Libya government forces bomb large fuel storage tanks in western city of Misrata, destroying tanks and sparking huge fire

Libyan government forces bombed large fuel storage tanks in the contested western city of Misrata, destroying the tanks and sparking a huge fire.

The bombardment came as artillery rounds fired by forces loyal to Libya's Muammar Gaddafi fell in Tunisia, in another escalation of the fighting near the border between Libyan soldiers and anti-Gaddafi revolutionists.

Misrata is the last remaining city in the west under opposition control. The port city has been under siege for more than two months and has witnessed some of the war's fiercest fighting between loyalists and revolutionists.

"Four fuel tanks were totally destroyed and huge fire erupted which spread now to the other four. We cannot extinguish it because we do not have the right tools," opposition spokesman Ahmed Hassan told Reuters. "Now the city will face a major problem. Those were the only sources of fuel for the city. These tanks could have kept the city for three months with enough fuel," he said by telephone. He noted that government forces used small planes normally used to spray pesticides for the overnight attack in Qasr Ahmed. He later told Al-Jazeera television that three helicopters bearing Red Crescent insignia conducted the attack.

Another opposition spokesman, who identified himself as Abdelsalam, said a government helicopter conducted a reconnaissance mission over the port and two hours later at around midnight local time government forces fired rockets that hit three fuel tanks belonging to the Brega Oil Company.

The fighters notified NATO about the planes before the attack but there was no response, Hassan said. Government forces last month flew at least one helicopter reconnaissance mission over Misrata, according to revolutionists.

Meanwhile, Libya's tribal chiefs urged a general amnesty for all fighters engaged in the oil-rich nation's civil war, as Amnesty International said the regime's siege of Misrata could be a war crime.

The National Conference for Libyan Tribes called in a meeting that ended late Friday for a "general amnesty law which will include all those who were involved in the crisis and took up arms." That would be "a means of laying the path ahead for a new era of peace and forgiveness," a statement said, without providing details on the law or a timetable for its passage. But doubts were cast on the proposal, as the statement referred to rebels as "traitors" and pledged not to "abandon" or "forsake" the strongman, whose ouster the insurgents are demanding.

The statement also called for marches to "liberate" rebel-held towns. "The conference also calls all Libyan tribes neighboring the towns and cities hijacked by armed groups to move peacefully in popular marches to liberate those hijacked towns, disarming the armed revolutionists," it said.

Suleiman Fortiya, a Misrata representative from the National Transitional Council, said troops were massing in Zliten, outside the city. "I am sure there will be a lot of fighting on the ground in the future. That is what Misrata is worried about because he (Gaddafi) is doing a big preparation to march on Misrata," Fortiya said.

In a related development, US President Barack Obama thanked Kuwait's emir for the oil-rich country's "generous pledge" of $180 million to the Libyan opposition Transitional National Council. Obama spoke by telephone to Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and also thanked him for Kuwait's "steadfast support" of US troops, the White House said in a statement.

"The president thanks the emir for Kuwait's generous pledge of assistance to the Transitional National Council of Libya and stressed the importance of such financial support to the opposition given their urgent needs," the statement said.