France, Italy send officers to advise Libya rebels

PARIS, April 20 (AFP): France and Italy joined Britain Wednesday in sending military advisers to assist Libya's rebel shadow government in its Benghazi stronghold. "We are going to help you," France's President Nicolas Sarkozy told Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of Libya's Transitional National Council (TNC), which leads the revolt against Moamer Kadhafi's 42-year-old rule, aides said. French officials said Sarkozy and Abdel Jalil had discussed stepping up coalition air strikes against Kadhafi's forces, and insisted that the rebel leader had not requested support from coalition ground troops. Separately Italy -- along with France and Qatar one of only three states to recognise the TNC -- announced the dispatch of 10 officers. Meanwhile, the UN has said the reported use of cluster munitions by Col Gaddafi's forces in the city of Misrata "could amount to international crimes". "Reportedly one cluster bomb exploded just a few hundred metres from Misrata hospital, and other reports suggest at least two medical clinics have been hit by mortars or sniper fire," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement. Rebels in Libya's besieged city of Misrata have called for Britain and France to send troops to help the fight against Kadhafi's regime. The rebels in Misrata, which has been under siege for more than a month and seen hundreds killed, have no direct contact with coalition forces, which have nevertheless carried out air strikes on Kadhafi allies besieging the town. Meanwhile another report adds from Brussels, NATO acknowledged Tuesday the limits of air power to stop Moamer Kadhafi's forces attacking the Libyan city of Misrata as France voiced more frustration over the one-month-old bombing campaign.