Libyan jets bomb rebels as no-fly diplomacy crawls

AJDABIYAH, Libya, (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s  jets bombed Libyan rebels today in a counter-offensive that  has pushed them back 100 miles (160 km) in a week, far outpacing  diplomatic efforts to impose a no-fly zone to help the rebels.
There is now a very real possibility that by the time world  powers agree on a response to the conflict, Gaddafi’s forces may  already have won.
No consensus on help for the rebels emerged at a meeting of  the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council in New York, or a  meeeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) powers  in Paris.
“Fundamental questions need to be answered, not just what we  need to do, but how it’s going to be done,” Russian ambassador  Vitaly Churkin said in New York.
In Paris, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said the  G8 wanted the Council to resume discussions as soon as possible,  but that its ministers had not narrowed differences over a  no-fly zone, which Russia and Germany are reluctant to approve.
Meanwhile, Libyan government artillery and tanks retook the  small town of Zuwarah, 120 km (70 miles) west of Tripoli after  heavy bombardment, resident Tarek Abdallah said by telephone.
Perhaps more significantly, they were shrinking the swathe  of eastern Libya still held by revolutionary forces.
They captured the important eastern oil terminal town of  Brega late on Sunday, and on Monday flew behind rebel lines to  bomb Ajdabiyah, the only sizeable town between Brega and the  rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Ajdabiyah commands roads to Benghazi and Tobruk that could  allow Gaddafi’s troops to encircle Libya’s second city and its  300,000 inhabitants.
Soliman Bouchuiguir, president of the Libyan League for  Human Rights, said in Geneva that if Gaddafi’s heavily armed  forces broke through to attack Benghazi, there would be “a real  bloodbath, a massacre like we saw in Rwanda”.
Saturday’s endorsement from the Arab League satisfies one of  three conditions set by the Western NATO alliance for it to  police Libyan air space, that of regional support. The other two  are proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.
“Now that there is this Arab League statement, we do hope  that it’s a game changer for the other members of the council,”  said French U.N. ambassador Gerard Araud in New York.
Lebanese ambassador Nawaf Salam, sole Arab representative on  the council, said Lebanon wanted it to act as fast as possible.
“We think it is not only a legitimate request, it is a  necessary request,” he said. “Measures ought to be taken to stop  the violence, to put an end to the … situation in Libya, to  protect the civilians there.”
U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha  Kang said in Geneva that Gaddafi’s government had “chosen to  attack civilians with massive, indiscriminate force”.
News of humanitarian suffering or atrocities could be taken  as a sign that help is needed. But while Human Rights Watch has  reported a wave of arbitrary arrests and disappearances in  Tripoli, hard evidence is so far largely lacking.