Moammar Qaddafi's regime rejected a rebel offer of a ceasefire April 1, as fighting continued for the rebel-held city of Misrata in western Libya. In an exact reversal of the situation just ten days earlier [2], government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim called the ceasefire proposal a "trick," telling reporters: "The rebels never offered peace. They don't offer peace, they are making impossible demands. We will not leave our cities. We are the government, not them." NATO warplanes meanwhile strafed positions held by Qaddafi-loyalist forces in the al-Khums and al-Rojban regions east and southwest of the capital Tripoli. (AFP [3], April 2)
NATO for the first time April 2 expressed concern over reports of civilian deaths in an air-strike near Brega, where a rebel convoy was apparently hit by mistake. Among the 13 dead were four civilians—an ambulance driver and three medical students from Benghazi. By some reports, the rebels inadvertently drew the air-strike by firing in the air in jubilation as they advanced on Brega. (AFP [4], UPI [5], April 2)
See our last post on the Libya crisis [6].
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