Intercepted Phone Call: NATO Ground Troops Assisted Tripoli Invasion; "Mass Graves" in Misurata http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/levich200911.html

US and European troops participated in the invasion of Tripoli and are still stationed there, according to an intercepted telephone call between officials of Libya's National Transitional Council, the body purporting to represent NATO-allied rebels in the Libyan civil war.The call also reveals the existence of mass graves in or near Misurata which, one of the rebels says, "we are not supposed to talk about."Released to YouTube by anonymous hackers calling themselves "OpFreeLibya," the recorded conversation reflects simmering tensions between the Benghazi-based rebel leadership and the Misurata Brigade, a locally-based anti-Gaddafi militia that NTC leaders are trying to incorporate into a single Libyan National Army with a unified command structure.

The callers openly acknowledge the presence of NATO soldiers on the battlefield. At one point the unidentified Misurati commander assures Col. Bani that the US and French military are "very well informed about the situation on the ground, since they are with them on the ground."Western soldiers were present in Tripoli during the assault, and are still stationed there, the commander says. Additionally, he says, his own brigade includes a foreign intelligence group of 12 US spec ops and six French intelligence operatives.The presence of embedded Western soldiers is a violation of UN resolutions authorizing action against Gaddafi and contradicts numerous statements by US and NATO officials that there are no foreign "boots on the ground" in Libya.

The call also reflects a dispute over the provision of money, mercenaries, and weapons from Qatar, similarly illegal under the UN Libya resolutions. "Where are the weapons from Qatar, where are the troops when we need them?" the Misurati commander demands.The disclosure of mass graves seems to relate to the aftermath of the battle of Misurata, a decisive rebel victory that took place in May. In this context, the graves presumably contain the corpses of government soldiers, although the Misurata Brigade is also widely believed to be responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Tawergha, where thousands of civilians disappeared.