On Saturday, a rocket attack set the city's main fuel depot ablaze, destroying the main supply for vehicles, ships and generators powering hospitals and other key sites in a city darkened by electricity cuts.

The ICRC said it would use the chartered ship as a floating platform as its team works to reduce the danger of unexploded weapons on the streets of Misrata, visit prisoners detained by the rebels and help reunite families that lost contact when the city center was bombed.

The ship brought in 8,000 jars of baby food as well as urgently needed surgical instruments and medical dressings.

The ship docked safely though Gadhafi's forces were seen dropping mines into the port on Saturday from a white helicopter painted with a red cross, according to rebel spokesman Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga and Misrata residents.

The ICRC said it was concerned by those allegations of "a serious misuse of the emblem" designated by the Geneva Conventions to be used solely by people providing medical or other humanitarian aid.

A civilian spokesman for the rebels in Misrata, lawyer Abdulbaset Abumzirig, said Sunday that 30 to 40 people are injured daily and 10 to 15 are being killed by the bombardment. The city has been under siege for two months, and local doctors say the total death toll is more than 1,000.

In Tripoli overnight, NATO aircraft targeted at least five sites. Reporters taken by government officials to one building saw a hole punched into what appeared to be its basement and thick blocks of concrete cracked into dusty rubble.

The building was partially used by parliament members and hosted a library to research Gadhafi's Green Book - a tome penned by the Libyan leader that citizens are expected to study, said government workers Hussein Bengarsa and Mousa Saleh.

But there were no papers or books scattered around the area, nor office supplies normally associated with such use.

The handsome pastel-colored building was built by Italians when they ruled Libya in the 1920s. It once served as Italy's naval headquarters and was considered an iconic Tripoli site.

It was not immediately clear what the other strikes targeted. Reporters may not leave their Tripoli hotel without government minders.

Also in the capital, a Muslim member of Britain's House of Lords warned of "genocide" if Libya's chaos continues,

Lord Nazir Ahmed said he feared that if Gadhafi's forces seized control of areas currently ruled by rebels - or vice versa - there could be widespread revenge killings.

"God forbid if any one side wins - for instance, if the government takes control of Benghazi, what would happen to all those rebels?" he said. "And if they (the rebels) win, what will happen to the government supporters?"

Ahmed spoke before a meeting with Libyan tribal chiefs as a part of a two-day private fact finding mission. He said he would seek to visit rebel-ruled eastern Libya soon.

Meanwhile, the UN humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, asked all sides in the fighting for a pause in hostilities to allow food, water, medical supplies and other aid to be delivered to needy populations.

She told the Security Council the pause would also allow humanitarian workers to evacuate people from other countries who still remain in Libya and would give civilians a respite.