Gaddafi vows long war

TRIPOLI, March 20 (Agencies): US, British and French forces hammered Libya from the air and sea, prompting leader Moammar Gaddafi to warn Sunday of a long war in the Mediterranean "battlefield" as Tripoli reported dozens of deaths. Col Muammar Gaddafi says Libya will fight a "long war". Correspondents said at least 94 people died in Benghazi in an assault launched on Friday on the rebel-held Mediter­ranean city by forces loyal to Gaddafi. But Libyan State television said 48 people died in the US and European strikes, which marked the widest international military effort since the Iraq war and came as the rebels saw a month's worth of gains reversed by Gaddafi's overwhelming firepower. But as Libya reported the death of 48 persons, at least, in the wake of the West's air strikes, medics in Benghazi said 85 civilians and rebels were killed in fighting with Gaddafi's forces on Friday and Saturday. The raids were "successful", US military chief Adm Mike Mullen said. Adm Mullen also said he had not received any reports of civilian deaths or injuries. Meanwhile a report from Cairo adds, the Arab League Sunday criticised Western military strikes on Libya, a week after urging the United Nations to slap a no-fly zone on the oil-rich North African state. Report from Moscow adds, Russia called for an end to "indiscriminate use of force" by foreign states, taking part in military operations in Libya, its foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday. "We urge the relevant states to stop the indiscriminate use of force," foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in the statement. In Tripoli a furious Gaddafi said on Sunday that all Libyans were armed and ready to fight until victory to defeat what Tripoli has branded a "barbaric aggression." "We promise you a long, drawn-out war with no limits," said the Libyan leader, who was speaking on the state television for a second straight day without appearing in front of camera. The leaders of Britain, France and the United States will "fall like Hitler... Mussolini," warned the strongman of oil-rich Libya who has ruled for four decades but been confronted with an armed uprising since mid-February. "America, France, or Britain, the Christians that are in a pact against us today, they will not enjoy our oil," he said. "We do not have to retreat from the battlefield because we are defending our land and our dignity." US President Barack Obama on a visit to Brazil said the "Odyssey Dawn" operation launched under a UN Security Council resolution was a "limited military action," unlike the regime change aims of the war against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. He pledged no US troops would be deployed on the ground, unlike in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. With the resolution backed by the Arab League, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani defended Doha's announced participation in the strikes on a fellow Arab state, saying the sole aim was to "stop the bloodbath." AFP journalists reported a lull in the air strikes on both Tripoli and around Benghazi early on Sunday, as residents who had fled were seen returning to the rebels' capital in eastern Libya. Benghazi, where a semblance of normality returned with cars out on the road and street markets reopened, was still in rebel hands and Gaddafi forces were believed to be stationed on the outskirts. In Washington, US Admiral William Gortney told reporters at the Pentagon the cruise missiles "struck more than 20 integrated air defence systems and other air defence facilities ashore." In London, the British government said it was taking "every precaution" to avoid civilian casualties. "We should treat with some caution some of the things we see on Libyan state television," Finance Minister George Osborne told BBC television. "The targets last night were very specifically military targets" linked to air defences. In New York, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said on Sunday that Gaddafi was feeling the "unified will" of the international community through the military campaign. "He has been killing his own people. He declared that he will search house to house and kill all the people. That is unacceptable," the UN secretary general told AFP in Paris. The barrage came two days after the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1973 with Arab backing authorised military action to prevent Kadhafi's forces from attacking civilians to put down the uprising.