Libya: UN appoints envoy and agrees humanitarian visit

[maddezmom]

Source: BBC

The UN has appointed a new envoy on Libya and is to send a humanitarian team as the battle between forces loyal to Col Gaddafi and rebels intensifies.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon named a former Jordanian minister to deal with Libya and said Col Gaddafi had agreed to allow an assessment team into Tripoli.

The UN's top humanitarian official also demanded urgent access to the town of Misrata after fierce fighting there.

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'Hospital bombed'

A statement from Mr Ban's office said the UN secretary general "notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets".



Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12661604

[Turborama]

1. CNN International on this: UN appoints special envoy as Libya conflict threatens 'more carnage'

By the CNN Wire Staff
March 7, 2011 -- Updated 08:38 GMT (16:38 HKT)

Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As deadly clashes in Libya continue with no clear end in sight, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli, the United Nations said in a statement Monday.

Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, was appointed to "undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the crisis," according to the U.N. statement.

"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the fighting in western Libya, which is claiming large numbers of lives and threatens even more carnage in the days ahead," the statement said. "He notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the Government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets."

On Sunday, opposition forces in Libya claimed a major victory, managing to block an onslaught by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's troops and maintain control of the key city of Misrata, an eyewitness said.

Full article: http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/03/07/libya.conflict/