US allows drone attacks against Gaddafi's forces

The government troops pounded the besieged rebel-held city of Misrata on Friday, undeterred by Western threats to step up military action against Moammar Gaddafis forces.Protesters and Gaddafi loyalists fought at close quarters in Libyas third-largest city, the only rebel stronghold in the west of the country. Misrata has been under siege by Gaddafis forces for seven weeks.Anti-government protesters said that 300 government soldiers and militiamen were holed up in a fortified old hospital they were using to launch mortars and rockets, taunting them and calling them ‘rats’. Hundreds of people are believed to have died in Misrata during its siege.