20110406
reuters

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - The head of Libya's rebel army has accused NATO of being too slow to order air strikes to protect civilians, allowing Muammar Gaddafi's forces to slaughter the people of the besieged city of Misrata.

NATO officials have said their six-day-old air campaign is now focused on Misrata, under daily attack by army tanks and snipers as the only big population centre in western Libya where a revolt against Gaddafi has not been crushed.

The rebels say it is not enough.

"NATO blesses us every now and then with a bombardment here and there, and is letting the people of Misrata die every day," Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel forces said in the eastern stronghold city of Benghazi. "NATO has disappointed us."

The alliance said the pace of air strikes had not abated since it took over from a coalition led by the United States, Britain and France on March 31.

It now leads air strikes targeting Gaddafi's military infrastructure and policing a no-fly zone and an arms embargo but is wary of hitting civilians.

Younes said rebels were considering referring what he said was slow decision-making by NATO to the U.N. Security Council which authorised its mission.