20 March,2011 09:04 AM IST | | ANI
At least 48 persons, if not more, are said to have been killed in overnight air and missiles strikes launched from American and European ships based in the Mediterranean Sea.
Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi warned that the Mediterranean has been turned into a "real battlefield" after Saturday's Western air strikes. He said that he has ordered his commanders to open arms depots to defend the country and its people.
Meanwhile, the African Union''s panel on Libya on Sunday called for an "immediate stop" to the Western military action.
After meeting for over four hours in Mauritanian capital Nouakchott, it asked the Libyan authorities to ensure "humanitarian aid to those in need," as well as the "protection of foreigners, including African expatriates living in Libya."
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It underscored the need for "necessary political reforms to eliminate the causes of the present crisis."
The African Union's missive came after Western forces at least 112 missile strikes on Libyan air defences to neutralise what they called Colonel Gaddafi's reign of terror on civilians in his country.
