US warplane crashes in eastern Libya


The F-15E went down near Benghazi in eastern Libya.
 A US warplane has crashed in eastern Libya, following an apparent mechanical failure, the US military has said.
It said there was no indication the F-15E Eagle had been brought down by hostile fire. Both crew members ejected and are safe.
The plane went down near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi after a third night of allied air strikes against Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
The coalition is enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians.
The US military would not give the exact location the F-15E Eagle came down, but said both crewmen suffered only minor injuries after ejecting.
The aircraft was based in England and was operating out of Aviano in Italy.

One Libyan who came across the crashed jet told Britain's Daily Telegraph that one pilot held his hands in the air and said "OK, OK", but was quickly thanked by locals for his participation in the air strikes.
Younis Amruni told the Telegraph: "I hugged him and said 'don't be scared, we are your friends'."
The crash followed renewed allied air strikes overnight.
The CA's Allan Little in Tripoli says the sky above the capital had lit up with anti-aircraft fire.
Our correspondent heard one loud explosion nearby and several distant rumbles much further afield.
AFP news agency reported that a blast was heard near Col Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound.
Libyan state television reported that the capital was "under crusader enemy aerial bombardment" and that several sites had been attacked.
The Libyan authorities said a naval base at Bussetta, about 10km (six miles) east of Tripoli, and a fishing village had also been hit.
Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Monday's air and missile strikes had caused "numerous" civilian casualties, especially at the "civilian airport" in Sirte. The reports cannot be confirmed.
Continued shelling
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday that coalition forces were "going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties".
Mr Gates, after talks in Moscow with his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov, added: "I also told him that I thought the significant military fighting that has been going on should recede in the next few days."
Russia, which abstained in last week's UN Security Council vote on the resolution authorising force in Libya, has since criticised the air strikes.
Fighting between Col Gaddafi's forces and the rebels has continued, despite the declaration of a ceasefire by the government.
A doctor in Misrata - the last rebel-held city in western Libya - told the CA on Tuesday that residents had suffered another night of shelling by government forces.
He reported 22 deaths overnight and said more than 100 people had been injured.
There are also reports of continued fighting in Zintan, near the Tunisian border.
On Monday US President Barack Obama said the US would soon cede control of operations in Libya - "in a matter of days and not in a matter of weeks".
Mr Gates has said the mission could come under French-British or Nato control.
But divisions have emerged within Nato over taking command, with France and Turkey in particular offering objections.
France has indicated Arab countries would not want Nato to lead and that the organisation should support US, French and British political control.
Turkey wants limits on Nato involvement and says the air strikes have already gone beyond the UN resolution.
Italy said it could withdraw its bases without a co-ordinated Nato structure and Norway said its jets would not take part in the action as long as it was unclear who was in overall command.
Nato officials say they do not expect a decision for several days.
Meanwhile rebel leaders based in eastern Libya have had talks with United Nations officials on the humanitarian situation there.
The CA's Kevin Connolly in Tobruk, where the talks were held, says that although food is being imported in the region from Egypt, it is not clear how viable the local economy will be if it remains cut off from the rest of Libya.
United Nations aid agencies say they believe thousands of Libyan citizens are displaced within the country, amid reports of severe shortages of food and medicines, and reprisals by government forces.