Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi arrived in Athens to meet with the prime minister, raising prospect of diplomatic efforts to end a war facing a stalemate.
A Libyan minister flew to Greece on Sunday with a message from Muammar Gadhafi, a Greek government official said, raising the prospect of diplomatic efforts to end a war facing stalemate on the battlefield.
The Greek official told Reuters that Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi arrived in Athens after the Libyan government asked to send an envoy with a message for Prime Minister George Papandreou. He was expected to meet Papandreou later on Sunday.
It was not clear what the message was about, but Papandreou has been talking by phone with the leaders of Qatar, Turkey and Britain over the last two days.
Media reports have suggested various countries are working to find a diplomatic solution to the war in Libya, where rebels and Gadhafi's forces have been unable to break a stalemate in chaotic fighting along the Mediterranean coast.
Neither Gadhafi's troops, tanks and artillery nor the disorganized rebel force have been able to gain the upper hand, despite Western air power in effect aiding the insurgents.
Both sides have become bogged down in fighting over the eastern oil town of Brega, a sparsely populated settlement spread over more than 25 km.
The rebels are, however, attempting to put their house in order, naming a "crisis team" with Gadhafi's former interior minister as the armed forces chief of staff, to try to run the parts of Libya they hold.
The rebels say they are restructuring their forces to end the pendulum swing of euphoric advance in the wake of Western air strikes followed by headlong retreat in the face of government artillery.
"We are reorganizing our ranks. We have formed our first brigade. It is entirely formed from ex-military defectors and people who've come back from retirement," former air force major Jalid al-Libie told Reuters in Benghazi.
Asked about numbers, he said he could not reveal that, but added: "It's quality that matters".
The aim was for the trained force to steel resistance of the many volunteers so the rebel army could hold ground.
Outside Brega, better rebel discipline was already in evidence on Sunday. The less disciplined volunteers, and journalists, were being kept several kilometers east of the front. The insurgents have also deployed heavier weapons.
Without the backbone of regular forces, the lightly-armed volunteer caravan has spent days dashing back and forth along the coast road on Brega's outskirts, scrambling away in their pick-ups when Gadhafi's forces fire rockets at them.
The enthusiastic volunteers tend to get on well with the rebel army, made up of soldiers who defected to the rebels, but a small scuffle broke out near Brega's eastern gate on Sunday as a soldier berated them for their lack of discipline.
"These revolutionaries go in and fire and that's it. They don't have any tactics, these guys. They cause problems," said the soldier, Mohammed Ali.
The rebel leadership called for NATO-led air assaults to continue despite 13 rebel fighters being killed in a strike as they tried to take control of Brega.
NATO has conducted at least 547 sorties since it took over command of Libya operations on March 31, including more than 200 intended as strike missions, but has not confirmed hitting any targets. It also has 21 ships patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to enforce an arms embargo mandated by the United Nations.
While fighting in the east risks stalemate, in the west Gadhafi's forces continued to besiege the city of Misrata, shelling a building that had been used to treat wounded, a resident said, killing one person and wounding more.
Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Gadhafi's rule in mid-February, but it is now surrounded by government troops after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country.
Doctors say hundreds have been killed in Misrata despite two weeks of Western air strikes meant to stop killing of civilians.
A doctor who gave his name as Ramadan told Reuters by telephone from the city that 160 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in fighting in Misrata over the past seven days.
Ramadan, a British-based doctor who said he arrived in Misrata three days ago on a humanitarian mission, had no figure for the total toll since fighting began six weeks ago.
"But every week between 100 or 140 people are reported killed -- multiply this by six and our estimates are 600 to 1,000 deaths since the fighting started," he said.
After weeks of shelling and encirclement, Gadhafi's forces appear to be gradually loosening the rebels' hold on Misrata. Rebels say they still control the city center and the port, but government troops are pressing in.
One rebel in Benghazi said food supplies were acutely low in Misrata. "There are severe food shortages and we call on humanitarian organizations to help," said the rebel called Sami, who said he was in regular contact with a Misrata resident.
Some supplies are getting through the rebel-held port though, and a Turkish ferry, kitted out as a hospital ship, evacuated 250 wounded along with 100 care workers from Misrata on Sunday, Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency said.
The ship was bound for Benghazi, where a further 1OO patients were waiting to be picked up, along with 30 Turkish and 40 foreign citizens, and brought back to Turkey, Anatolian said. The ferry had to wait off Misrata for five days due to clashes.
Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified because Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from the city, 200 km east of Tripoli.
Gaddafi's troops are also mopping up resistance in the mountainous southwest of Tripoli.
Government forces shelled the small town of Yafran, southwest of the capital on Sunday, killing two people, Arabiya television reported, quoting a witness.
They also shelled the city of Zintan, about 160 km southwest of the capital, a resident said.
"Gaddafi's brigades bombarded Zintan with tanks in the early hours on Sunday. There has been random bombardment of the northern area (of Zintan). They are still besieging the town," the resident, called Abdulrahman, told Reuters.
Without the backbone of regular forces, the lightly-armed volunteer caravan has spent days dashing back and forth along the coast road on Brega's outskirts, scrambling away in their pick-ups when Gadhafi's forces fire rockets at them.
The enthusiastic volunteers tend to get on well with the rebel army, made up of soldiers who defected to the rebels, but a small scuffle broke out near Brega's eastern gate on Sunday as a soldier berated them for their lack of discipline.
"These revolutionaries go in and fire and that's it. They don't have any tactics, these guys. They cause problems," said the soldier, Mohammed Ali.
The rebel leadership called for NATO-led air assaults to continue despite 13 rebel fighters being killed in a strike as they tried to take control of Brega.
NATO has conducted at least 547 sorties since it took over command of Libya operations on March 31, including more than 200 intended as strike missions, but has not confirmed hitting any targets. It also has 21 ships patrolling the Mediterranean Sea to enforce an arms embargo mandated by the United Nations.
While fighting in the east risks stalemate, in the west Gadhafi's forces continued to besiege the city of Misrata, shelling a building that had been used to treat wounded, a resident said, killing one person and wounding more.
Misrata, Libya's third city, rose up with other towns against Gadhafi's rule in mid-February, but it is now surrounded by government troops after a violent crackdown put an end to most protests elsewhere in the west of the country.
Doctors say hundreds have been killed in Misrata despite two weeks of Western air strikes meant to stop killing of civilians.
A doctor who gave his name as Ramadan told Reuters by telephone from the city that 160 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in fighting in Misrata over the past seven days.
Ramadan, a British-based doctor who said he arrived in Misrata three days ago on a humanitarian mission, had no figure for the total toll since fighting began six weeks ago.
"But every week between 100 or 140 people are reported killed -- multiply this by six and our estimates are 600 to 1,000 deaths since the fighting started," he said.
After weeks of shelling and encirclement, Gadhafi's forces appear to be gradually loosening the rebels' hold on Misrata. Rebels say they still control the city center and the port, but government troops are pressing in.
One rebel in Benghazi said food supplies were acutely low in Misrata. "There are severe food shortages and we call on humanitarian organizations to help," said the rebel called Sami, who said he was in regular contact with a Misrata resident.
Some supplies are getting through the rebel-held port though, and a Turkish ferry, kitted out as a hospital ship, evacuated 250 wounded along with 100 care workers from Misrata on Sunday, Turkey's state-run Anatolian news agency said.
The ship was bound for Benghazi, where a further 1OO patients were waiting to be picked up, along with 30 Turkish and 40 foreign citizens, and brought back to Turkey, Anatolian said. The ferry had to wait off Misrata for five days due to clashes.
Accounts from Misrata cannot be independently verified because Libyan authorities are not allowing journalists to report freely from the city, 200 km east of Tripoli.
Gaddafi's troops are also mopping up resistance in the mountainous southwest of Tripoli.
Government forces shelled the small town of Yafran, southwest of the capital on Sunday, killing two people, Arabiya television reported, quoting a witness.
They also shelled the city of Zintan, about 160 km southwest of the capital, a resident said.
"Gaddafi's brigades bombarded Zintan with tanks in the early hours on Sunday. There has been random bombardment of the northern area (of Zintan). They are still besieging the town," the resident, called Abdulrahman, told Reuters.
source: REUTERS
