaders say they will not accept any deal that allows Mr. Gadhafi or his sons to stay in power.
That scenario became even more unlikely Tuesday when the International Criminal Court said it has evidence Mr. Gadhafi’s government had developed plans to deliberately kill civilians even before the uprising in Libya broke out last month.
Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who is investigating Mr. Gadhafi, told the Reuters news agency that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts, “people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations in Libya.” He called the shooting of civilians “predetermined.”
In a step toward securing more funds for opposition weapons and supplies, a tanker arrived Tuesday near the eastern port of Tobruk to load the first rebel oil shipment for export in nearly three weeks. The ship is capable of carrying 1 million barrels of oil.
The rebel leadership also apologized for Libya’s role in the 1988 bombing of a jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, most of them Americans, and pledged to cooperate with all investigations. The council offered the apology on behalf of the Libyan people.
