Libyan forces leave Misrata

The Libyan government said earlier NATO airstrikes meant it no longer made sense for the army to fight in Misrata,and local tribes would take over the battle in Libya’s third largest city.

“We have been told to withdraw. We were told to withdraw yesterday,” one army soldier,Khaled Dorman,told Reuters.

Lying in the back of a pickup truck,he was among 12 wounded soldiers brought to a hospital for treatment in Misrata. Blasts and machine gun fire were heard in the distance.

The government acknowledged Friday the siege had been broken when rebels seized the port and airstrikes had taken their toll. “The tactic of the Libyan army is to have a surgical solution,but with the airstrikes it doesn’t work,” Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said. “The situation in Misrata will be eased,will be dealt with by the tribes around Misrata and the rest of Misrata’s people and not by the Libyan army,” he said in Tripoli.

A rebel spokesman in Misrata said pro-Gaddafi tribes were in a minority in the area: “They make less than one per cent of the population of Misrata and the surrounding area.”

“Those people know that when Gaddafi’s regime falls,they will fall with it,” he added,predicting the government would boost their strength by paying mercenaries to pose as tribesmen.