Nato: We won't apologise for killing Libyan rebels

NATO today refused to apologise for killing four Libyan rebels in a "friendly fire" attack, saying its troops had not known the rebels had begun to use tanks.

Rear Admiral Russ Harding said it was not Nato's responsibility to improve communications with rebels and stressed that under the UN resolution "our job is to protect civilians", whether from the forces of Colonel Gaddafi or the rebel soldiers themselves.

"Let me be clear, it [the UN mandate] did not say to gain the trust of either side in doing that," he told a news conference.

The rebel fighters were killed yesterday afternoon when about four missiles struck a group of tanks, armoured vehicles and rocket launchers being moved between Ajdabiya and Brega in more than 30 transporters.

News of the deaths prompted anger among rebel troops, with many demanding to know why their units were hit when advancing west towards the front line.

General Abdelfatah Yunis, the rebel commander, demanded that Nato give a "rational and convincing explanation". When asked about the attack, Rear Adm Harding said: "The situation in the area is still very fluid, with tanks and other vehicles moving in different directions, making it very difficult to see who is in them. In addition, up to this time we had not seen the rebels operating tanks."

He continued that government tanks known to have previously targeted civilians in the town of Misrata had been seen advancing east shortly before the "friendly fire" incident.

The rebel tanks hit by the airstrikes would have been indistinguishable in appearance from the air as they were seized from Col Gaddafi, either from military bases at the start of the uprising or when subsequently abandoned after the regime's forces retreated following the launching of the Allied bombing campaign.

It emerged that the former Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, has been interviewed by Scottish police investigating the Lockerbie bombing.

Mr Koussa, who arrived in Britain last week, is believed to have been an intelligence officer at the time of the 1988 terrorist attack in which 270 people died when Pam Am flight 103 was blown up.