The Gaddafi regime 11 imams buried
The regime of Muammar Gaddafi Saturday buried eleven imams killed, he said, in a NATO air strike, while the UN special envoy was to go Sunday in the Libyan capital.
On the diplomatic front, Mahmoud Jibril, number two in the Libyan rebellion, was received in Paris by President Nicolas Sarkozy, while nearly three months after the start of the protest movement's unprecedented plan, the insurgents are short weapons and money.
Hundreds of Libyans attended the funerals of religious leaders in the cemetery of al-Shati Henchir, east of Tripoli, to cries of "jihad, jihad" and "God, Libya and Muammar.
The eleven Imams were killed, according to the scheme, on the night of Thursday to Friday in a NATO bombing in Brega (East), who also made at least 50 wounded.
The commander Khouildi al-Hamidi, a relative of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, attended the ceremony, where about twenty women brandished portraits of Libyan leader.
In a statement, NATO said it had received a command center and control Brega Friday, saying it was used by the regime to "coordinate strikes against the civilian population."
"We are aware of the assertions about civilian casualties related to the strike, and although we can not independently confirm the validity (...) we regret the death of innocent civilians when it occurs," said the Atlantic Alliance in a statement.
On 1 April, NATO had killed nine rebels in error and four civilians in the eastern port of Brega, and 7, a new burr Alliance had at least 4 dead and between Brega Ajdabiya.
NATO took command of operations in late March of the international coalition intervened on March 19 in Libya to stop violence against civilians in accordance with a resolution of the Security Council of the UN.
Although an isolated Muammar Gaddafi continues to defy the Alliance. "I'll tell you that your shelling does not reach me because millions of Libyans me carry in their hearts," he said Friday night.
This audio message was broadcast by state television the day after NATO strikes on his residential compound in Tripoli, which killed three people and wounded 27, according to a government's record.
Since the beginning of the revolt in mid-February, the violence has caused thousands of deaths according to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and forced nearly 750,000 people to flee, according to the UN.
The Special Envoy of the UN, Abdel-Elah al-Khatib, announced Sunday he would visit Tripoli, where he is scheduled to arrive aboard a Greek military plane, according to a source from the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Meanwhile, the rebels continued their diplomatic offensive to build their international legitimacy and raise money and weapons.
Mahmoud Jibril, "Prime Minister" of the National Transitional Council (CNT), political arm of the rebellion, met in Paris with Nicolas Sarkozy.
Regarding weapons, the French Minister of Defence Gerard Longuet, however, had been very clear a few days ago: the delivery of weapons to the rebels is currently excluded.
This is the second time Mr. Jibril was received by Mr. Sarkozy. March 10, during his first visit to France had formally recognized the CNT as "the legitimate representative of the Libyan people" and decided to send an ambassador to Benghazi.
Since then, four other countries have recognized as a legitimate interlocutor CNT: Italy, Qatar, Gambia and Great Britain.
Jibril was received Friday at the White House, which, without diplomatic recognition rebellion, however, deemed "legitimate and credible."
In an interview published Saturday by the Arabic daily Al-Hayat, the French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, called for intensified military pressure on the regime of Gaddafi.
On the ground, the rebels, boosted by the capture of the airport Misrata (200 km east of Tripoli), have pushed government forces again on Friday.
According to an AFP correspondent said, they grew 20 km east of Misrata, reaching the gates of Tavarga. To the west, they were at the entrance to Zliten, located about fifty kilometers, and 150 km from the capital.
The front line is stabilized for several weeks between Ajdabiya, 160 km south-west of rebel stronghold of Benghazi and Brega, 80 km further west, held by loyalist forces.
