20110407
presstv
The United Nations has called for a cessation in the fighting between Muammar Gaddafi loyalists and revolutionary forces around the Libyan city of Misratah.

Valerie Amos, the UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, called on Wednesday for "a temporary cessation of hostilities” to let people and their families get out the battlefield and to allow the UN to send supplies to the beleaguered city, AFP reported.

"The situation on the ground is critical for a large number of people who immediately need food, clean water and emergency medical assistance," Amos said.

Misratah, about 215 kilometers (130 miles) east of Tripoli, has been the scene of heavy weapons fire since the revolutionaries took control of the eastern oil-rich town of Brega and advanced to Misratah, which is located in the western part and controlled by Gaddafi forces.

Gaddafi tanks continued shelling homes in Misratah on Wednesday but there were no verified reports of the casualties.

The revolutionaries have slammed the NATO for failing to fulfill its task of protecting civilians and said that the Western military alliance, by carrying fewer operations, has let Gaddafi forces kill people in Misratah every day.

Under pressure from criticisms, the Western forces conducted two air strikes in the city on Wednesday, an opposition spokesman said.

NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero, however, has said Gaddafi forces “have learned and have adapted, so it's difficult to attack them from the air.”

The war in Libya is further proof of the inabilities of NATO, which is already locked in another conflict in Afghanistan, failing to produce the intended results.