Libyan rebels repelled a new attack by Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the western city of Misrata, and lost eight fighters in fierce street clashes, Reuters reported.
As fighting continued for that coastal city, a high-spirited Gaddafi appeared on television for the first time in five days and his forces drew rebels into fresh clashes on the civil war's eastern front.
A Red Cross ship has delivered much-needed medical supplies to Misrata, where there is a shortage of food, water, medicine and hospitals are full of wounded.
Rebel spokesman Mustafa Abdulrahman praised, as he told a Reuters reporter, a positive change in NATO, saying that the alliance's planes had carried out several attacks on Gaddafi's forces. For days, the rebels complained that NATO was slow to respond to attacks by the Libyan government.
Abdulrahman said NATO jets hit one government position on the road to Tripoli, the main artery that runs through the center of the city, two locations on the coastal road and another near the western entrance to the city, which is about 200 km east of Tripoli.
Misrata, the only major rebel stronghold in western Libya, has been under siege by Gaddafi's forces for weeks.
Gaddafi visited the school and was greeted with a standing ovation
Gaddafi laughed and pumped his fists in the air during a visit to a school in Tripoli, where he was greeted with a standing ovation. Students chanted anti-Western slogans and "Only Allah, Muammar and Libya". One woman wept with happiness as he passed. The TV presenter said that the visit took place yesterday morning. Gaddafi was accompanied by bodyguards who drove him away in a white car.
Gaddafi, wearing brown clothes and dark glasses, was last seen on television on April 4.
He appeared relaxed and confident, confirming the impression among analysts that his government has emerged from a period of paralysis and is consolidating its positions for a protracted campaign.
Western generals are less optimistic that the military stalemate can be broken despite NATO airstrikes against Gaddafi's forces.
A Libyan opposition group has asked the United States for access to Gaddafi's frozen assets to meet humanitarian needs in rebel-held areas, Reuters reported.
Ali Aujali, who resigned as Libya's ambassador to the US in February and now heads the most prominent rebel organization, said in a letter to US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that the humanitarian situation has worsened in rebel-held areas.
The US has frozen more than $34 billion in assets as part of sanctions against Gaddafi and his top officials.
The Finance Ministry on Friday added to the sanctions blacklist five senior officials - Libya's prime minister, finance minister, oil minister, director of internal security and Gaddafi's chief of staff - as well as two bodies controlled by Gaddafi's children.
Obama administration officials say they are considering whether some of the frozen cash, securities and other financial instruments could be used to help the insurgents.
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