Stronger US military role Libyan rebels urge. DOHA, Qatar Libya's rebels urged the U.S. military Wednesday to reassert a stronger role in the NATO led air campaign and Qatar's crown prince told international envoys it was time to help tip the scales against Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
The appeals reflected the urgent backdrop for meetings among the U.N. secretary general and other top Western and Arab envoys gathered in Qatar's capital to discuss ways to end the Libyan crisis.
While peace efforts remain the top objective, there also appeared to be a shift toward trying to boost the rebels' ability to protect their territory. One proposal noted by Italy Libya's former colonial rulercalls for allies to provide defensive weapons.
Qatar's crown prince said it was a "race against time" to give Gadhafi's outgunned opponents the tools to fight.
"It is time to help the Libyan people defend themselves, and to defend the Libyan people," said Sheik Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, whose nation is one of the few Arab states contributing to the NATO-led air campaign in Libya and helped the rebels sell oil under their control.
"And what are the rebels except civilians who have taken up arms to defend themselves in a difficult situation and (who fight) an uneven battle?"
Rebel spokesman Mahmoud Shammam said the anti-Gadhafi forces will not bend on their demands that any peace proposal require Gadhafi and his inner circle to leave the country. The rebel conditions for Gadhafi's ouster effectively killed a cease-fire bid by Africa's main political bloc this week.
Shammam also urged NATO to step up its air campaign to hit pro Gadhafi forces in efforts to protect civilians and appealed for a greater role by the United States, which turned over operations to the military bloc last month. Shammam's comments echoed calls by French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and others after government forces shelled the rebel-held city of Misrata in western Libya.
"When the Americans were involved, the mission was very active and it was more leaning toward protecting the civilians," said Shammam.
"NATO is very slow responding to these attacks on the civilians. We'd like to see more work toward protecting the civilians," Shammam said before the one-day conference that includes Britain's foreign secretary, U.S. State Department envoy William J. Burns and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The Doha meeting of the Libya Contact Group was to be the first high-profile forum for Gadhafi's former foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, who defected to Britain last month. But Koussa was absent from the conference. And rebel officials, who see him as too close to the Gadhafi regime, insisted he has no role in their movement.
In Benghazi, the rebels' stronghold city in eastern Libya, rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga said Tuesday that talks with Koussa were "not on the agenda." Shammam told Britain's Sky News: "We did not invite him here. He is not part of our delegation."
The host for the first meeting of the Libyan Contact Group — the wealthy Gulf state of Qatar — is one of the leading backers of the rebels. But Qatar has sided with the rulers in its own Gulf neighborhood by supporting the Saudi-led force aiding Bahrain's embattled monarchy.
An official from the African Union — which tried this week to broker a peace pact — suggested there is no international consensus on trying to force out Gadhafi.
But Western diplomats and others spoke with passion about the need to help the rebels withstand Gadhafi's attacks.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini made the case that the recent U.N. resolutions on Libya do not prohibit providing arms to rebels. He went further to say it was "morally justified" to aid the opposition, claiming Gadhafi's forces have changed tactics and moved tanks into civilian areas to try foil NATO airstrikes.
"Either we make it possible for these people to defend themselves or we withdraw from our obligation to support defending the population of Libya," said Frattini, whose nation will host the next Contact Group meeting.
Earlier, Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maurizio Massari said allies may consider providing "defensive weapons" and equipment to rebels.
"The discussion of arms is certainly on the table," he said. "We are not talking about offensive arms. ... Every country will decide. It is a political decision."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said his nation already gives rebels supplies, including telecommunications equipment, and promised "there will be other non-lethal equipment" to come.
In its closing statement, the Contact Group floated the idea of a fund for the rebel's political group.
In Brussels, NATO said it conducted airstrikes Tuesday on an ammunition depot in Sirte on Libya's central coast and destroyed 12 tanks near the western town of Zintan, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of the capital Tripoli.
On Tuesday, French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet complained that France and Britain were carrying "the brunt of the burden" on the airstrikes. He said the reduced U.S. effort — American forces are now in support, not combat, roles in the airstrike campaign — have made it impossible "to loosen the noose around Misrata," which has become a symbol of the resistance against Gadhafi.
"Let's be realistic. The fact that the U.S. has left the sort of the kinetic part of the air operation has had a sizable impact. That is fairly obvious," said Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt.
In Paris, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy planned talks later Wednesday about the military operation in Libya.
Qatar, meanwhile, is helping with a vital fuel link for the rebels. Qatar said it oversaw last week's sale of more than $100 million in crude oil from rebel-held areas, and has delivered four shipments of fuel to Benghazi, including diesel, propane and gasoline.
Talks on Libya shift to Cairo on Thursday at the Arab League headquarters.
The U.N. secretary-general is expected to join others, including Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, African Union commission chairman Jean Ping and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton. They are expected to discuss a Turkish peace initiative.