Gaddafi forces enter centre of western city

FORCES loyal to Muammar Gaddafi regained control of the centre of Zawiyah, after using tanks and snipers to drive rebels out of their stronghold in the western city’s main square, residents said.

Libyan state television also showed footage of Gaddafi supporters waving flags who, it said, were moving toward the centre of Zawiyah, which had been the closest rebel-held city to the capital Tripoli.

A fighter told Reuters pro-Gaddafi forces had entered the main square as rebels pulled back. A local doctor confirmed the report and said the death toll was at least 40.

“We have pulled back and they are inside the square but we will attack them again and have it back,” the fighter said by telephone. “We will do that tonight. This is not the end.”

The doctor said there were many dead in the streets, including old people, women and children.

With the international community still hesitant about how to respond to the crisis in Libya, a counter-offensive by Gaddafi has halted a rebel advance in the east and left others stranded in Zawiyah and another western city, Misrata.

Rebels in the east, facing a fresh barrage of artillery fire on their desert frontline outside the oil port of Ras Lanuf, renewed an appeal for outside powers to impose a no-fly zone to at least shield them from air attacks.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made it clear, however, imposing a no-fly zone is a matter for the UN and should not be a US-led initiative.

Gaddafi has said he would die in Libya rather than flee. But that has failed to stem speculation on his plans.

A Libyan-born analyst said Gaddafi’s inner circle had reached out to countries in Africa and Latin America about providing him refuge in the event he had to flee.

“It’s provisional, it’s a testing of the waters, it’s just preparing for the future,” said Noman Benotman, who has contacts among Libyan security officials. “It may also be a deception, to try to unsettle the international community. But the contacts definitely happened.”

A rebel fighter and a resident said earlier the rebel forces were surrounded in Zawiyah’s main square.

“We can see the tanks. The tanks are everywhere,” the rebel fighter said from inside Zawiyah.

Foreign reporters cannot enter Zawiyah, 50km west of Tripoli, without an official escort.

A Tunisian man who crossed the border on the way from Tripoli to Tunis said Zawiyah was encircled and the sound of explosions could be heard.

“The road was okay until we got close to Zawiyah. They’ve encircled the city and dug up the road leading to it so nobody can come in or out of Zawiyah,” said Bachir al Tunesy.

Rising casualties and threats of hunger and a refugee crisis have increased pressure on foreign governments to act.

“We want to see the international community support it (a no-fly zone),” Ms Clinton said. “I think it’s very important that this not be a US-led effort.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Barack Obama agreed to plan “the full spectrum of possible responses, including surveillance, humanitarian assistance, enforcement of the arms embargo, and a no-fly zone”.

Britain and France want a UN resolution on a no-fly zone but Russia and China are cool to the idea.