TRIPOLI: Muammar Gaddafi's forces pounded Misrata's lifeline port Wednesday, as the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said “thousands” have died in the insurrection against the Libyan strongman. The United States appealed to Gaddafi's regime to stop attacking the port and to allow international organizations to send in humanitarian aid and evacuate civilians from the rebel-held city. A rebel spokesman said loyalist shelling killed at least five people in the port, from which the International Organization of Migration (IOM) said a ship managed to evacuate about 800 people, including stranded migrants and wounded. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the murder and persecution of civilians was still being carried out by Gaddafi's regime and that he would seek arrest warrants for three people, whom he did not name. Moreno-Ocampo told the UN Security Council in New York the Libyan government had started preparing to counter protests weeks before they started on Feb. 15 – warned by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. “As early as January, mercenaries were being hired and brought into Libya,” he said. Diplomats have said Gaddafi is likely to be on the first list of warrants, but Moreno-Ocampo did not name anyone. US State Department spokesman Mark Toner issued an appeal for the Gaddafi regime “to cease hostilities in Misrata port.” – Agence France
