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| A mass exodus from the fighting in Libya. |
President Obama demanded Friday that the Libyan government move beyond its declaration of a cease-fire in response to a U.N. Security Council resolution and pull its troops back from cities recently captured from rebels.
Saying the terms were “non-negotiable,” Obama said at the White House that longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi “must stop his troops from advancing on Benghazi, pull them back from Ajdabiya, Misurata and Zawiyah, and establish water, electricity and gas supplies to all areas.” Forces loyal to Gaddafi have been closing in on the rebel capital of Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, after having already overrun Ajdabiya and Zawiyah. Loyalist forces also have been besieging Misurata on the Mediterranean coast 130 miles east of the capital, Tripoli.
Obama spoke after the Libyan government declared an immediate cease-fire Friday in a bid to head off Western military intervention on behalf of rebels seeking to overthrow Gaddafi, hours after the U.N. Security Council authorized a no-fly zone and the use of “all necessary measures” to protect civilians in Libya.
Despite the declaration, Gaddafi’s forces continued pummeling areas of eastern Libya with artillery and airstrikes well after the cease-fire was supposed to take effect. The attacks targeted the areas around Zuwaytinah and Ajdabiya, more than 90 miles south of Benghazi. Jets streaked across the sky firing at targets, at least one helicopter flew low across the desert, and artillery bombardment could be heard for several hours Friday afternoon around Zuwaytinah.
Residents and rebel officials said the assaults continued well after Gaddafi’s government announced a cease-fire Friday afternoon local time.
“Where is the international community?” screamed Mohammed al-Hadar, a rebel fighter. “They are still using airplanes to kill us.”
At least two bodies lay inside a pick-up truck that came from the direction of the fighting. The men appeared to be fighters.
Other fighters withdrawing from Zuwaytinah said Gaddafi’s forces had fired with heavy machine guns at civilians in cars fleeing Ajdabiya. Faraj al-Obeidi said he saw eight civilians, including women and children, who were killed trying to cross the front line by Gaddafi’s forces blocking the eastern entrance to Ajdabiya.
Obeidi said he and his comrades gathered the bodies and covered them with blankets and carpets. “At this moment, the airplanes started bombing and we fled,” said Obeidi. “Their bodies are still along the road.”
Rebel officials said Gaddafi’s forces had no intention of honoring the cease-fire. They said attacks also continued in the western towns of Misurata and Zintan well after the cease-fire was announced.
In his appearance at the White House, Obama stressed in a stern tone that the U.N. resolution’s conditions “must be met.” He said, “The United States, the United Kingdom, France and Arab states agreed that a cease-fire must be implemented immediately. That means all attacks against civilians must stop.”
He said the demands for the pull-back of Libyan troops “are not subject to negotiation.” And he warned that the U.N. resolution “will be enforced through military action” if Gaddafi does not comply.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is traveling to Paris on Saturday for a meeting with European partners about enforcement of the U.N. resolution, Obama announced.
He pledged that the United States will not deploy ground troops in Libya, “and we are not going to use force to go beyond a well-defined goal, specifically the protection of civilians within Libya.”
Earlier, the United States, Britain and France reacted cautiously to the declaration, saying they would judge Gaddafi by his actions. Clinton demanded that Libyan government forces move away from eastern Libya where they have been waging an offensive against rebel-held cities. And U.S. intelligence agencies expressed skepticism about the cease-fire.
Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa told reporters Friday that as a United Nations member, Libya had no choice but to accept the U.N. Security Council resolution.
“Therefore, Libya has decided an immediate cease-fire and the stoppage of all military operations,” he said. He pledged that Libya would protect foreigners and foreign assets in the country.
Kusa also said his government would seek “the opening of dialogue with all channels interested in the territorial integrity of Libya,” suggesting that the regime might be prepared to talk to the rebels if they commit to the unity of the nation. The government has long harbored suspicions that the rebels have separatist intentions.
He said the cease-fire “will take the country back to safety” and ensure the security of all Libyans. But he also criticized the U.N. Security Council’s authorization of military action, which he said violates Libya’s sovereignty.
Musa did not elaborate on his brief statement, leaving unclear exactly what the cease-fire would mean and whether it would apply to other Libyan cities under attack from government forces or only to the front line with rebels in the east. Loyalist forces there are closing in on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
The CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies have seen evidence of continued fighting despite the declared cease-fire, U.S. officials said. American spy agencies have monitored the violence using intelligence assets ranging from satellites to sources inside the country.
“There are [intelligence] reports out of certain areas that fighting continues,” said a U.S. official with access to classified intelligence on Libya. “There are indications that at least some elements tied to Gaddafi may not have gotten the message on the cease-fire.”
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