US urges Libyan military to stop obeying Kadhafi

WASHINGTON: The United States urged the Libyan military on Thursday to stop obeying the orders of Moamer Kadhafi as coalition air strikes bombarded targets in Tripoli and elsewhere for a sixth day.

The US military said there would be no let-up in the allied assault as Kadhafi forces clearly were not living up to declared ceasefires and continued to attack towns such as Misrata and Zintan.

"Our message is simple: stop fighting, stop killing your own people, stop obeying the orders of Colonel Kadhafi," Vice Admiral William Gortney told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

His plea came the day after US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the air strikes would fuel a possible mutiny inside Kadhafi's regime and bolster the ranks of opposition forces.

"Let me be clear. When and where regime forces threaten the lives of their citizens, they will be attacked. And when and where regime forces attempt to break the embargo, they will be stopped," Gortney said.

US, French and British warplanes and warships launched military action against Kadhafi's regime on Saturday.

"It's fair to say the coalition is growing in both size and capability every day," said Gortney. "More than 350 aircraft are involved in some capacity. Only slightly more than half belong to the United States.

"Today there are nine other contributing nations to include Qatar, and thousands of coalition military personnel involved in this effort. They're deployed across Europe and the Mediterranean, on bases ashore and any of 38 ships at sea."

Gortney said nations like Qatar would only play a supporting role for the moment, "as they're bedded down," but suggested Qatari jets could be on patrol over the no-fly zone in the coming days.

UN Security Council resolution 1973 -- the fruit of intense diplomacy to avoid Russian and Chinese vetoes while winning Arab support -- allows for "all necessary means" to support the limited aim of protecting Libyan civilians.

It cleared the way for a no-fly zone to be implemented and reporters Thursday were shown slides of that area extending further south.

"We continue to patrol the no-fly zone," said Gortney. "We are looking to further strengthen it with more aircraft on station and more terrain to cover.

"We continue to strike the regime's air command facilities, logistical nodes and ammunition supplies. We are vigorously planning to enable humanitarian assistance by interested governments and non-governmental agencies."

Gortney reiterated that no civilian lives had been lost as a result of the coalition strikes. (AFP)