UN, Libya cut a Deal on humanitarian aid

TRIPOLI, Libya--Muammar Qaddafi Government has promised the UN access to the besieged rebel city of Misrata, a senior official of the UN said Monday, following weeks of heavy shelling of the city by the Libyan Government troops.

This access is part of an agreement, Sunday, to the United Nations to deliver humanitarian aid in the western areas of Qaddafi of Libya under control. The UN has already set up an operation support in eastern Libya rebel-run.

Spokesman for the Libyan Government Moussa Ibrahim confirmed that the agreement with the UN set up a humanitarian corridor to Misrata, a city of 300,000 and the only rebel-controlled Qaddafi closed in Western Libya. "The agreement is to provide safe passage for people to Misrata, aid, food and medicine, abandoned," said Ibrahim late Sunday.

The Libyan Government has denied that the heavy weapons against Misrata, where the rebels are sticking to positions near the seaport, their only lifeline to the outside world has used.

However, residents and hospital officials in the city have described heavy shelling over the weekend, and said 17 people were killed Sunday. UN officials said children and the elderly among the victims in the past few days.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday appealed to the Libyan armed forces to hold their fire.

"Given the scale of this crisis, and if this battle is still continuing, it is imperative that the Libyan authorities to stop the fighting, stop killing people," he told a press conference in Budapest, Hungary.

Ban said that the basic needs of tens of thousands of people in Libya is not complied with.

He said that the UN will have a "humanitarian presence" in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, under the control of the Qaddafi. Of Tripoli, the u.n. will try to expand operations with the help of the Red Cross and others, ban said. He did not work out.

The UN has already support an operation set up in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Valerie Amos, the u.n. humanitarian chief, said she has received guarantees of public authorities in Tripoli that the UN would be allowed in Misrata.

"What I want to do is to access Misrata, not only from the sea, but also out of the way," Amos told reporters in Benghazi. "We have very little feeling for what is going on there about the city."

Ibrahim, Qaddafi spokesman of the Government, said that the agreement with the UNITED NATIONS also calls for free access of international aid organizations and to ensure that electricity, water and other services to be provided Misrata. City dwellers have said supplies have been severely disrupted.

Also boarded Monday, nearly 1,000 people who among several thousand in the area of Misrata port stranded are an aid ship sent by the International Organization for migration.

Most of the passengers were migrant workers, but also included 100 Libyans, among them 23 wounded in the fighting. The wounded included a child shot in the face and an amputee, the support group said.

"We wanted to be able to take on more people, but it was not possible," said Jeremy Haslam, who heads the Group boat rescue. "Although the exchange of fire disappeared while we with an eerie silence at any given time were boarding, we had a very limited time to the migrants and the Libyans on board the ship and then leave," he said.

The organization said at least 4,000 additional migrants are stranded in the port area, including women and children.

Many of the refugees are living out in the open or in containers in the port area for almost two months, lack of access to water and medical and short in which food. IOM said that many of the migrants are weak and dehydrated.

Haslam said the group must financing for a larger boat to the remaining migrants in one trip recuse.

Libya fighting, two months ago, has a stalemate, with neither side able to gain a decisive advantage and the frontline shifting back and forth on a piece of the desert near the eastern town of Ajdabiya.

On Monday, rebel fighters and Qaddafi the forces battled for a second consecutive day around Ajdabiya, exchange of light salvos of artillery and rocket fire near the West gate of the city.

One of the staunchest supporters of rebels is the wave of Qatar, which has given them diplomatic and financial support. Late Sunday, the leader of the rebel transitional Government, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, arrived in Qatar, the official Qatar News Agency reported. Abdul-Jalil was met by Qatar's Minister of Foreign Affairs.

"I'm here to thank the Qatari government and people for the humanitarian and fraternal position, which had a strong echo in the hearts of all Libyans," said the rebel leader.

In Benghazi said the top rebel oil official that the rebels will not sell any extra oil to resume production of two important fields that battle damage.

The repairs--which rebels say could be completed in weeks--are a priority for the forces of the opposition who rely on oil revenues to help maintain the fight against Qaddafi of stronger military.


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