NATO rejects French, British criticism

BRUSSELS, April 12 (UPI) -- A top NATO general has rejected criticism by France and Britain that the alliance needs to step up the fighting against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's forces.

"We execute this operation in a very high tempo," NATO Brigadier General Mark van Uhm said Tuesday at a NATO news conference in Brussels.

NATO aircraft during the past days destroyed tanks, bunkers and communication lines used by the Gadhafi regime throughout the country, with particular attention to forces located near the contested cities Ajdabiya, Brega and Misrata, van Uhm said.

"We know we are having an effect. ... With the assets we have, we're doing a great job," he said.

His remarks came shortly after French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe had criticized NATO in a radio interview.

The alliance was not filling its role in Libya "sufficiently," Juppe told France Info radio Tuesday.

"NATO wanted to take the operational lead, we accepted that," he said. "It must play its role today which means preventing Gadhafi from using heavy weapons to bomb the civil population."

British Foreign Minister William Hague on Tuesday also urged NATO member states to increase their contribution to the campaign in Libya.

France had been one of the most outspoken proponents of military action against pro-Gadhafi forces and last month became the first nation to officially recognize the Libyan opposition. It was against a NATO lead after it became clear that the United States would pull its combat jets from the front lines, favoring a British-French operational command instead.

Juppe's statement is a sign that Western politicians are frustrated that rebel forces aren't able to hold ground despite Gadhafi's crumbling military power. NATO planes last week accidentally killed rebel forces retreating.

The rebels refused a recent cease-fire drafted by the African Union, saying the plan didn't include Gadhafi's dismissal from Libya. With the fighting so far resulting in a stalemate, Western leaders hope for Gadhafi to eventually leave the country. That this will happen soon looks unlikely.

Especially around Misrata, a Mediterranean port city of roughly 300,000 that is being shelled by government artillery, NATO needs to step up its air raids to protect civilians, critics say.

While van Uhm said that the situation in Misrata was still a major concern, he added that NATO planes have been destroying several regime tanks there.

The port, he added, is under rebel control and handling humanitarian aid shipments for the civilian population.

The only aircraft that challenged the no-fly zone since its enforcement, he said, was rebel plane. The MiG-23 fighter jet took off Saturday from an airfield in Benghazi but was forced to land only minutes later.