MORE British warplanes are being diverted to ground attack operations in Libya,

MORE British warplanes are being diverted to ground attack operations in Libya, the Ministry of Defence announced last night, as rebel leaders complained Nato was not doing enough to help them.

Four Typhoons, based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, have been policing the no-fly zone while the RAF Tornados have carried out attacks on Colonel Gaddafi’s ground forces.

However, with the Libyan air force apparently unwilling to risk a confrontation with the alliance, the MoD said the four jets would now be used to bolster Nato’s ground attack.

Abdel-Fattah Younis, the rebel military’s chief of staff, has claimed Nato’s bureaucratic procedures mean it can take eight hours for the alliance to respond to a request for air support.

He insisted Nato could have lifted the siege of the western city of Misrata weeks ago if it had wanted to. “The people will die and this crime will be on the face of the international com-munity forever. What is Nato doing?” asked Mr Younis.

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