Misery far from over, chaos looms large in oil-rich country

BENGHAZI, Libya - It is now a familiar scene in Libya - government troops and rebels trade gunfire and territory, while NATO-led warplanes hover high in the sky, ready to hit any government military asset.

After two months, there is no end in sight to the misery being experienced by ordinary Libyans trapped in this conflict in an oil-rich country that once enjoyed the highest living standards in Africa and ranked among the most affluent in the Arab world.

The domestic strife in Libya is dividing the nation, but, more sadly, it is killing the innocent and destroying ordinary families.

Ajdabiyah, some 60 kilometers from the oil town of Brega and a strategic gateway to the rebel's stronghold Benghazi, was once home to about 150,000.

But four fierce battles between troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi and the rebels in the past month have driven away waves of local villagers, and only some 5,000 remain now.

Naji, a man in his 50s, sent his five children to the relatively calm city of Benghazi after his home was bombed.

"That day, I was at home when my wife was washing clothes in the garage. Suddenly the sound of gunshots erupted, and an explosion rocked my house. A shell hit the garage. In just several minutes, I lost my wife forever."

Figures released by various sources put the death toll in the Libyan strife at more than 1,000, and tens of thousands have been displaced, not to mention the casualties inflicted by the NATO air offensive.

The killing has spared no one, including children.

UN figures show hundreds of children have died or disappeared since the conflict in Libya started.

Victims have been as young as nine months and the majority of the children killed were below the age of 10.

In a makeshift shelter in Benghazi, a Xinhua reporter tried to take photos of little boys and girls evacuated from the front-line towns.

But some of them were so frightened by the clicking of the camera they suddenly burst into tears. When the cameraman tried to show them the pictures, no one had the courage to come close.

Pro and anti-government forces are stuck in a stalemate, especially in Brega, which has repeatedly changed hands and remains a contested town.

Brega, along with the eastern town of Ras Lanuf, produces the lion's share of Libya's oil exports of 1.5 million barrels a day, which have been badly affected by the outbreak of the turmoil.

The prospect of a military stalemate has prompted calls for a political solution to the Libyan conflict through dialogue and negotiation.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday that military action alone would not solve the crisis in Libya. The African Union (AU) and Turkey have each tried to broker a peace deal, while representatives from regional and international organizations as well as countries concerned met in Doha, Cairo and Berlin in search of ways out of the conflict.

But so far no viable solution seems to have emerged. Libyan rebels have rejected the AU and Turkish proposals, while Gadhafi shows no signs of yielding to the demand from NATO countries and their allies that he steps down and leaves the country.

Xinhua