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Post-Gaddafi government selected as coalition strikes

Arab World Materials 23 March 2011 23:43 (UTC +04:00)

Libya's opposition National Council chose a transitional government on Wednesday, while a top British commander said Moamer Gaddafi's air force capabilities had been destroyed, dpa reported.

Air Vice-Marshal Greg Bagwell, commander of the British aircraft operating over Libya, was quoted by the BBC as saying the country's air force had been destroyed and "no longer exists as a fighting force."

Meanwhile, the Benghazi-based National Council chose former foreign envoy Mahmoud Jibril to lead the transitional period, should Gaddafi be ousted after 42 years in power.

Rebels fighting Gaddafi's forces said the last three nights of coalition air strikes "have weakened Gaddafi's forces, but that they still pose a threat," according to the news website Brnieq.

Western aircraft have flown more than 300 sorties over Libya since the campaign began Saturday and more than 162 Tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired.

However, reports of casualties continue to emerge, with the opposition blog al-Manara posting graphic images of dead fighters in the western city of Misurata. The video could not be independently verified.

Opposition forces said Wednesday that coalition air strikes had helped halt attacks by Gaddafi's forces on Misurata, but throughout the day a number of reports emerged of continued violence.

Despite the weakening of Gaddafi's forces, broadcaster Al Arabiya reported that 22 people were killed Wednesday in Misurata and Zintan.

Al Jazeera quoted an anti-Gaddafi fighter as saying 14 people had been killed and 23 injured in overnight attacks in the city.

The battle for the country's third largest city, some 210 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli, is seen as pivotal as opposition forces attempt to push on to Tripoli.

Wednesday's reported attacks on the opposition came less than 24 hours after Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mahmoudi declared a ceasefire. Two previous ceasefires have not been kept.

Meanwhile, a Hungarian official, representing his country's presidency of the European Union, was in Egypt Wednesday to meet with representatives of the Libyan opposition.

Libya's rebel leaders have alreadyu met with high level officials from both the United States and France.

Although Qatar is the only Arab country to provide aircraft to assist the coalition's military action over Libya, Kuwait and Jordan are now expected to provide "logistical support" to the 11-nation international coalition, according to Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron.

For its part, the German parliament approved indirectly supporting the implementation of a no-fly zone over Libya, officials said.

Germany abstained last week in a UN Security Council vote on military action in Libya, and said it would not commit troops to such a mission.

The Libyan opposition's diplomatic gains for greater international support has not yet translated into control of the capital Tripoli, which remains under Gaddafi's rule.

Explosions reportedly rocked Tripoli earlier in the day. It was not clear where the reported explosions occurred, but there was no anti-aircraft fire, according to a CNN report.

Phone lines to Tripoli and other Libyan cities were down on Wednesday.

Gaddafi held a defiant televised address late Tuesday, saying "we will not give up" and calling on other Muslim countries to "take part in the battle against the crusaders."

In an interview with broadcaster ABC, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Gaddafi had been exploring options for a future abroad, according to US intelligence.

She also said that the US would hand over control of operations in the next few days.

After initially resisting NATO's involvement, Paris agreed Wednesday to let the organisation have a role im planning and executing the campaign, but wants the representatives from the countries involved in the operation in Libya to take the political leadership for the intervention.

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