NATO airstrikes continue in Libya

NATO has launched new airstrikes targeting the port of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, as the UN warns about the humanitarian situation in Libya.

Anti-regime fighters are shelling the embattled ruler Muammar Gaddafi’s forces near the city of Ajdabiya as the fighting continues on different fronts, dpa reported.

The revolutionary forces have also captured two border crossings — one between Libya and Chad and the other between Libya and Sudan.

Late on Thursday, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that an offer has been made to withdraw government forces from cities on the condition that opposition forces do the same.

“We are even prepared to go as far as withdrawing our army from all Libyan cites and population centers,” Ibrahim said. “This is a new offer.”

No immediate comment has been made by the revolutionary forces.

In Washington on Thursday, US President Barack Obama said Gaddafi’s time was limited.

“Time is working against Gaddafi. He does not have control over his country. The opposition has organized a legitimate and credible Interim Council,” Obama said.

“When Gaddafi inevitably leaves or is forced from power, decades of provocation will come to an end and the transition to a democratic Libya can proceed,” he added.

Ibrahim responded to his comments by telling reporters, “It is not Obama who decides whether Muammar Gaddafi leaves Libya or not, it is the Libyan people who decide their future.”

In a separate development, Tunisia has denied reports that Gaddafi’s daughter and her mother have crossed into the country.