Libyan rebels said they took control of Misrata airport in heavy fighting with forces loyal to Muammar Qadhafi on Wednesday and rejected a United Nations call for a cease-fire. The rebels are fighting to end Qadhafi's 41 years in power, but the war has reached stalemate with Qadhafi controlling the capital and almost all of western Libya while rebels control Benghazi and other towns in the oil-producing east.
Misrata is the only major city the rebels hold in the west and for eight weeks Qadhafi's forces have besieged it, leading to fierce fighting in which hundreds have been killed. "The airport, with the help from great God, has been freed. The rebels have seized many weapons including tanks and, thank God, they are still functioning," said rebel spokesman Mohamad Jaber by telephone from Misrata, a port city about 190 km east of Tripoli.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Wednesday for an "immediate, verifiable cease-fire" but rebels fighting in western Libya dismissed the idea. "We don't trust Qadhafi ... This is not the time for a cease-fire because he never respects it," said a rebel spokesman called Abdulrahman, speaking by telephone from Zintan in the Western Mountains region.
"He bombards civilians immediately after his regime speaks of willingness to observe a cease-fire," the spokesman said, adding that Qadhafi's forces fired 20-25 Grad missiles at rebels on Wednesday, killing one and wounding three others. Ban spoke in Geneva after talks with Libyan Prime Minister Al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi. The European Union said it planned to open an office in Benghazi to help the rebel council there with health, education and border security. "Let us ... be clear, Qadhafi must go from power - he must end his regime," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
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