Britain and US to step up pressure on Gaddafi

BRITAIN and the United States planned to step up military pressure on Muammar Gaddafi, as the Libyan leader’s army pressed its bloody siege of the rebel-held city of Misrata.

More than a month of air strikes in a British and French-led NATO mission to protect Libyan civilians have failed to dislodge Gaddafi or bring big gains for anti-government rebels who hold much of east Libya, raising fears of a lingering stalemate.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox and Chief of the Defence Staff General David Richards are meeting US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington.