Libyan rebels have accused Nato of being too slow to act – and asked them to suspend operations unless they “do the job properly”.

Rebel leader Abdel Fattah Younes has complained that the alliance takes hours to respond to events on the battlefield because of an overly bureaucratic process.

He claimed the alliance’s inaction was allowing Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces to advance and was letting them kill people in the rebel-held city of Misratah “every day”.

He said: “Nato is moving very slowly, allowing Gaddafi forces to advance. Nato has become our problem.”

Mr Younes also said if Nato had wanted to lift the siege of Misrata, it could have done it weeks ago.