Tripoli: Tribes loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have said that if the army cannot drive rebels from the besieged port city of Misrata, they will, a senior official says. Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said the army had tried to keep civilian casualties low but the tribes would not show the same restraint.
Col Gaddafi’s forces have been pounding Misrata for weeks.
Meanwhile, Nato forces carried out more air strikes on the capital, Tripoli.
The Libyan government says three people were killed by the strikes.
Aid organisations say Misrata – the main rebel-held area in western Libya – faces a humanitarian crisis after weeks of fighting. Human rights groups say more than 1,000 people there have died.
Media reports say the government has previously used the prospect of tribal civil war in Libya as a threat against rebel leaders and Nato intervention.
The regime is feeling increasingly isolated and is hoping for some kind of a diplomatic solution.
The ultimatum came in a meeting between tribal leaders and the military in the area of Misrata still controlled by the government, Kaim said.
He said the tribes were angry that people’s lives had been disrupted by weeks of fighting that had cut the main coastal road and stopped trade in the city.
Tribal leaders say the seaport is for all Libyans and not just the rebels, Kaim said.
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