TRIPOLI/RAS LANUF, Libya, (Reuters) – Libyan government forces attacked rebels with rockets, tanks and warplanes on western and eastern fronts, intensifying their offensive to crush the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi.
Rising casualties and the threats of hunger and a refugee crisis increased pressure on foreign governments to act, but they struggled to agree a strategy, many fearful of moving from sanctions alone to military action.
In besieged Zawiyah, the closest rebel-held city to Tripoli, trapped residents cowered from the onslaught today.
“Fighting is still going on now. Gaddafi’s forces are using tanks. There are also sporadic air strikes … they could not reach the centre of the town which is still in the control of the revolutionaries,” a resident called Ibrahim said by phone.
“Many buildings have been destroyed including mosques. About 40 to 50 tanks are taking part in the bombardment.”
In the east, much of which is under rebel control, warplanes bombed rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf.
Revolutionary euphoria seemed to have dimmed. “People are dying out there. Gaddafi’s forces have rockets and tanks,” Abdel Salem Mohamed, 21, told Reuters near Ras Lanuf. “You see this? This is no good,” he said of his light machinegun.
The rebel leadership said that if Gaddafi stepped down within 72 hours it would not seek to bring him to justice.
Earlier, the rebels said they had rejected an offer from the Libyan leader to negotiate his surrender of power. The government called such reports “absolute nonsense”.
Britain and France led a drive at the U.N. for a no-fly zone which would prevent Gaddafi from unleashing air raids or moving reinforcements by air. The Arab League and several Gulf states have also called for such a step.
“It is unacceptable that Colonel Gaddafi unleashes so much violence on his own people and we are all gravely concerned about what would happen if he were to try to do that on an even greater basis,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
Russia and China, who have veto power in the U.N. Security Council, are cool towards the idea of a no-fly zone.
The U.S. government, whose interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan enraged many of the world’s Muslims, said it was weighing up military options and that action should be taken only with international backing.
Hafiz Ghoga, spokesman for the rebel National Libyan Council, told a news conference in the rebel base of Benghazi:
“We will complete our victory when we are afforded a no-fly zone. If there was also action to stop him (Gaddafi) from recruiting mercenaries, his end would come within hours.”
Rebels still controlled the central square of Zawiyah, 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, today and were using loud hailers to urge residents to defend their positions, said a Ghanaian worker who fled the town today.
Sky television footage of fighting in the town over the weekend showed crowds fleeing gunfire and a blood-spattered hospital crammed with the injured, some making victory signs from stretchers. It showed bodies of dead soldiers, others it said had switched sides, and captured tanks.
