NATO strikes on Tripoli pause after heavy bombing

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - NATO bombing of Tripoli paused Wednesday morning after some of the heaviest bombardments of the Libyan capital since air strikes began in March, but rebels said Muammar Gaddafi's army continued to shell their positions.

A Reuters reporter in Tripoli said no further explosions were heard after about 2 a.m., (1 a.m. British time). Loud blasts had been shaking Tripoli throughout Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, with warplanes hitting the city several times an hour.

NATO says the bombing campaign aims to protect civilians from the Libyan leader's military, which crushed popular protests against his rule in February, leaving many dead.

But with officials like British Foreign Secretary William Hague talking explicitly of Gaddafi being forced out, critics say NATO has gone far beyond its U.N. mandate to protect civilians.

Rebel spokesman Abdulrahman told Reuters from Zintan that pro-Gaddafi forces had shelled the western town Wednesday, after massing in their biggest numbers nearby since the start of fighting in that area Tuesday.

"Gaddafi forces bombarded Zintan with Grad rockets. They fired around 15 rockets," he said. "They are now using anti-aircraft weapons. I can hear explosions."

As bombs fell late Tuesday, Gaddafi vowed to fight to the end, after strikes on his Bab al-Aziziya compound.

"We only have one choice: we will stay in our land dead or alive," he said in a fiery audio address on state television.

The station later showed images of what it said was Gaddafi, who has sought to portray the NATO campaign as an attempt to grab Libya's abundant oil, meeting tribal leaders Tuesday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said there was significant progress in the operation and it was "just a matter of time before Gaddafi goes."

At least 31 people were killed in 60 strikes on Tripoli, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters. His account could not be independently verified.

A British defence official said several operations carried out by fighter aircraft had targeted Gaddafi's secret police headquarters and a military installation on Tripoli's southwestern outskirts.

Gaddafi's troops and the rebels have been deadlocked for weeks, with neither side able to hold territory on a road between Ajdabiyah in the east, which Gaddafi's forces shelled on Monday, and the Gaddafi-held oil town of Brega further west.

Rebels control the east of Libya, the western city of Misrata and the range of mountains near the border with Tunisia. They have been unable to advance on the capital against Gaddafi's better-equipped fighters.

Gaddafi's forces pulled back to high ground in the Western Mountains outside Yafran, 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Tripoli. The rebels broke a long government siege of the town on Monday.

NATO DUE TO MEET FOR REVIEW

Three months into the Western bombing campaign, the head of NATO will seek a broadening of support for the mission on Wednesday as the alliance steps up efforts to oust Gaddafi.

Ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday NATO had made considerable progress since taking over the mission on March 31 and had seized the momentum from Gaddafi's forces.

U.S. Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of the Joint Operations Command at Naples conducting the Libya campaign, suggested last week a small force may be needed once Gaddafi's regime collapses to help the transition to democracy.

NATO officials said that while ministers would discuss their post-Gaddafi role, there was no plan for ground troops.

Diplomatic overtures are being made to the rebels by world powers, including Russia and China, despite their misgivings about interference in Libya's affairs.

A Russian special envoy for Africa said in the rebel capital of Benghazi Tuesday that Gaddafi could no longer represent Libya and that Russia was ready to help in any way possible.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said an Egypt-based Chinese diplomat had visited Benghazi for talks with the rebel-led National Transitional Council.

The Libya contact group of Western and Arab countries agreed in May to provide millions of dollars in non-military aid to help the rebels keep services and the economy running. They meet Thursday in the United Arab Emirates.

Al-Saedi Gaddafi, one of Gaddafi's sons, said in comments broadcast on state television that the fighting in Libya was an attempt by Islamists to seize power.

(Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels and Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers; Writing by Tim Cocks and John Irish; editing by Richard Meares)

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