NATO ups tempo of attacks after Libyan rebels criticize mission (Video)

BREGA, Libya — NATO forces stepped up attacks in Libya on Wednesday, a day after Libyan rebels lashed out at the alliance for being too slow to act and allowing too many civilians to die at the hands of Muammar Gaddafi's forces.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization jets planned to fly 198 missions over Libya on Wednesday, an increase over 155 flown Tuesday, NATO chief spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in a statement. The “operational tempo has increased,” under NATO, she said, Bloomberg reported.

"NATO blesses us every now and then with a bombardment here and there, and is letting the people of Misurata die every day," Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel forces told Reuters in Benghazi, the opposition stronghold. "NATO has disappointed us."

Residents of Benghazi have taken to the streets in recent days in growing numbers to protests the NATO strikes, which they say have been ineffective and have killed civilians.

“From Tuesday there have been no air strikes, but they killed our rebels,” said Omar Mustafa, a father of six girls. “We don’t know why NATO is not working."

A coalition led by the United States, France and Britain began air strikes against Gaddafi's forces on March 31 in an effort to protect civilian lives. The bombardment against Gaddafi's tanks and weapons enabled the rebel forces, which have been fighting for control over the country for almost two months, to regroup and reclaim cities in the east.

NATO took command of the military campaign this week and now leads air strikes to enforce a no-fly zone and attack Gaddafi's military infrastructure that could be used to target civilians. The campaign is now focused on Misurata, Libya's third largest city and the site of fierce fighting.

NATO officials said the pace of their air strikes has not abated since they took command, Reuters reported.

Officials have also said that Gaddafi deliberately moves weaponry into civilian areas to create so-called human shields and prevent strikes.

The rebel leader said that NATO should do more to intervene in the security situation in Misurata before Gaddafi's forces kill more civilians, BBC reported.

Gaddafi's forces have been using rockets, artillery and mortars to pound the rebels in Misurata.

Younes complained of an overly bureaucratic process that resulted in NATO taking hours before responding to events on the ground.

"If NATO should wait another week, there will be no more Misurata," he added. "You will not find anyone."

The prosecutor for the International Criminal Court accused Gaddafi's government Tuesday of intentionally killing civilians in an effort to prevent a democratic uprising like those recently experienced around the region, the New York Times reported.

“We have evidence that after the Tunisia and Egypt conflicts, people in the regime were planning how to control demonstrations in Libya,” said the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. “The shootings of civilians was a predetermined plan.”

Meanwhile, a senior U.S. diplomat arrived in eastern Libya on Tuesday to meet with rebel leaders and discuss the opposition's aims and help coordinate humanitarian efforts, AFP reported.

The U.S. State Department insisted that the arrival of envoy Chris Stevens was meant to enable the diplomat to learn more about the rebel council's goals, but it did not suggest a move towards recognizing the rebels' National Transitional Council as the legitimate governing body of Libya.

The United States has been stepping up its contact with rebel leaders.

On Monday, Italy became the third country after France and Qatar to recognize the rebel-backed Libyan National Transitional Council as the country's legitimate government and said it plans to send an envoy to meet with the rebels in the coming days.

The United States dropped its financial sanctions Monday against a top Libyan official who defected, Musa Kusa.

Kusa, who fled to Britain last week, was Libya's longtime intelligence chief and foreign minister and is accused of being closely connected to terrorist attacks, assassinations and murders over the past three decades.

In an interview with the BBC, the Libyan leader's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi said that his father was open to political reform in Libya but must stay in power to avoid a dangerous power vacuum.

— Hanna Ingber Win reported from Mumbai.