Coalition quibbling on Libya continues

“People have a sense of relief and a relative sense of security, knowing that Gadhafi’s troops are running for their lives,” Mohamed Benrasali, a member of the rebel provisional committee administering Misurata, told The Washington Times.

Pro-Gadhafi snipers, however, kept up their campaign of terror from positions on the rooftops of buildings in the center of the city.

Snipers killed three people and wounded 10 on Wednesday, Mr. Benrasali said.

A doctor at a medical center in Misurata, who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity, said most of the snipers’ victims had head and chest injuries.

“They are shooting to kill. They’re not playing games,” he said.

In Misurata, long lines formed outside bakeries and grocery stores, which opened for the first time in almost a week.

But residents remained anxious.

“It is not over yet,” Mr. Benrasali said, adding that the coalition should keep up its attack on the regime’s supply routes and put more political pressure on Col. Gadhafi.

Mr. Benrasali said there had been no civilian casualties in the airstrikes, which he described as very precise.

Pro-Gadhafi forces have used tanks, artillery and rocket launchers against unarmed civilians and a ragtag rebel army in recent days.

In Tripoli, residents said they heard explosions in the city’s Tajoura neighborhood. The regime said these were airstrikes.

NATO deadlocked

At NATO headquarters in Brussels, the allies continued the tortuous process of trying to reach agreement on a new command structure for the complex operation.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 authorized any member states to take “all necessary measures” short of occupation to impose the no-fly zone and protect civilians.

By Tuesday, the outlines of a deal began to emerge, in which a NATO command structure would operate under the leadership of an ad hoc political committee of foreign ministers of the coalition nations. But the 28-member NATO alliance operates by consensus and throughout Wednesday at its headquarters in Brussels, that proved elusive.

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