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Britain is sending up to 20 military advisers to help Libya's ragtag rebel force break a military stalemate with Muammar Gadhafi's army, even as NATO acknowledges that airstrikes alone cannot stop the daily shelling of the besieged opposition-held city of Misrata.
Gadhafi's troops have been pounding Misrata indiscriminately with mortars and rockets, a NATO general said on Tuesday, and residents reported more explosions and firefights in Libya's third-largest city. Hospitals are overflowing, and 120 patients need to be evacuated from the city that has been under siege for nearly two months, the World Health Organization said.
The plight of Misrata's civilians and the battlefield deadlock are raising new questions about the international community's strategy in Libya. The leaders of the United States, Britain and France have said Gadhafi must go, but seem unwilling to commit to a more forceful military campaign. NATO's mandate is restricted to protecting civilians.
Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, chairman of NATO's military committee, said that even though the military alliance's operations have done "quite significant damage" to the Libyan regime's heavy weaponry, what Gadhafi has left is "still considerable".
Asked if more airpower is needed, Di Paola said any "significantly additional" allied contribution would be welcome.
A rebel official in Libya's besieged city of Misrata pleaded for Britain and France to send troops to help fight government forces, while a son of Gadhafi said he was "very optimistic" his father's government will prevail.
A senior member of Misrata's governing council, Nuri Abdullah Abdullati, said they were asking for the troops on the basis of "humanitarian" principles, in the first request by insurgents for boots on the ground.
Previously, he told reporters, "we did not accept any foreign soldiers in our country, but now, as we face these crimes of Gadhafi, we are asking on the basis of humanitarian and Islamic principles for someone to come and stop the killing".
（中國日報網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.
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