* "Stop fighting against your own people"
* Message broadcast in English and Arabic
* Says Gaddafi mercenaries raping Libyan people
By Matt Robinson
ZINTAN, Libya, May 16 (Reuters) - NATO is broadcasting to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi on Libyan army radio frequencies, telling them foreign mercenaries are raping the Libyan people and urging them to give up.
"Nobody has the right to make the lives of their people a living hell," says the broadcast, heard by Reuters on a Libyan army radio taken by rebels in the Western Mountains.
"Stop fighting against your own people," it continues, saying that the Libyan leadership has lost control and recruited non-Libyan mercenaries "and allowed them to rape your people."
The threat of rape and the role of foreign mercenaries are issues frequently brought up by refugees who have fled fighting in the rebel-held Western Mountains and by the rebels who stayed behind.
The Libyan government has denied recruiting mercenaries and says its forces are not targeting civilians. Officials say they are fighting armed criminal gangs and al Qaeda militants who are trying to ruin the country.
NATO warplanes, acting under a United Nations mandate to protect civilians, have stopped government troops advancing on rebel strongholds but not silenced their guns, and Gaddafi remains in power.
Fighting on several fronts has come to a near-standstill.
Asked about the broadcasts, a NATO official told Reuters: "NATO is being responsible in informing the Libyan people though public service announcements to ensure the civilian population remain as safe as possible."
The message, played on loop, is broadcast in English and Arabic spoken with an Iraqi accent.
"You have a choice," it says. "Build a peaceful Libya for the benefit of your family and a better future for your country." Otherwise, the air strikes which began on March 19 will continue, it warns.
The broadcast features a woman saying, "Why, my son, why do you kill our people?" A crying child says, "Dad, come home, stop fighting." (Additional reporting by David Brunnstrom in Brussels)
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