Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- As deadly clashes in Libya continue with no clear end in sight, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed a new special envoy to Libya to discuss the crisis with officials in Tripoli, the United Nations said in a statement Monday.
Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, was appointed to "undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the crisis," according to the U.N. statement.
"The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the fighting in western Libya, which is claiming large numbers of lives and threatens even more carnage in the days ahead," the statement said. "He notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the Government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets."
On Sunday, opposition forces in Libya claimed a major victory, managing to block an onslaught by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's troops and maintain control of the key city of Misrata, an eyewitness said.
Using machine guns, sticks and anything else they could find, crowds successfully repelled Gadhafi militias armed with tanks and heavy artillery, the witness said.
"The will and the determination and dedication that people are showing here on the ground, it just makes you speechless," he said.
A doctor at Central Misrata Hospital said 42 people were killed -- 17 from the opposition and 25 from the pro-Gadhafi forces -- and that 85 people were wounded in the fighting, which continued on the city's outskirts. The youngest victim, 3 years old, was killed by direct fire, the doctor said.
Witnesses and other sources are not being named for their own safety.
Humanitarian and medical aid to the central Libyan city has been blocked, U.N. emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos said in a statement Sunday. She urged authorities "to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives."
Fighting also raged Sunday in the town of Bin Jawad, where the sounds of booms -- either aerial bombardments or heavy artillery -- could be heard echoing. The opposition also worked to keep control of Ras Lanuf.
The battles came in stark contrast to the image in the capital of Tripoli on Sunday. Throngs filled Green Square, cheering their support of Gadhafi, with some insisting they were celebrating the government's victory in Misrata. A government official said Gadhafi's regime was victorious in Ras Lanuf and in Zawiya as well -- though just a day earlier, rebel fighters captured Ras Lanuf and said they prevented pro-government forces from taking Zawiya.
CNN was not allowed to enter Zawiya on Sunday, and could not reach people inside the city. Reports said communications had been cut off.
Libyan state TV also claimed that the government had gained control of the eastern port city of Tobruk. But witnesses in Tobruk, said it was still under opposition control.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa on Sunday, appealing for an end to hostilities. Ban discussed the plight of migrant workers and called for unhindered access humanitarian organizations and suggested the immediate dispatch of a humanitarian assessment team to Tripoli, which Kasa agreed to, according to a statement from the United Nations.
After reports of the opposition successfully fighting off pro-Gadhafi forces in Misrata, Libyan state TV showed a graphic -- in both Arabic and English -- saying that "strict orders have been issued to the armed forces not to enter cities taken by terrorist gangs, who took civilians as human shields and threatened to slaughter the inhabitants of those cities." The report cited "military sources."
While the pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli was crowded and boisterous, such demonstrations do not offer a clear sign of how much support the 68-year-old leader actually has.
Throughout the uprising, which began February 15, witnesses in Tripoli have described the government using all sorts of methods to drum up crowds, including forcibly dragging people to them while keeping anti-Gadhafi demonstrators off the streets.
Traces of bullets and blood could be seen in some districts near Tripoli's Green Square on Sunday, and people were mopping the streets and cleaning the walls, a witness said.
The strife engulfing the north African nation is reverberating across the country, the region and the world. Death toll estimates range from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000, and the international community has been pondering strategies on how to end the violence and remove the Gadhafi regime.
On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "We continue to press for Gadhafi to step down, and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people."
The protesters are seeking the ouster of Gadhafi after nearly 42 years of ruling the country -- the kind of revolution that was seen in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. But unlike in those countries, the uprising has turned into warfare.
Benjamin Barber, a fellow at the New York-based Demos think tank who had worked closely with the Gadhafi Foundation, told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he thought Gadhafi, his son Saif and their supporters would likely "fight to the death" -- meaning a prolonged war, compared to the relatively quick and peaceful political transition that happened in Egypt and Tunisia.
Even if Gadhafi is somehow ousted, Barber predicted the violence could continue as tribes duke it out for supremacy in a nation that has few significant public institutions that could fill a potentially chaotic void.
Gadhafi's government has been reviled across the globe for violence against civilians, and the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation of Gadhafi, some of his sons and other leaders for possible crimes against humanity.
Opposition-controlled radio announced over the weekend that the country's only legitimate representative was now the National Transitional Council, a group with 31 representatives for most of the regions in Libya. Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdeljeleel, whom the council said had tried to resign from Gadhafi's government several times, was announced as the council's new leader.
The council also named a representative for military affairs and established a military council to oversee the "liberation" of Libya and reconstruct the armed forces, according to the radio announcement. The council said its main missions are to represent all of Libya internationally, liberate the country, draft a constitution and hold elections.
Meanwhile, the fierce fighting has sparked the flight of Libyans and foreigners out of Libya, with nations across the globe scrambling to help people leave.
Abdelilah Al-Khatib, a former foreign minister of Jordan, was appointed to "undertake urgent consultations with the authorities in Tripoli and in the region on the immediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions of the crisis," according to the U.N. statement."The Secretary-General is deeply concerned about the fighting in western Libya, which is claiming large numbers of lives and threatens even more carnage in the days ahead," the statement said. "He notes that civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence, and calls for an immediate halt to the Government's disproportionate use of force and indiscriminate attacks on civilian targets."
On Sunday, opposition forces in Libya claimed a major victory, managing to block an onslaught by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's troops and maintain control of the key city of Misrata, an eyewitness said.
Using machine guns, sticks and anything else they could find, crowds successfully repelled Gadhafi militias armed with tanks and heavy artillery, the witness said.
"The will and the determination and dedication that people are showing here on the ground, it just makes you speechless," he said.
A doctor at Central Misrata Hospital said 42 people were killed -- 17 from the opposition and 25 from the pro-Gadhafi forces -- and that 85 people were wounded in the fighting, which continued on the city's outskirts. The youngest victim, 3 years old, was killed by direct fire, the doctor said.
Witnesses and other sources are not being named for their own safety.
Humanitarian and medical aid to the central Libyan city has been blocked, U.N. emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos said in a statement Sunday. She urged authorities "to provide access without delay to allow aid workers to help save lives."
Fighting also raged Sunday in the town of Bin Jawad, where the sounds of booms -- either aerial bombardments or heavy artillery -- could be heard echoing. The opposition also worked to keep control of Ras Lanuf.
The battles came in stark contrast to the image in the capital of Tripoli on Sunday. Throngs filled Green Square, cheering their support of Gadhafi, with some insisting they were celebrating the government's victory in Misrata. A government official said Gadhafi's regime was victorious in Ras Lanuf and in Zawiya as well -- though just a day earlier, rebel fighters captured Ras Lanuf and said they prevented pro-government forces from taking Zawiya.
CNN was not allowed to enter Zawiya on Sunday, and could not reach people inside the city. Reports said communications had been cut off.
Libyan state TV also claimed that the government had gained control of the eastern port city of Tobruk. But witnesses in Tobruk, said it was still under opposition control.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke with Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa on Sunday, appealing for an end to hostilities. Ban discussed the plight of migrant workers and called for unhindered access humanitarian organizations and suggested the immediate dispatch of a humanitarian assessment team to Tripoli, which Kasa agreed to, according to a statement from the United Nations.
After reports of the opposition successfully fighting off pro-Gadhafi forces in Misrata, Libyan state TV showed a graphic -- in both Arabic and English -- saying that "strict orders have been issued to the armed forces not to enter cities taken by terrorist gangs, who took civilians as human shields and threatened to slaughter the inhabitants of those cities." The report cited "military sources."
While the pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli was crowded and boisterous, such demonstrations do not offer a clear sign of how much support the 68-year-old leader actually has.
Throughout the uprising, which began February 15, witnesses in Tripoli have described the government using all sorts of methods to drum up crowds, including forcibly dragging people to them while keeping anti-Gadhafi demonstrators off the streets.
Traces of bullets and blood could be seen in some districts near Tripoli's Green Square on Sunday, and people were mopping the streets and cleaning the walls, a witness said.
The strife engulfing the north African nation is reverberating across the country, the region and the world. Death toll estimates range from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000, and the international community has been pondering strategies on how to end the violence and remove the Gadhafi regime.
On Sunday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, "We continue to press for Gadhafi to step down, and we will work with the international community to support the legitimate ambitions of the Libyan people."
The protesters are seeking the ouster of Gadhafi after nearly 42 years of ruling the country -- the kind of revolution that was seen in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. But unlike in those countries, the uprising has turned into warfare.Benjamin Barber, a fellow at the New York-based Demos think tank who had worked closely with the Gadhafi Foundation, told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that he thought Gadhafi, his son Saif and their supporters would likely "fight to the death" -- meaning a prolonged war, compared to the relatively quick and peaceful political transition that happened in Egypt and Tunisia.Even if Gadhafi is somehow ousted, Barber predicted the violence could continue as tribes duke it out for supremacy in a nation that has few significant public institutions that could fill a potentially chaotic void.
Gadhafi's government has been reviled across the globe for violence against civilians, and the International Criminal Court has launched an investigation of Gadhafi, some of his sons and other leaders for possible crimes against humanity.Opposition-controlled radio announced over the weekend that the country's only legitimate representative was now the National Transitional Council, a group with 31 representatives for most of the regions in Libya. Former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdeljeleel, whom the council said had tried to resign from Gadhafi's government several times, was announced as the council's new leader.The council also named a representative for military affairs and established a military council to oversee the "liberation" of Libya and reconstruct the armed forces, according to the radio announcement. The council said its main missions are to represent all of Libya internationally, liberate the country, draft a constitution and hold elections.
Meanwhile, the fierce fighting has sparked the flight of Libyans and foreigners out of Libya, with nations across the globe scrambling to help people leave.
Almost 200,000 people have fled Libya with nearly equal numbers going to Tunisia and Egypt, the U.N. refugee agency has said.
