Renewed NATO air strikes rock Tripoli while Gaddafi nearing his end !

NATO war planes are continuing to bombard the Libyan capital Tripoli, with large explosions echoing over the city.  (Photo; Bombed area in Tripoli)

At least three strikes in the early hours of Friday sent plumes of smoke over Tripoli, and the direction of the strikes suggested that either the compound of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's embattled leader, or nearby military barracks were shelled.

After the strikes, pro-Gaddafi supporters fired assault rifles into the air and beeped their car horns in defiance.

The night strikes followed a total of 14 air attacks that were carried out on Thursday, considerably fewer than the heavy bombardment on Tuesday that flattened major buildings in Gaddafi's compound in the centre of the city.

The continued air raids came as Gaddafi forces renewed their shelling near the opposition-held western city of Misurata on Wednesday, killing at least 12  freedom figters.

In Brussels, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary-general, said the shelling near Misurata underscored the continued need to protect civilians.

"It is an example that the Gaddafi regime still constitutes a threat to the civilian population,'' he said. "We will stay committed as long as necessary."

'Gaddafi's days numbered'

The airs raids also came as Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, declared on Thursday that Gaddafi's days as leader of Libya were numbered.

"Gaddafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Gaddafi Libya," Clinton said at the International Contact Group [ICG] meeting on Libya in Abu Dhabi.

Clinton also said talks were under way with people close to the Libyan leader and that there was "the potential" for a transition of power in Libya.

"There have been numerous and continuing discussions by people close to Gaddafi and we are aware that those discussions include, among other matters, the potential for a transition," she said.

She gave no further details on the talks, other than to say "there is not any clear way forward yet".

Financial pledge

As the battle for control of Libya raged, donors at the ICG meeting pledged more than $1.3bn to help support the National Transitional Council (NTC), the main body representing the Libyan rebels fighting against Gaddafi.

Italy and France offered a combined $1.02bn while Kuwait and Qatar promised a combined $280m to a fund set up to provide transparent assistance to the opposition.

Turkey has established a $100m fund to support the Libyan opposition government based in Benghazi, Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, said.

Clinton said "we are ready for the establishment of financial mechanism for the money to flow to the National Transitional Council".

The US secretary of state said while Washington would boost its humanitarian aid to all Libyans by $26.5m, it was not offering any direct aid to the NTC. This was despite Clinton acknowledging that the council "faces a serious budget shortfall'' and "needs our immediate financial assistance".

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "We understand the NTC's frustration but again the international community isn't going to let the NTC go under."

Washington said on Wednesday that the first shipment of Libyan oil sold by the council had been delivered to a US refinery and Clinton encouraged other nations to make similar purchases to help the Libyan people.

The Benghazi-based  freedom figters leadership has said it hopes to restart production of up to 100,000 barrels a day soon, without specifying a timeframe.

Shortage of funds

Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, who defected from Gaddafi's government while he was the Libyan ambassador to the UN, said the  freedom figters needs $3bn to cover salaries and food costs for the next four months.

The total amount pledged at the ICG summit, while significant, fell way short of the fund needed. The  freedom figters say that Gaddafi's assets frozen abroad, which are reportedly worth $160bn, should be made available to them.

Ali Tarhouni, the opposition finance minister, urged nations to allow the council to use the funds as collateral for loans.

"Our people are dying," he said.

"It's been almost four months now and nothing has materialised so far. Our message to our friends is that I hope that they walk the walk."

The number of countries recognising the freedom figters council is growing by each day. A day after Spain recognised the NTC, Australia said the  freedom figters  government was legitimate.

Dictator Gaddafi lost control of Yafran while Freedom Fighters Gain Land !

Reports say Libyan Freedom Fighters have entered the northwestern town of Yafran, previously held by regime forces, as the NATO chief says he is confident that people across Libya can start preparing for a future without Dictator Muammar Gaddafi, the country's long-time ruler whi si being charged of war crimes as well.



Youssef Boudlal, a Reuters photographer in Yafran, on Monday said the town had been wrested by the freedom fighters.

"We are inside the town ... There is no sign of any Gaddafi forces. I can see the Freedom Fighters flags ... We have seen posters and photos of Gaddafi that have been destroyed," Boudlal said.

"We do not have details of what provided this breakthrough ... this is a town that has been held by Gaddafi forces since the start of the fighting," he said.

"But what we saw this morning was Freedom Fighters rolling into a town just 100 miles from the capital, really on the doorstep of Gaddafi.

"What propelled this to happen, we still don't know. But what we do know is that the clock certainly seems to be ticking on Gaddafi. This is really the first challenge to the city of Tripoli that we have seen in about four months."

The Freedom Fighters advance came amid intense fighting between forces loyal to Gaddafi and Freedom Fighters seeking to end his more than four-decade-long rule.

It also came as Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO's secretary-general, said damaging or destroying of 1,800 military targets so far in Libya has degraded Gaddafi's power to the extent that he will certainly be forced from power.

"We have made considerable progress," he said before a meeting of NATO defence ministers due to take place in Brussels.

"We have taken the momentum, we have turned the tide of terror unleashed by the Gaddafi regime, we have saved countless lives and we have seriously degraded the ability of the Gaddafi regime to attack civilians."

NATO says Dictator Gaddafi forces 'significantly degraded'

The head of the NATO military alliance has said that military and political pressure have weakened Dictator Muammar Gaddafi's hold on power in Libya and will eventually topple him.

"We have significantly degraded Gaddafi's war machine. And now we see results, the opposition has gained ground," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a news conference in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, on Thursday.

"I am confident that combination of strong military pressure and increased political pressure and support for the opposition will eventually lead to the collapse of the regime."

Rasmussen’s comments were echoed by US President Barack Obama.

"Time is working against Gaddafi. He does not have control over his country. The opposition has organised a legitimate and credible Interim Council," Obama said in Washington.

"When Gaddafi inevitably leaves or is forced from power, decades of provocation will come to an end and the transition to a democratic Libya can proceed," he said, defending his decision to take military action against the Libyan leader's anti democratic regime.

Full recognition of the National Transitional Council (of pro democracy figters) is yet to be done but says it is a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people

The United States has stopped short of full diplomatic recognition of Libya's pro democracy council but the White House has said the council is a "legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people".

(Photo ; Libyan Freedom figters held mass demonstrations after midday prayers in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi on Friday)


Mahmoud Jibril, who serves as the foreign minister of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC), met the Tom Donilon, the US president's national security advisor, at the White House on Friday.

"During the meeting, Mr Donilon stated that the United States views the [NTC] as a legitimate and credible interlocutor of the Libyan people," the White House said in a statement released after the meeting.



"In contrast, Mr Donilon stressed that [Libyan leader Muammar] Gaddafi has lost his legitimacy to rule and reiterated [US] President [Barack] Obama's call for Gaddafi to leave immediately," it said.

Obama did not meet with the opposition leaders.

"Mr Donilon and Dr Jibril discussed how the United States and the coalition can provide additional support to the [NTC]. Mr Donilon applauded the [NTC's] commitment to an inclusive political transition and a democratic future for Libya," the statement concluded.

The recognition stops short of what the NTC had sought. In an op-ed published in the New York Times ahead of his meetings in Washington, Jibril had written that the NTC was seeking to be recognised as the "sole" legitimate representative of the Libyan people.

The White House, however, has signaled that such a move would be premature.

"I don't anticipate action like that," Jay Carney, the White House spokesman, said.

Meanwhile, the US has stepped up its financial support of the anti-Gaddafi rebels, with Obama authorising $25m in non-lethal assistance and $53m in humanitarian aid.

The White House said it was looking for ways to increase US financial support to the opposition, in part through congressional legislation that would free up a portion of the more than $30bn in frozen assets connected to the Gaddafi government in US banks, so that it could be used to aid the rebels.

"We believe that if we could access and use blocked government of Libya assets it could make a significant amount of money available to alleviate the suffering of the Libyan people," Carney said.

The rebels have said they need up to $3bn in the coming months for military salaries, food, medicine and other supplies. They also say no country has sent the arms they need.

"If there is any country that is willing to arm us, we are happy to defend ourselves," Ali Tarhouni, the council's minister of finance and oil, said after a meeting at the State Department on Friday.

"This is a thug, a killer regime that took a peaceful movement and forced us to carry arms. It's legitimate that we have arms to defend ourselves."

Despite financially backing the opposition, the White House says questions about who exactly the rebels are and their long-term objectives are keeping the United States from recognising the council as the legitimate Libyan government.

"The question of recognition is one of many policy issues still under review," Carney said.

Friday's meetings come as a deadline nears on the 60-day window Obama has to keep the US military involved in the Libya campaign without congressional approval.

However, the White House said the United States and NATO will continue military operations in Libya as long as Muammar Gaddafi continues to attack his people.

The White House spokesman offered no specifics on how the US planned to do that, saying only that officials were, "in regular communications with Congress, and that will continue".


Administration officials have been eager to show signs of progress in the Libyan bombing campaign, first led by the US and now overseen by NATO.

Obama on Friday met privately with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO Secretary-General, in the Oval Office, and the White House said the two agreed that the military action would go on until Gaddafi's assault on civilians had stopped.

NATO has been intensifying airstrikes in several areas of Libya against Gaddafi's troops in a bid to weaken his campaign against the rebel uprising.

The Libyan leader, in an audio message broadcast on state television on Friday, said he had survived the assault.

Hours after Gaddafi's minute-long speech, the sound of four explosions, most likely a NATO strike, could be heard in Tripoli.

Government spokesman Ibrahim Uthman said the strikes targeted the country's Agriculture Ministry. The same building, however, was targeted days ago and, at the time, residents said it was a government intelligence building.

Shortly before Gaddafi's remarks were broadcast, regime spokesman Moussa Ibrahim claimed that a NATO airstrike in Brega had targeted a meeting of dozens of clerics and officials from around Libya, a claim NATO denies.

Ibrahim said 11 imams were killed in their sleep at a guesthouse, and 50 people were wounded, including five in critical condition.

The alliance, responding to the claim, said it had attacked a military command-and-control centre, and that it could "not independently confirm the validity" of claims of civilian casualties.

"We're very careful in the selection of our targets and this one was very clearly identified as a command center," said an official at NATO's operational headquarters in Naples, Italy, who spoke under the alliance's rules that he could not be named.

NATO targets Libyan weapons depots - Freedom Fighters report coalition air strikes against anti democratic regime targets near Zintan, as well as strikes near Misurata.

NATO air attacks have hit anti democratic regime weapons depots near Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, the capital, according to a Freedom Fighter in the town.

Separately, two loud explosions rocked a western sector of Tripoli on Sunday as jets flew overhead, witnesses had told the AFP news agency.



An international coalition began carrying out attacks on forces loyal to Dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's long-time ruler and destroyer, on March 19, under a UN mandate to protect civilians in the country. NATO took command of operations over Libya on March 31.

"NATO struck weapons depots five minutes ago in an area which lies about 30km southeast of Zintan," Abdulrahman, the freedom fighter, told the Reuters news agency by telephone on Sunday.

"We heard a loud explosion ... I think the strike hit some of them [the depots].

"We are now at a cemetery burying 11 people martyred during yesterday's fighting, in which 35 other fighters were also wounded."

The reported air raids came a week after the Libyan Regime said that Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Arab Gaddafi, and three of his grandchildren were killed in a NATO air strike on a compound in Tripoli but some believe that they had being murdered under the direct orders of Gaddafi in order to get back the support of civilians who are leaving him day by day..

Elsewhere in the country, freedom figters in the contested city of Misurata clashed with regime forces near the airport, a spokesman of pro democracy fighters told the Reuters news agency on Sunday.

"Fierce fighting is taking place now at the airport and in the air force college area [near the airport]. We are still hearing sounds of artillery and rockets," the spokesman, called Abdelsalam, said from Misurata.

"NATO struck an area in the east of Misurata today but we do not have details."


Meanwhile, Tunisia warned on Sunday that the repeated shelling from Libya of one of its border towns may force it to take measures to protect its sovereignty.

The country's official TAP news agency said that about 80 shells from Libya had fallen on Tunisian territory.


There were no reported injuries after the shells fell as Libyan troops fought with freedom figters to regain control of the Wazen-Dhehiba border post.

TAP quoted the Tunisian foreign ministry as warning that the country would take "all measures needed" within the law to ensure protection of its citizens, refugees and its territory.

Tunisia summoned Libya's ambassador on April 29 to complain after shells fell in inhabited areas. It now says Libya is not keeping to its commitments.

Meanwhile Italian coast guards and local fisherman saved all 528 refugees on a boat from Libya after their vessel hit rocks off the island of Lampedusa in an operation a rescuer described as a "miracle."

Among the refugees who had thrown themselves into the water at night were 24 pregnant women.

Western Coalitions to create fund for Libya Freedom Fighters

Countries involved in military campaign pledge money to provide food, medicine and supplies to opponents of Gaddafi.

The NATO-backed coalition in Libya has said it will create a fund for rebels fighting the government of Muammar Gaddafi.

The Transitional National Council (TNC), based in Benghazi, has appealed for loans of up to $3bn, saying they need around half of that for food, medicine and other basic supplies.

Italy, host of Thursday's meeting in Rome of the Contact Group on Libya, said the temporary special fund would aim to channel cash to the opposition administration in its eastern Libyan stronghold.

Franco Frattini, Italy's foreign minister, said $250m were already available, while his French counterpart said the fund could be up and running within weeks.

But efforts to unblock Libyan state assets frozen in overseas accounts, or to allow the rebels to get past UN sanctions that prevent their selling oil on international markets, have been held up.

"We'll be discussing a financial mechanism, we'll be discussing other forms of aid," Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said at a joint news conference with Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister.

"I will be formally announcing our non-lethal assistance so I think that there is an effort with urgency to meet the requests that the TNC is making," she said.

Loan rather than gift'

Clinton said the US government would try and free up some of the $30bn it has frozen in Libyan assets to help the TNC.

She said the administration of Barack Obama wants "to tap some portion of those assets owned by Gaddafi and the Libyan government in the United States, so we can make those funds available to help the Libyan
people".

Kuwait said it has pledged $180m and Qatar will put in $400-$500m, its prime minister said on Thursday.

However Britain has said it has no plans to contribute to the new fund because it had already made a "very substantial" contribution to humanitarian assistance.

Laurence Lee, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Rome, said it had been suggested that the money would not be a gift, but a loan from the coalition countries.

"One assumes that in the fullness of time this would be repaid by oil sales, which Qatar already started with one shipment of oil. And it may be able to be repaid relatively quickly.

He said the countries that recognise the rebel council, France, Italy and Qatar, are the ones with which the TNC will do business.

"The fact that it will be France and Italy that will be administing this fund is bound to lead some people to think that this is quite a good way of persuading a cash-strapped eastern Libya in Benghazi to accept a deal which is going to put oil and money into the hands of countries like France, Italy and Qatar.

"So although it looks like benevolence, there is a hard headed financial imperative that goes underneath it."

Mahmoud Shammam, chief spokesman for the TNC, has said the rebels urgently need $1.5bn to cover immediate running costs.

"We need this for medical supplies, for food supplies, to keep the minimum functions of normal life - electricity,
running hospitals etc," he said on Wednesday.

The rebels also want to press their cases for better weapons and equipment, Shammam suggested, saying that they are "hungry for basic arms."

The meeting of Libya Contact Group brought together foreign ministers from countries including France, Britain, the United States, Italy and Qatar as well as representatives of the Arab League and the African Union.

British officials said the Rome meeting would seek to impose new restrictions on arms smuggling and mercenaries operating within Libya, and hoped the contact group would work on action intended to restrict Gaddafi's exports of crude oil and his ability to import refined oil products.


Continuation of clashes

As the ministers met in Italy, fighting continued on the ground in Libya.

In Zintan, southwest of Tripoli, a rebel spokesman said NATO planes struck Gaddafi's forces and weapons depots west of the rebel-held town in two raids on Thursday.

"As far as we know, T-72 tanks, Grad missile launchers and heavy weaponry are kept in those depots," the spokesman, named Abdulrahman, told Reuters by telephone.

Earlier, Abdulrahman said pro-Gaddafi forces had fired about 50 Russian-made Grad rockets into Zintan on Thursday.

Near the border with Tunisia, a rebel fighter told Reuters there was intense fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in the area of the village of Ghezaya.

 The village lies between the Dehiba-Wazin border crossing, which is in rebel hands, and the town of Nalut where residents said Gaddafi loyalists had been shelling rebel positions.

Rebels say they are preparing for an attempt by Gaddafi's forces to retake the crossing.

Late on Thursday a Tunisian security source said more than a dozen mortar rounds fired from Libya had landed near Dehiba, one of them near a reservoir supplying the town with drinking water.

3 key figures in Anti Democaratic Gaddafi's regime will have to face WAR Crimes for crimes against humanity in Libya

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has told the UN Security Council that he will seek three arrest warrants for crimes against humanity in Libya.

Charges against the three members of the Libyan government may include murder and unlawful detention, use of cluster bombs and rape as a weapon, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said on Wednesday.

The UN Security Council referred the Libyan violence to the ICC in February.

Moreno-Ocampo is investigating Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, some of his sons and aides over a "pre-determined plan" to attack protesters.

He did not, however, name the targets of the arrest warrants, which he said he will request in several weeks for crimes against humanity committed in Libya since February 15.

"Crimes against humanity have been and continue to be committed in Libya, attacking unarmed civilians including killings and persecutions in many cities across Libya," the prosecutor said in a statement.

The prosecutor added that he was also investigating the deaths of dozens of sub-Saharan Africans in the rebel capital of Benghazi by an "angry mob" who believed they were mercenaries for Gaddafi.

Khalid Kaim, the Libyan deputy foreign minister, dismissed the ICC allegations saying Moreno-Ocampo's report painted a partial picture.

"Any decision or any conclusion can Mr. Ocampo draw out of his visit to Benghazi and to Egypt will be just one party review or one party position," Kaim said.

"Of course, since we are not party of the ICC, we cannot invite Mr. Ocampo but instead of that we can invite another fact-finding mission from the [UN] Security Council."

Rape as a weapon

Moreno-Ocampo said there were allegations that Africans from other nations had been attacked in rebel territory because they were thought to be mercenaries.

Alleged criminal incidents include security forces opening live fire at unarmed peaceful protesters, using rape as well as "systemic arrests, torture, killings, deportations, enforced disappearances and destruction of mosques" as a weapon, according to the prosecutor's report.

While a precise number is hard to provide, up to 700 people were killed in February alone, the report said. Gaddafi estimates that "only 150 or 200" have been killed.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said almost 40,000 people fled fighting in western Libya last month.

Fighting continues in Libya's Misurata - Latest Update on Libya Uprise

Freedom Figters say humanitarian deliveries affected in besieged city as battles rage for control of port rage on

Pro-democracy fighters are battling Muammar Gaddafi's, alias butcher of Libya's, forces on the country's western border while fighting continues in the besieged opposition held city of Misurata.

A spokesman for freedom figters told on Wednesday that heavy shelling had prevented ships from docking in Misurata to deliver humanitarian supplies and evacuate the wounded.

"The attacks have prevented a number of ships seeking to enter the port to evacuate the wounded from Misurata," Ahmed Hassan, the spokesman said.

"Other ships are also waiting to unload shipments from humanitarian agencies."

The freedom fighters said the Libyan army had withdrawn from central Misurata but that fierce fighting was still ongoing for control of the city's port.

"Gaddafi's forces retreated from the port area where they were positioned yesterday after air strikes by the NATO forces," an opposition spokesman, called Reda told the Reuters news agency.

The strikes completely destroyed 37 military vehicles. Gaddafi's forces this morning started bombarding an area about 10km north of the city. It is known as the Steel area.

"The bombardment is still going on. They are using Grad missiles ... Warplanes are flying over Misurata's outskirts but I don't hear any sound of strikes."

Freedom Figters battle Gaddafi forces in western Libya

Dictators forces bombard port in Misurata and Berber towns in the western mountains as NATO allies mull way ahead.

Libya's opposition fighters are battling Muammar Gaddafi's forces on the country's western border, while fighting continues in the besieged city of Misurata.

Pro-democracy forces have said the Libyan army has withdrawn from central Misurata, but fierce fighting is still ongoing for control of the city's port.



At least three people were killed in the fighting there a day earlier, an opposition spokesman called Reda told the Reuters news agency by phone on Tuesday.

"Gaddafi's troops are still positioned on the outskirts of the city," he said before the line was cut.

While dictators forces pulled out of the city over the weekend under pressure from NATO air attacks, they have since unleashed a heavy bombardment on the city, the only major western city in freedom figters hands.

"It was horrific, like a scene from World War II," said Saddoun el-Misurati, a resident who was waiting to evacuate his mother from the port when the rockets began to fall. "I stopped counting after nine."

Dictators forces on Tuesday bombarded the port, which is the sole lifeline of Misurata's battered population, news agencies said.

"Another development which is rather disturbing is that there has been shelling in the docks area, which is the lifeline to opposition forces and indeed the civilian population here," Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reported from Misurata.

"Reports from an opposition spokesperson say pro-Gaddafi troops are intent to cut the main road from city to the port. If the lifeline is cut then everyone is in a desperate situation.

"Though Gaddafi troops have left the city everybody is under threat of shellfire. The whole city centre has been destroyed and needs to be rebuilt."

A building in the Dictator Gaddafi's compound flattened to the ground with heavy well targetted NATO air strikes!

NATO forces flattened a building inside Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al Aziziyah compound early on Monday.

Firefighters were still working to extinguish flames in a part of the ruined building a few hours after the attack, when foreign journalists were brought to the scene in Tripoli.




The press official, who asked not to be identified, said 45 people were hurt in the strike, 15 of them seriously, and some were still missing. That could not be independently confirmed.

Gaddafi's compound has been struck before, but NATO forces appear to be stepping up the pace of strikes in Tripoli in recent days.

A target nearby, which the regime called a car park but which appeared to cover a bunker, was hit two days ago.

The United States, Britain and France say they will not stop their air campaign over Libya until Dictator Gaddafi leaves power.

Washington has taken a backseat role in the air war since turning over command to NATO at the end of March but is under pressure to do more. This week it sent Predator drone air crafts which fired for the first time on Saturday still their is no sign of Dictator Gaddafi stepping down.

Libyan freedom fighters resist Ajdabiya assault - Libya Uprise Latest Update

Anti-dictator forces hold sway in key town but frontline fighters complain of lack of supplies and fear infiltrators



Freedom fighters in eastern Libya fought off an attack by blood thirsty Dictators troops in the town of Ajdabiya on Sunday, a day after retreating from a key oil facility around 100 kilometres farther west.


Forces loyal to longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi alias Butcher Of Libya advanced on Ajdabiya under a heavy artillery barrage in the morning and fought at close range with freeedom figters on the town’s southern outskirts before a counterattack forced them back, witnesses said.



On Saturday, with the help of NATO air strikes along the main coastal road, freeedom figters reached the outskirts of Brega, the site of a major oil and petrochemical port west of Ajdabiya.


But a sandstorm that began overnight hampered air cover, and by Sunday morning freeedom figters had retreated.


Dozens of civilian vehicles, many of them carrying families, fled Ajdabiya throughout the morning, and some freeedom figters also appeared to join the withdrawal.


Two fighters were injured in the battle, suffering superficial shrapnel wounds during the bombardment, but none were seriously injured or killed, doctors at Ajdabiya Hospital said.


In response to the advance by Gaddafi’s forces, the opposition Transitional National Council issued orders that casualties should no longer go to Ajdabiya Hospital and should instead be sent directly to Benghazi, the seat of the freeedom figters government around 160 kilometres to the north, the doctors said.


Some of the wounded already at the hospital were also evacuated. At least five ambulances with flashing lights and sirens blaring could be seen driving north out of Ajdabiya before noon.


Dozens of explosions from incoming artillery fire could be heard south of the town, and fighters said there were at least 100 blasts throughout the morning.

Battles for Libyan cities rage on - Renewed push for oil port of Brega comes as Gaddafi regime denies using cluster bombs on the besieged city of Misurata.

Libyan rebels, seeking to overthrow long time leader Muammar Gaddafi, have advanced from Ajdabiya toward the oil port town of Brega in the country’s east.


Following NATO air strikes along the coastal road on Saturday, anti-Gaddafi forces said they had reached the edges of the oil town, bringing engineers with them to repair the damaged oil infrastructure.



But Gaddafi's troops remain consolidated within the city centre, said rebel fighters returning to Ajdabiya.


"We have people on the edge of Brega, we control that area only," said 20-year-old Mohammed el-Misrati.


"Nothing has changed inside Brega." 


The battle for territory in Libya's east left six anti-Gaddafi fighters dead and 16 wounded on Saturday.


"We were in our vehicles and they opened fire with rockets," said an injured fighter named Abdulrazek in Ajdabiya hospital.

NATO ducks apology over rebel deaths - Second time with in 2 weeks

NATO concedes alliance air attacks "may have caused" the death of rebel fighters in tank strike outside Brega.

The deputy commander of NATO's operations in Libya has said he is "not apologising" for two air strikes which "may have led to the deaths" of a "a number of" opposition fighters outside the town of Brega.




Rear Admiral Russell Harding said in a press briefing on Tuesday that the situation on the ground had been "very fluid" when the strikes were launched a day earlier.He said tanks had been moving in different directions and that it was difficult to distinguish who was operating them.

"Until this time, we had not seen the TNC [Transitional National Council] operate tanks," he said.
General Abdelfatah Yunis, the rebel commander, said in Benghazi that four people - two fighters and two medics - were killed in the attack, 14 wounded and another six people were missing.

He said it was friendly fire, "carried out in error by NATO," adding that the freedon figters had now informed NATO that they were moving T55 and T72 heavy tanks from Benghazi to Brega.

He said that they still have 400 tanks and will get more in future.

Groups of fighters and civilians fled from the eastern town of Ajdabiya on Thursday after the air strikes.

Libyan state television claimed that forces loyal to longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi had entered Ajdabiya, but residents said they could see no sign of them.

NATO took command of the air operation last week after American, British and French air strikes halted Gaddafi's troops from advancing on Benghazi.


Freedom Figters say they need to buy more high-powered weaponry from abroad and would welcome foreign trainers to help them teach fighters how to use them, but so far no countries have acknowledged that they will sell weapons to the Freedom Figters.

On Thursday, however, General Younes said publicly for the first time that Qatar had provided the Freedom Figters with anti-tank weapons. Qatar was the second country to recognise the opposition Transitional National Council as Libya's legitimate government and has said it will market oil provided by freedom figters.

The coalition air effort to halt the Butcher of Libya's attacks on civilians continues !

The coalition air effort to halt the Libyan dictators attacks on civilians continued into Thursday for a sixth day, with an airstrike in the Tripoli suburb of Tajura.


On Wednesday night, the dictators regime reported that military and civilian locations in the neighborhood of Al-Jfara and in the Tagora district of the capital had been struck by "crusading colonial" bombardment but they were unable to prove it. In response, Joint Task Force Operation Odyssey Dawn Lt. Cmdr. Jim Hoeft said "It is not likely that civilians were a part of any airstrike today."


He said coalition forces "have been using all necessary measures to protect the citizens of Libya from the violence and killing inflicted upon them by Colonel Gadhafi."


An opposition activist in Tripoli accused dictators state media of lying about civilian victims of the coalition airstrikes. For example, she said, she was accompanying a cousin to a hospital for medical care when she saw a TV producer asking some people to close their eyes and play dead and others to pretend they were wounded. Some of the "wounded," she said, were soldiers in civilian garb.




On Wednesday, dictators regime officials invited journalists to visit a house in Tripoli that had been damaged in an air raid, but -- after driving around for more than half an hour -- were apparently unable to find it and so returned the journalists to their hotel. The drive revealed a city quieter than normal -- about half the stores were closed.


People appeared apprehensive, anxious. Opponents of Gadhafi were afraid to speak publicly.
In Ajdabiya, parts of the city fell to opposition forces even though Gadhafi's men, who had been pounding the area with artillery and heavy tank bombardments, retained control of the northern and western gates, opposition fighters and witnesses told CNN.


A hospital staffer and opposition fighters said nine people were killed Wednesday in fighting near the northern gate.


So far, the coalition has crippled the Libyan air force, and established a no-fly zone that spans Libya from east to west along its coastline, said U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gerard Hueber.

Current Situation in Libya - Attacks by Coalition forces are so far successful - 2 crew members of F15e rescued !

As Libyan Dictator, War Criminal Moammar Gadhafi crowed, "I do not scare," the United States Tuesday got back two crew members whose F-15E fighter jet malfunctioned and said it will be able to hand over command of the coalition that has hammered loyalist military positions over four days.


Meanwhile, fighting raged in Misrata, east of the capital, where a witness claimed Gadhafi has placed snipers on the tops of buildings.


Also Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Naval forces in Europe and Africa said multinational air strikes would continue until Gadhafi complies with a United Nations mandate to stop attacking civilians.


Americans "are going to be satisfied that lives were saved" by the U.S. military action, President Barack Obama said during a visit to El Salvador. He said the timetable for a transition of military leadership will be coming in days, rather than weeks.


Gadhafi vowed Tuesday to emerge victorious in his battle with international forces seeking to impose a no-fly zone in his country and to halt his forces from attacking civilians.


"We will not give up," he said to a crowd of supporters, many of them waving green flags in a speech broadcast on state television. "They will not terrorize us. We are making fun of their rockets. The Libyans are laughing at these rockets. We will defeat them by any method."


He said Libyans "are leading the international war against imperialism, against despots and I tell you, I do not scare."


Gadhafi is violating the U.N. Security Council resolution by "continued aggressive actions his forces have taken against the civilian population," U.S. Navy Adm. Samuel Locklear III said.


Locklear also spoke about the U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle that had flown from Aviano air base in Italy to Libya, where the fighter experienced mechanical problems. Both the pilot and the weapons officer ejected and were rescued within hours -- one retrieved by the U.S. military, the other by Libyan Freedom Fighters.



The aviators, who suffered minor injuries when they landed, were both out of Libya and in U.S. hands, Locklear said.


The U.S. military dispatched a pair of Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft from the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, about 100 miles off the coast of Libya, to rescue the downed aviators, said Capt. Richard Ulsh, spokesman for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
But the two men landed in different places when they parachuted, and the U.S. rescue crew was able to pick up only the pilot. He was flown to the Kearsarge, which has extensive medical facilities.


Libyan Freedom Fighters recovered the second crew member and treated him with "respect and dignity" until coalition forces were able to reach him, Locklear said.


Residents in the area, some of whom witnessed the crash, told that they combed farmlands to search for the two Americans. They also expressed their gratitude to coalition members for the United Nations-authorized coalition attack on Libyan air defense targets meant to protect civilians.


Locklear said he would investigate on reports that claimedf villagers were injured when allied forces opened fire during rescue operations.


"The recovery mission from my perspective was executed as I would have expected it to be given the circumstances," he said.


Criticism and questions persist about the Libyan campaign, with no clear answer on who will take over command of the military operation and what the endgame or exit strategy will be. But U.S. officials said the international mission has succeeded in halting Gadhafi's momentum.


Locklear told reporters that initial military strikes by the French, followed by attacks by Britain and the United States, have rendered Gadhafi's long-range air defenses and his air force largely ineffective. And the Libyan opposition's newly formed administration urged the international community to continue enforcing the U.N. charter.


"The interim national council has called on the international community to take all forceful deterrent measures, based on the U.N. charter and international covenants, to help the Libyan people put an end to further crimes against the humanity," the statement from the Transitional National Council said.


Missiles rained down Tuesday and anti-aircraft fire pierced the night sky in Tripoli hours before dawn.


The Libyan dictators regime took some international journalists to a port area that appeared to have been damaged by missile strikes that left craters 15 feet deep. A destroyed mobile rocket launcher system lay smoldering. Several warehouses were hit.


The United States fired 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya during a 12-hour period, said military spokeswoman Cmdr. Monica Rousselow. A total of 162 Tomahawks have been fired by the United States and Britain since the start Saturday of Operation Odyssey Dawn, which includes enforcement of a no-fly zone. The operation has included 212 U.S. and 124 sorties.


The international operation has targeted air defense sites and command centers, but Gadhafi himself has not been targeted, and there are no plans to kill the dictator, said Gen. Carter Ham, the head of U.S. forces in Africa.


"I could see accomplishing the military mission, which has been assigned to me, and the current leader would remain the current leader," he said. "We think we have been very effective in degrading his ability to control his regime forces."


Ham said no Libyan aircraft have been observed flying since the military operations began Saturday. And air attacks have stopped Libyan ground forces from approaching the eastern freedom figter stronghold of Benghazi.


But fighting raged in Misrata, a city under siege two hours east of Tripoli.
Four children in the same family were among 13 civilians killed in Misrata fighting Tuesday, said Dr. Khaled Mansouri of Misrata Central Hospital. About 30 people were injured, he said.


The death toll from the clashes between Gadhafi forces and opposition in the city stands at 90 over the last five days.


An opposition spokesman who would give only his first name, Mohamed, told that the situation in the city is dire and worsening by the hour as Gadhafi forces have taken control of the main street that leads from the city center to a highway that connects Misrata to Tripoli.


Loyalist snipers are on the top of buildings, he said.


The hospital is running out of medical supplies and are turning patients away, he said. "I have seen a man whose broken arm is hanging being discharged because of lack of space," said Mohamed, who said he would not divulge his full name because of concern for his safety. He said the city has been without water and electricity for nine days.


Violence has raged in Libya following protests calling for democracy and demanding an end to Gadhafi's almost 42-year rule. Protesters have been met by force from the Gadhafi regime, and numerous world leaders -- including U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon -- have denounced the killings of civilians by Gadhafi's troops.


The U.N. Security Council passed a resolution Thursday that allows member states "to take all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country ... while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory." It also imposed a no-fly zone.


Barak Barfi, a research fellow with the New America Foundation, said "it's certainly clear" that the allied coalition has stymied the onslaught of Gadhafi troops against rebels in eastern Libya.


"Before the decision in the U.N. was taken Thursday, it seemed like Gadhafi was going to overrun the opposition in a matter of days," he said.


But "it's unclear if the rebels can form under any type of organized command and move forward now that the airstrikes have taken away Gadhafi's offensive capabilities," Barfi said Tuesday. "It's unclear at this point in time who would take control after Gadhafi leaves. We know that there are really no state institutions in Libya."


A former Gadhafi aide told on Tuesday that the Libyan strongman would not go down easily.
Abubaker Saad said Gadhafi has several bunkers deep underground and is likely hiding in one of them.


"As you probably all have noticed that now he is giving all of his statements by phone to the Libyan television," Saad said.


Obama said that once leadership of the military mission in Libya shifts from the United States to the coalition, "it is not going to be our planes maintaining the no-fly zone" and "it is not going to be our ships that are necessarily enforcing the arms embargo."
There has been intense debate among the allies over NATO's role going forward.
The natural choice to coordinate "Operation Odyssey Dawn" would seem to be NATO with its experience leading and coordinating international coalitions, but U.S. and European officials tell CNN that some allies, especially French President Nicolas Sarkozy, are concerned the action in Libya could be perceived negatively as another NATO operation in another Arab country.


Another complication is how to consolidate Arab support. The United States expects additional Arab support for the coalition enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya, a senior administration official told reporters Tuesday.


So far, Qatar is the only Arab country that has contributed planes to mission.
The official said that several Arab states are in the process of finalizing their plans, adding the Obama administration was "confident we will have further concrete contributions of different kinds" for enforcement of the resolution in the next two to three days.

International Forces does their best to protect civilians from dictator Gaddafi !

Watch Videos of Bombing of Dictator Gaddafi's Air Defence


Loud explosions have rocked the Libyan capital, Tripoli, a day after international forces launched an operation to enforce a no-fly zone over the North African country.


Anti-aircraft tracer fire erupted in Tripoli late on Sunday, indicating a second wave of incoming jets aimed at targets belonging to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.


Britain's ministry of defence said one of its submarines had again fired guided Tomahawk missiles on Libyan air defence systems on Sunday.


Gunfire could also be heard from the area around Gaddafi's residence in the Bab el-Aziziya barracks in the south of Tripoli, with reports of separate explosions coming from the same area.


Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from the capital, said it was not immediately clear where the explosions had occurred as journalists were not allowed to visit the sites targeted.


"The principle firing happened around nine o'clock in the evening local time and that's when we believe there was a strike in the region of Gaddafi's compound," she said. 


"We saw a large plume of smoke coming from an explosion somewhere in that general direction. It is likely there were plenty of useful military targets there if you were a major international force looking to persuade Gaddafi to make peaceful noises."



The blasts came two days after the United Nations Security Council authorised international military action to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya, as well as "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks by Gaddafi forces on civilians.


'Gaddafi not a target'


The US military said the bombardment so far has succeeded in degrading Gaddafi's air defences.


But a Pentagon spokesman stressed in a press briefing on Sunday that the Libyan leader is not a target for the international military assault on the country.


However, Navy Vice Admiral William E Gortney added that any of Gaddafi's ground troops advancing on pro-democracy forces are open targets for US and allied attacks.


"If they are moving on opposition forces ... yes, we will take them under attack," he told reporters.


"There has been no new air activity by the regime and we have detected no radar emissions from any of the air defence sites targeted and there's been a significant decrease in in the use of all Libyan air surveillance radars."


Gortney said the coalition acting against Gaddafi, which originally grouped the US, Britain, France, Italy and Canada, had broadened to include Belgium and Qatar.

International forces bombard dictator gaddafi's targets in Libya

US and European military forces have bombarded Libya with cruise missiles and air attacks as part of a broad international effort to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone more than a month after the outbreak of an uprising against longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.


French jets fired the first shots on Saturday in Operation Odyssey Dawn, the biggest international military intervention in the Arab world since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles in eastern Libya.


Hours later, US and British warships and submarines launched more than 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles at more than 20 coastal targets to clear the way for air patrols to ground Libya's air force.


An unnamed US national security official said the air defences of Libya have been "severely crippled" by the barrage of missile strikes.


"Gaddafi's air defence systems have been severely disabled. It's too soon to predict what he and his ground forces may do in response to today's strikes," the military source said, on condition of anonymity.




Major-General John Lorimer, a British military spokesman, said British fighter jets also had been used to bombard the north African nation.


Anti-aircraft guns could be heard firing overnight in Tripoli. Libyan state television later said civilian areas of the capital and fuel-storage tanks that supplied Misurata had been hit.


It also claimed that 48 people had been killed and 150 others wounded in the attacks, but Al Jazeera could not independently verify that report.


In Tripoli, residents said they had heard an explosion near the eastern Tajoura district, while in Misurata they said strikes had targeted a regime airbase.


Several thousand people gathered at the Bab al-Azizia palace, a compound in the capital which was bombed by US warplanes in 1986.

U.N. Security Council approves no-fly zone in Libya - Joy for Freedom Fighters !

Jubilant Libyan freedom fighters in Benghazi erupted with fireworks and gunfire after the U.N. Security Council voted Thursday evening to impose a no-fly zone and permit "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.


The opposition, with devoted but largely untrained and under-equipped units, has suffered military setbacks this week. It has said such international action was necessary for it to have any chance of thwarting Moammar Gadhafi's imminent assault on the rebel stronghold.


"We're hoping and praying that the United Nations will come up with a very firm and very fast resolution and they will enforce it immediately," said Ahmed El-Gallal, a senior opposition coordinator, before the vote.
"We should not arrive too late," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said at the U.N.


The resolution was approved with 10 votes, including those of the United States and the United Kingdom.
There were no opposing votes on the 15-member council, but China, Russia, Germany, India and Brazil abstained. Germany said it was concerned about a protracted military conflict.


U.N. member states can "take all necessary measures ... to protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force," according to the resolution.



Moments after the vote, anti-Gadhafi forces in Benghazi broke into cheers, waving flags and chanting. Antiaircraft tracer fire lit up the sky at one rally.


it was not immediately clear just how an international military operation and possible strikes against the Libyan military might unfold. The no-fly zone prohibits Libya's air forces from entering certain zones within the country.


The United States and NATO partners have contingencies in place to act within hours, according to an administration official familiar with planning. President Barack Obama will insist on a major Arab role in any no-fly zone, the official said.


The contingencies include air strikes and cruise missile attacks designed to cripple Libyan air defenses and punish military units leading Gadhafi's push on opposition strongholds in the east, the official said.


Obama called British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy after the vote. The three "agreed that Libya must immediately comply with all terms of the resolution and that violence against the civilian population of Libya must cease," the White House said in a statement.


Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim, speaking in Tripoli, told reporters after the vote that the country will safeguard civilians and its territorial integrity.
He called on the international community to send a fact-finding mission to the African nation but not lend material support to freedom fighters.


A few dozen pro-Gadhafi supporters chanted, "Down with the U.N.! Down with Britain! Down with the United States!"


The U.S. military does not view a no-fly zone alone as sufficient to stop Gadhafi.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday that establishing a zone would take "upwards of a week."


U.S. military officials have said that a no-fly zone would not halt the heavy artillery the regime is using on the ground.


Gadhafi's son Saadi told CNN Thursday evening that troops will change their tactics and take up positions around Benghazi Saturday or Sunday and assist people fleeing from the city.


The younger Gadhafi said there will be no large-scale assault. Instead police and anti-terrorism units will be sent into the rebel stronghold to disarm the opposition. Unspecified humanitarian groups can help with the exodus of civilians from Benghazi, Saadi Gadhafi said.


In a radio address aired on Libyan state TV, Gadhafi criticized residents of Benghazi and called them "traitors" for seeking help from outsiders.


The Security Council resolution condemns the "gross and systematic violation of human rights, including arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and summary executions."
It details enforcement of an arms embargo against Libya, the freezing of assets and a ban on most flights.


"The United States stands with the Libyan people in support of their universal rights," said U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice.


The resolution deplores the use of mercenaries by Libyan authorities, expresses concern about the safety of foreign nationals and demands an immediate cease-fire. Kaim said the Gadhafi government supports a cease-fire, but is working out certain details.


The Arab League's U.N. ambassador, Yahya Mahmassani, said two Arab countries would take part in a no-fly zone operation, but he was not sure which two.


U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Arab League will be critical to the response to Gadhafi, and that he will travel to the region "to advance our common efforts in this critical hour."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the U.N. vote shows the need for Libyan citizens "to have a more representative government."


Earlier Thursday, Libyan state TV said Benghazi would soon come under attack.
Gadhafi said that his forces would enter the city to rid it of those "traitors" and that his forces will search everyone for weapons. He added that his forces gave amnesty to those who gave up their weapons in the city of Ajdabiya. "We will not allow further bloodshed among Libyans," Gadhafi said.


"Search for the traitors, for the fanatics. Show them no mercy. We will look for them behind every wall," Gadhafi said. "This farce cannot go on."


There were air strikes on Benghazi's airport Thursday, with three blasts hitting the site about 30 kilometers (about 18 miles) outside the city.


The opposition has been using the airport to launch its own air strikes, using a handful of jets that freedom fighters have managed to get off the ground, opposition leaders said.
It is not clear that Gadhafi's ground forces are actually within striking range of Benghazi, but they have been fighting their way in that direction for several days.
State TV claimed Thursday that Gadhafi's forces were in control of Ajdabiya, on the road to Benghazi, a claim disputed by opposition leaders.


El-Gallal, speaking from eastern Libya, said "morale is high" and people do not want to leave strongholds because Gadhafi "is willing to kill everybody here."
The government forces have taken control of the eastern and western gates to Ajdabiya and are trying to breach the inside, opposition leaders said. The opposition says it controls the southern entrance.


The opposition says it has a handful of jets that are no match with Gadhafi's superior air power and a pair of Russian-made "Hind" attack helicopters.
Ajdabiya is the last major point between pro-government forces and Benghazi. If it is retaken by pro-Gadhafi forces, it would give access to roads leading to the heart of the opposition's base.


In remarks to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, William Burns, the under secretary for political affairs at the State Department, said Gadhafi's forces are only about 160 kilometers outside Benghazi.


"They've made advances, taking full advantage of their overwhelming military superiority in military firepower," Burns said.


He expressed fear that Gadhafi, now isolated by the world community, could turn to terrorism again.


"I think there is also a very real danger that if Gadhafi is successful on the ground, that you will also face a number of other considerable risks as well: The danger of him returning to terrorism and violent extremism himself, the dangers of the turmoil that he could help create at a critical moment elsewhere in the region," Burns told the committee.


source CNN

Dictators forces say Brega under their control but freedom fighters say they have retaken Brega

Videos of freedom fighters in libya


Dictator and possible war criminal Muammar Gaddafi's forces are slowly pushing towards the main oppostion-held towns in Libya, reports say.


Ajdabiya, the last major town before the freedom fighter base in Benghazi, came under heavy aerial attack. In the west, ground forces and tanks have begun shelling the town of Zuwara. Freedom fighters say they have retaken Brega, but the government has denied the claim.


Earlier, the UN Security Council met to discuss the imposition of a no-fly zone, but there was no consensus. The BBC's Barbara Plett says there were divisions about authorising such a zone, with France calling it a game-changer, but countries such as Russia expressed caution, saying serious questions remained.


Meanwhile, a UN envoy, Abdul Ilah Khatib, has met with Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Kusa in Tripoli.
In the meeting, Mr Khatib, a former Jordanian foreign minister, reiterated demands for an end to the violence and requested access for humanitarian groups, a UN spokesman said.


With fighting continuing in the east of Libya, it is not clear exactly where the front line is.The eastern oil town of Brega changed hands several times over the weekend, amid a relentless barrage of air and ground attacks by government forces.


Sources; BBC, Al Jazeera

Libyan freedom fighters fall back - Dictator Gaddafi advances !

According to state TV reports, Dictator Gaddafi's forces had regained key oil town and freedom fighters fall back towards eastern strongholds.



Libyan armed forces loyal to Dictator and possible suspect of war crimes Muammar Gaddafi have cleared "armed gangs" from the oil-rich town of Brega in the east, an army source told state television on Sunday.


"Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs," the military source was quoted as saying. The report could not immediately be verified. State television has in the past issued false reports claiming territory.


But the claim comes amid a string of setbacks for the rebels who have lost several cities in the east to pro-Gaddafi forces. Brega's fall into the hands of Gaddafi loyalists would deal a further blow to the opposition's morale and momentum. 



Pro-Gaddafi forces have been swiftly advancing on the poorly equipped and loosely organised freedom fighters who had seized much of the eastern parts of the country since the uprising against Gaddafi's decades-long rule began last month.


On Saturday, pro-Gaddafi forces pushed the frontline deeper into freedom fighters territory to just 40km outside Brega, the site of a major oil terminal.


The AFP news agency quoted freedom fighter sources as saying dictators forces were advancing from the west after seizing the town of Uqayla and the village of Bisher 20km from Brega.


Retreating freedom fighters, most of them young, were seen on trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns along the coastal road heading towards Ajdabiya, 80km away, the gateway to the main freedom fighters cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.


No air activity was seen but artillery bombardments were continuing, according to freedom fighters.


"We have to remember that this is not an organised army. This is a group of teachers, engineers, street cleaners - people who have had no association with weapons whatsoever. And now they're coming up against very strong, well-equipped forces. And we are seeing a lot of casualties. Basically if it is not sorted out soon, then those casualty figures are going to go up and up and up.It's not a very good situation at the moment; it is not looking very positive, quite the reverse." Tony Birtley (Al Jazeera), reporting from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi said.


International pressure is growing for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Libya but the move, approved in a key resolution by the Arab League on Saturday in Cairo, still faces opposition from UN Security Council heavyweights Russia and China.


Libya responded to the Arab League resolution calling it "an unacceptable departure" from the body's charter, state television said on Sunday.


The US hailed the Arab League decision as an "important step".