Besieged Misrata kept supplied by sea

By Hao Zhou in Benghazi

Misrata, the sole city held by Libyan rebels in the country's west, located between Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte and the capital Tripoli, has survived more than a month of onslaught by pro-Gaddafi forces.

"Yes, we are now able to send supplies to besieged Misrata from the sea," Bon Kheila, an officer from the rebel Benghazi naval base, told the Global Times on Wednesday, confirming that the first batch of relief supplies had reached the country's third-largest port city earlier this week.

Kheila said, "We didn't use warships but civilian fishing boats to deliver medicine and food," because it is "a people's revolution rather than a military coup." He did not provide further details as to this maritime supply line because it is still "a secret operation and hasn't been completely secured."

The Global Times reporters interviewed Kheila outside the Benghazi naval base, but were rebuffed when they asked to see the dock, where two battered fishing vessels were anchored beside the rebels' only two warships.

People walking out of the naval base said the yard was filled with weapons and ammunition.

NATO warships started patrolling March 23 off the Libyan coast to enforce the UN arms embargo against the country, an action aimed to block the arrival of weapons and mercenaries, which legally includes supplying arms to the rebels.

American warplanes were reportedly active late Monday off the coast near Misrata, firing on three Libyan vessels to prevent them from shelling merchant shipping.

Kheila refuted that the relief operation to Misrata had been coordinated with the NATO forces. "All this was done on our own," he said. "We requested help for NATO, but it does not appear possible at this time."

"When we consider the maritime route to Misrata safe, we would like to take journalists to the city from the sea," Kheila said.