Qadhafi forces seize key town, G8 stalls on no-fly

AJDABIYAH: Heavy bombardment by Muammar Qadhafi's warplanes and artillery forced Libyan rebels to abandon a strategic town on Tuesday, and world powers failed to agree to push for a no-fly zone.

The town of Ajdabiyah was all that had stood between the relentless eastward advance of Libyan government troops and the second city of Benghazi and lies on a road junction from where Qadhafi's forces could attempt to encircle the rebel stronghold.

Libyan state television said pro-Qadhafi forces were now "in total control" of the town and a Reuters correspondent saw rebel forces pulling back.

Government jets opened up with rocket fire on the checkpoint at the western entrance to Ajdabiyah, then unleashed an artillery bombardment on the position and a nearby arms dump, following the same pattern of attack that has pushed back rebels more than 100 miles (160 km) in a week-long counter-offensive.

Battle lines in front of Ajdabiyah and the oil port of Brega to the southwest have moved back and forth several times in three days of heavy fighting, but it was the first time rebels had abandoned the checkpoint in such numbers.

A rolling barrage edged closer to the centre of Ajdabiyah, a town with a peacetime population of around 100,000 surrounded by flat, featureless desert.

"They are bombarding the arms dump with land-based weapons. It is a really heavy bombardment," said civilian rebel supporter Ashraf Abdel Malik. "If they hit the arms cache it will destroy Ajdabiyah."

As well as the coastal road to Benghazi, there is also a 400 km (250 mile) desert road straight to Tobruk, near the Egyptian border that would cut off the second city. But it was not clear whether Qadhafi's forces were strong enough to be split and whether they could operate with such long supply lines.

Qadhafi's planes, tanks and artillery have had few problems picking off lightly armed insurgents in the open desert, but have faced fierce resistance in towns that offer some cover for the rebels.

In a foretaste of the ferocity and chaos of urban fighting which could envelop Benghazi, a city of 670,000, Brega, with a population of just 4,300, has changed hands several times with rebels fighting a guerrilla rearguard amongst the rubble.

Soliman Bouchuiguir, president of the Libyan League for Human Rights, said in Geneva that if Qadhafi's forces attacked Benghazi, there would be "a real bloodbath, a massacre like we saw in Rwanda".

"MENTAL DISORDER"

Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight countries meeting in Paris stopped short of agreeing to press the UN Security Council to back a no-fly zone to protect Libyan cities from aerial bombardment.

Instead, the G8 said Libyans have a right to democracy and warned Qadhafi he faced "dire consequences" if he ignored his people's rights. The G8 urged the Security Council to increase pressure on Qadhafi, including further economic measures.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain have led calls to impose a no-fly zone. But Qadhafi dismissed the plan.

"We will fight and win. A situation of that type will only serve to unite the Libyan people," he told the Italian daily Il Giornale. Sarkozy, he said, has "a mental disorder".

At the G8, Russia and Germany argued a no-fly zone could be counterproductive, while the United States, which would likely have to shoulder much of the burden of policing Libyan skies, is still cautious over the idea.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "We want to increase the pressure on Qadhafi, tighten sanctions. There is common ground here in the G8 and while not every nation sees eye-to-eye on issues such as the no-fly zone, there is a common appetite to increase the pressure on Qadhafi."

CLOCK TICKING FOR UN ACTION

As the diplomatic debate drags on, there is now a very real possibility that by the time world powers agree on a response to the conflict, Qadhafi's forces may already have won.

NATO has set three conditions for it to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya; regional support, proof its help is needed and a Security Council resolution.

An Arab League call for a no-fly zone satisfies the first condition, but with access to most of Libya barred by Qadhafi's security forces, hard evidence that NATO intervention is needed to avert atrocities or a humanitarian disaster is scarce.

UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang said Qadhafi's government had "chosen to attack civilians with massive, indiscriminate force".

In Misrata, the last major city in western Libya still in rebel hands, residents said water had been cut off to the city of 300,000 people, 200 km (130 miles) east of Tripoli.

"The situation is quiet but we expect everything at any moment," a resident called Mohammad told Reuters by telephone.

Pro-Qadhafi forces took control of the small town of Zuwarah, west of Tripoli, late on Monday after sending in tanks.

A resident in Zuwarah said that on Tuesday security forces were trying to round up anyone suspected of links to the rebels.

"They have lists of names and are looking for the rebels. They also took a number of rebels as hostages," said the resident who did not want to be named.

Libyan state television said the people of Zuwarah "came out in mass demonstrations" in support of Qadhafi on Tuesday.