EU: Libya urges UN probe into rebel violence

The Libyan government wants the United Nations to investigate the violence during the country's bloody uprising, a senior EU official said Tuesday.

The official, who returned from Tripoli late Monday, told reporters that top leaders at the Libyan foreign ministry offered a U.N. fact-finding mission free, unfettered travel throughout the North African nation with a security escort.

Many within the European Union, however, continued to blame Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for violence against civilians. French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Gadhafi "keeps shooting his own people" and added that Paris is considering all options, including no-fly zones, to end the crisis there.

France and Britain have taken the lead in planning for a no-fly zone over Libya, but other EU members are more skeptical.

It was not immediately clear whether the Libyan government had sent the request directly to the United Nations.

The EU official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with standing rules, said the eight remaining ambassadors in Tripoli from EU nations have also called for an independent U.N. visit to verify allegations of human rights abuses.

But EU spokesman Michael Mann said the EU would not transmit political messages from the Gadhafi regime and downplayed the appeal by the ambassadors in Tripoli, saying that European Union policy was made in Brussels.

The position of the 27-nation bloc is that Gadhafi's regime must relinquish power "in an orderly fashion." Mann said EU foreign ministers would consider further measures Thursday. EU leaders are meeting in a special summit on Libya on Friday.

Rebels are fighting to oust Gadhafi from power after more than 41 years and his bloody crackdown has left hundreds, and perhaps thousands, dead. Libya's U.N. ambassador, who broke with the regime, has urged the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone to prevent Gadhafi's forces from bombing civilians.

Britain and France are drafting a resolution, but no decision has yet been made.

On Tuesday, Libyan attack planes launched at least five airstrikes near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf.

The EU delegation that visited Tripoli held talks with Ahmed Jarrod, a director in the Libyan foreign ministry, and other Libyan officials.

He said the EU embassies that remain open in Tripoli - Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Malta and Romania - could not confirm that the Libyan air force had carried out attacks against civilians in rebel-held areas.

In London, the International Institute for Strategic Studies said a potential no-fly zone would have little impact on Gadhafi's use of attack helicopters against opponents. The think-tank's experts said methods used to enforce restrictions against fast-flying jets often struggle to pick out slower-moving helicopters.

Also Tuesday, the U.N. World Food Program was making its first food aid delivery inside Libya since fighting broke out last month. The WFP said a convoy of trucks carrying 70 metric tons of high-energy, fortified date bars crossed the Egyptian border and was due to arrive in the eastern port city of Benghazi, which is now held by the rebels.

WFP has been distributing aid to refugees crossing into Egypt and Tunisia from Libya, but Tuesday's convoy marked the first time the U.N. had gotten food into Libya itself.