Libya clinic caught in crossfire running out of oxygen, fuel

MISRATA, Libya - The International Red Cross has warned of a medical emergency in Muammar Gadhafi's hometown Sirte as the battle for the fugitive Libyan leader's largest remaining bastion raged into Sunday.

A Red Cross team delivering vital supplies to medics in the besieged coastal city on Saturday said the hospital had come under rocket fire as the new regime stepped up its assault on Gadhafi diehards.

A large force of National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters pushed in from the south to lay siege to the Ouagadougou Conference Center, a showpiece venue close to the Ibn Sima hospital where Gadhafi hosted the launch of the African Union.

Intense exchanges raged for at least two hours despite pleas from the Red Cross for a lull while the team made its delivery, NTC fighters said.

"It's a dire situation," Red Cross team leader Hichem Khadhraoui said. Staff at the Ibn Sima hospital told the team that people are dying "because of a lack of oxygen and fuel for the generator".

Other wounded or ill people cannot get to the hospital because of fighting and NATO air strikes, Khadhraoui said.

After the Red Cross team went in, NTC fighters launched a ferocious attack with rockets and machine gun fire from less than a kilometer away. Gadhafi loyalists responded with mortar and sniper fire. Khadhraoui said the hospital's water tower was hit, forcing staff to bring in supplies from outside.

Some 100 NTC vehicles, including anti-tank guns and multiple missile launchers, surrounded the conference center at about midday.

Several NTC fighters said the Red Cross asked them to stop firing as one of their teams was in the nearby hospital. After two hours, some fighters pulled back, they added.

Khadhraoui's team on Saturday included a doctor, a first-aid medic and a logistician, he said. It delivered about 150 body bags and 300 "war wounded kits" consisting of drips, drugs, gauze and other medical equipment.

Agence France-Presse