Gadhafi Air Force pounds rebels positions

RAS LANUF, Libya—Libyan warplanes launched at least five new air strikes on Tuesday near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanuf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the opposition from advancing toward leader Moammar Gadhafi’s stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

There was no immediate word on casualties, and an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the strikes said they did not appear to hit any fighters.

Representatives of the opposition, which controls the eastern half of Libya, said they have received an offer to negotiate the terms of Gadhafi’s departure. However, they could not confirm whether the envoy who made the offer was authorized by the regime to do so and said in any case, they would not negotiate with the government.

Gadhafi’s regime has been using its air power advantage more each day to check a rebel advance west toward Tripoli on the main highway. The increasing use of air power underlines the vulnerability of the rebel forces as they attempt to march in open terrain along the Mediterranean coast and could prompt world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to deny Gadhafi that edge.

US to arm opposition?

The United States and its NATO allies edged closer on Monday to formulating a military response to the escalating violence in Libya as the alliance boosted surveillance flights over the country and the Obama administration signaled it might be willing to help arm Gadhafi’s opponents. Europe, meanwhile, kick-started international efforts to impose a no-fly zone.

On another front, a witness said Gadhafi loyalists had recaptured Zawiya, the city closest to Tripoli that had fallen into opposition hands.

The witness said by phone that Gadhafi’s tanks and fighting vehicles were roaming the city 50 kilometers west of Tripoli and firing randomly at homes.

On Monday, lightly armed rebels in Ras Lanuf reacted to a Libyan Air Force jet overhead. Most rebels pulled back to the city’s oil refinery.

The bombing runs began in the morning, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air around 10 a.m. With every roar of a jet engine, the rebels opened fire with what sounded like every weapon available, from heavy artillery to pistols.

In the evening, a warplane swooped low and on two separate occasions dropped bombs near a heavily defended rebel checkpoint, striking a car carrying a family and sending rebel fighters fleeing for cover in chaotic scenes.

There were conflicting reports about the casualties after the air strikes. Witnesses had said a man died when the car was hit, but doctors at a local hospital said the man, along with four relatives, survived.

The steady attacks from the air helped further turn the momentum of the conflict in eastern Libya, where opposition fighters had made strong gains recently in their drive to the west, toward Surt, a Gadhafi stronghold, and on to Tripoli.

Troops on outskirts

But on Sunday, troops loyal to Gadhafi stormed the town of Bin Jawwad, just to the west of Ras Lanuf, backed by fierce air power, and sent the fighters holding it into retreat.

Those troops remained on the outskirts of Ras Lanuf on Monday evening, taking no immediate steps to try to recapture it or its strategic refinery from the rebels, who took control three days ago in their westward push.

In addition, the elite Khamis Brigade continued on Monday to batter Zawiya with tanks, artillery and snipers, residents there said.

With cell phone and Internet communications cut off, virtually the only source of information on events there was a lone reporter for Sky TV, a British television channel.

She said the heavily armed government troops attacked in the morning and inexplicably withdrew after several hours, even though their tanks seemed to have taken control of the city’s central square.

Government forces also attacked the rebel-held city of Misurata, Libya’s third largest 160 km east of Tripoli.

No-fly zone

The rebels have rejected any foreign invasion of the country but would welcome a no-fly zone, saying they can handle Gadhafi’s soldiers, tanks and rockets, but not his warplanes and helicopter gunships.

On Monday, Britain and France said they would seek United Nations authority for a no-fly zone, but Russia, which holds veto power, has already rejected any form of military intervention.

The US ambassador to NATO, Ivo Daalder, said the organization had established 24-hour surveillance of Libya with Awacs reconnaissance aircraft.

In Geneva, the United Nations appealed for $160 million for an operation over the next three months to prepare shelter, food, medicine and transport as fighting widened and more than a million people fleeing or inside the country needed humanitarian aid. Reports from New York Times News Service and AP