Airstrikes force Gaddafi to withdraw tanks

AJDABIYA (Libya), Mar 23 (agencies): International airstrikes forced Moammar Gaddafi's forces to withdraw tanks that were besieging a rebel-held western city Wednesday, residents said, while people fleeing a strategic city in the east said the situation was deteriorating amid relentless shelling. Western diplomats, meanwhile, said an agreement was emerging about NATO to take responsibility for a no-fly zone over Libya after the United States which has effectively commanded the operation until now - reiterated that it was committed to the transition. NATO warships were to begin patrolling off Libya's coast Wednesday to enforce the U.N. arms embargo. The international coalition continued airstrikes and patrols aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone and protecting Libyan civilians early Wednesday, but the report that Misrata was targeted could not immediately be confirmed. U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel J. Locklear, the on-scene commander, said Tuesday the coalition was "considering all options" in response to intelligence showing troops were targeting civilians in the city, 125 miles (200 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli. A doctor in Misrata said the tanks fled shortly after the airstrikes began around midnight, giving the city a much-needed reprieve after more than a week of attacks and a punishing blockade. The city is inaccessible to human rights monitors or journalists. He said the situation was better but still dangerous, with pro-Gaddafi snipers shooting at people from rooftops inside the city. Meanwhile, European Union (EU) states formally approved new sanctions Wednesday on the Libyan National Oil Corporation, the bloc's Hungarian chair said in Brussels. The measures, in line with a UN Security Council resolution, will enter force when they are published, with the exact list of persons and entities involved, today (Thursday) in the EU's Official Journal, the record of EU law. The sanctions "will also include further oil companies that were not mentioned in (UN) resolution 1973," the EU presidency said in a statement. They were "adopted by written procedure" across the 27-nation bloc. "The funds and economic resources of the designated entities will be frozen and the additional names will be added to the travel ban or the asset freeze list," the statement said. Last Tuesday the United States placed sanctions on 14 firms controlled by the national oil company, saying it has been a primary source of funding for Gaddafi's regime. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday she was in favour of a Libyan oil embargo after the EU settled its third wave of restrictive EU measures slapped on the Libyan strongman. They apply to 11 Gaddafi associates and nine economic entities. A fourth series of sanctions will also be discussed next week in Brussels, a diplomat said. An earlier report from Paris added: NATO will not take "political leadership" of the international coalition in Libya but rather a planning and operational role to enforce a UN-backed no-fly zone, the French foreign minister said. "NATO will intervene as a tool for planning and operational action" in applying the no-fly zone provided for in UN Security Council Resolution 1973, Alain Juppe said at a press conference. This role would fall to a committee of foreign affairs ministers from coalition countries taking part in military operations along with the Arab League, he said. In Brussels, NATO debated Wednesday whether the alliance should join the no-fly zone in Libya as Western allies sought to overcome divisions over giving the military organisation control of operations. France has resisted giving NATO command of the international campaign, warning that running operations under the Western alliance's flag could alienate Arab nations that it wants to bring into the action.