Top US officer Admiral Michael Mullen on Monday acknowledged NATO was in a "stalemate" in its Libya campaign but still voiced optimism the strategy would lead to the departure of Moamer Kadhafi.

Insurgents have been fighting to oust Kadhafi since mid-February, and NATO has been pounding away with air raids, as the Libyan leader continues to hang on. His complex was slammed by NATO warplanes Saturday, when the alliance confirmed seven strikes and said they hit a military command node.

"We are, generally, in a stalemate," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen told a press briefing in Washington billed as his last before retirement.

Referring to NATO raids, Mullen said NATO has "dramatically attrited (reduced) his forces" and "additional pressure has been brought," even if Kadhafi has not been ousted.

"In the long run, I think it's a strategy that will work... (toward) removal of Kadhafi from power," Mullen said.

Regime troops had attacked the western desert hamlet of Gualish on Sunday and shelled the region before pulling back under rebel rocket fire as NATO warplanes flew overhead, an AFP correspondent reported.

The insurgents recaptured Gualish this month and are planning to use it as a springboard for a western assault on Tripoli.

They said their campaign to attack the capital from the east has been slowed by efforts to remove an estimated 45,000 land mines from around the oil town of Brega.

Asked if the United States would arm the rebels, Mullen said there has been "no decision to arm the TNC (Transitional National Council) on the part of the United States."

Kadhafi said in an audio message broadcast on state television late Saturday that the unrest was a "colonial plot," without elaborating.

The strongman also denied accusations by international rights groups of a brutal suppression of dissent and allegations that his regime had killed thousands of protesters.

"They lie to you and say, 'Libya kills its people with bullets, that is why we have come to protect civilians'," Kadhafi said of the UN-mandated NATO air campaign aimed at protecting civilians in Libya.

Obama has nominated General Martin Dempsey as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Dempsey is due to succeed Mullen, who is retiring at his term's end September 30.

Tweet

Related Links