Libya asks UN to lift sanctions

At least 30 people, mostly civilians, were killed during fighting between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and rebels in the western town of Zawiyah on Saturday, a doctor in the town told Reuters.

"More than 30 people have been killed today. The majority were civilians," said the doctor, who runs a field medical clinic in the centre of Zawiyah.

"This is the figure we are sure of but the death toll is higher," he added.

Libyan rebels have repelled an attack by Gaddafi's forces on Zawiya, a rebel spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. A Reuters witness said Gaddafi's forces encircled the city and were closing in on the center after being pushed back by rebels earlier.

"They entered Zawiya at six in the morning with heavy forces, hundreds of soldiers with tanks. Our people fought back ... We have won for now and civilians are gathering in the square," said Youssef Shagan, the rebel force spokesman in Zawiyah.

Armed rebels in city of Ras Lanuf (Photo: AP)

UN sanctions

Meanwhile, Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa sent a letter to Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong, president of the UN Security Council this month, complaining about the UN sanctions imposed on Gaddafi and his inner circle.

“We should like to affirm to you that no opposition has been raised to peaceful, unarmed demonstrators,” he wrote.

Force, he said, had only been used against extremists who want to “spread anarchy and attack and burn security locations.”

A UN diplomat said the letter showed Libya’s leaders “are rattled by the firm and united action taken by the international community.”

British task force

Also Saturday, Britain said it was hoping to send a diplomatic taskforce to Libya soon to make contact with opposition leaders and had readied a battalion of troops to aid humanitarian and evacuation efforts if needed.

Government sources told Reuters a team of experts including foreign office officials would travel to Benghazi in the east of the country in due course to see what anti-Gaddafi forces required.

The taskforce is being sent on a fact-finding mission and to see how Britain could help in a logistical way, the sources said. It is understood the rebels will not be given arms as there is an international arms embargo in place.

The Ministry of Defense said The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, is on stand-by to go to Libya and has been ready to deploy rapidly at 24 hours' notice for the past 10 days.

A spokeswoman said the 200-odd troops would only provide humanitarian assistance and would not engage in combat or intervene militarily in any way.

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