Misrata rebels say Muammar Gaddafi forces use human shield

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are bringing civilians from nearby towns to the rebel-held city of Misrata to use as human shields, a rebel spokesperson told Reuters on Monday.

The report from Misrata, the only big rebel stronghold left in western Libya, could not be independently verified and there was no immediate comment from Libyan officials.

Residents also said that armed pro-Gaddafi forces had entered the city dressed in civilian clothes and that snipers posted on rooftops were shooting anyone who came within range.

"The Gaddafi forces are forcing people from Zawiyat al Mahjoub and Al Ghiran out of their houses and giving them Gaddafi's pictures and the (official Libyan) green flag to chant for Gaddafi," Hassan, a rebel spokesperson, told Reuters.

"They are bringing them to Misrata so they can enter the city and control it by using the civilians as human shields because they know we are not going to shoot woman and children and old people," he said by telephone from Misrata.

The accounts appeared to show that Gaddafi's forces, in a change of tactics forced on them by Western airstrikes, were trying to mingle with the civilian population, making it difficult to target them from the air.

Britain's ministry of defence said its warplanes had aborted a mission overnight because civilians were close to their target.

"As the RAF GR4 Tornados approached the target, further information came to light that identified a number of civilians within the intended target area. As a result the decision was taken not to launch weapons," said Major General John Lorimer, the chief of defence staff's strategic communications officer.

The rebel spokesperson also said seven people were killed in Misrata in fighting on Sunday. "An old man went to dawn prayers, he was shot and his body is still lying in the street as ambulances could not take it to the hospital," he said.

A Misrata resident, called Mohamed, told Reuters by telephone that snipers had been posted on rooftops along Tripoli Street, the city's main thoroughfare, and that tanks were also in the centre of Misrata.

"The town is surrounded (by Gaddafi's forces) ... Some armed men dressed in civilians entered the town yesteday. They're stationed at a vocational training institute in the centre of the town. They are protected by the snipers and tanks."

He said water supplies to Misrata - which is 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli - had still not been restored after they were cut off last week.

Another Misrata resident, who did not want to be identified, echoed the other accounts of pro-Gaddafi forces using civilians to shield them.

"They are taking people hostage so the resistance cannot engage them," the resident told Reuters. "They are trying to infitrate inside the city to be protected from international community forces."