Libya No-Fly Zone Calls Mount as New Battles Loom
Libya's air force stepped up air strikes and heavy shelling was heard on Tuesday on the front line, as the revolt against Moammar Gadhafi's regime entered its third week amid mounting calls for a no-fly zone over the country.
As the violence escalated, the Arab League said foreign ministers of its member states would meet on Saturday for crisis talks on the situation, a day later than originally announced.
The European Union tightened sanctions against Tripoli, targeting five "entities" including the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) -- the overseas investment vehicle for oil revenues -- and the Libyan Central Bank.
Meanwhile, a rebel spokesman said an intermediary of Gadhafi had offered talks with the opposition but was rejected outright.
The claim of an approach by Gadhafi envoys was dismissed as "rubbish" by a government official in Tripoli speaking on condition of anonymity.
The head of the insurgents' provisional council, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, also said the rebel leadership would not pursue criminal charges against Gadhafi if he resigns and leaves the country.
On the ground, the sound of heavy shelling could be heard west of the rebel-held oil town of Ras Lanuf, and dozens of rebel fighters could be seen moving up the desert road in pick-up trucks, vans and even on foot.
Earlier, warplanes staged a series of raids on the town, wounding one person. One strike hit a block of flats without any injuries reported.
An Agence France Presse reporter saw three rebel fighters brought to a hospital, badly wounded in the fighting between Ras Lanuf and the next hamlet west, Bin Jawad, which the rebels failed to take in heavy clashes on Sunday.
The rebels said government troops had unleashed a torrent of fire.
Saad Hamid, who described himself as a media official for the rebel council, said government forces had been seen digging trenches and had brought up rocket launchers, tanks and artillery, as well as intensifying air strikes.
"We now have reinforcements on the way and they are also making preparations," he told AFP.
The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) stepped up the pressure on Tuesday for the United Nations to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya.
In a statement released at the end of a special session in Saudi Arabia on Libya, the 57-member block said it would hold ministerial-level talks "as soon as possible to adopt the recommendation of a no-fly zone."
IOC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu called for the no-fly zone at the beginning of the meeting but rejected "any military interference (on the ground) in Libya."
On Monday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council urged the "U.N. Security Council (to) take all necessary measures to protect civilians, including enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya."
And diplomats said a joint British-French resolution for a no-fly zone to hamper Gadhafi's offensive and deny his air force the freedom to attack the rag-tag rebel elements could go before the Security Council as early as this week.
But any move toward collective military action of any kind is likely to face tough resistance from China, Russia and other members of the Security Council.
The United States, which would likely bear the main burden of any such operation, has said it is studying the possibility while warning of the major commitment it would entail.
Facing rising pressure at home and abroad to do more to protect civilians and hasten Gadhafi's exit from power, Washington also appeared to be wary of throwing weapons into a conflict involving groups about which it knows little.
While the White House said it was considering arming the rebels, it insisted such a move would be premature, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned that intervention would likely require international approval.
"It would be premature to send a bunch of weapons to a post office box in eastern Libya; we need to not get ahead of ourselves," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa accused the West on Monday of trying to split the country by secretly building up contacts with rebel leaders.
"It is clear that France, Great Britain and the U.S. are now getting in touch with defectors in eastern Libya. It means there is a conspiracy to divide Libya," he told a press conference in Tripoli.
OIC chief Ihsanoglu also called on the Libyan authorities to "immediately allow the entrance of humanitarian aid," backing U.N. demands for urgent access to the victims of fighting as government forces try to regain control of western cities such as Misrata and Zawiyah.
Two members of the provisional national council are to speak to the European Parliament, the head of the assembly's liberal group, Guy Verhofstadt, said on Tuesday, adding that he had invited European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to meet them.
Meanwhile, Khartoum University said it had decided to revoke the honorary doctorate that it awarded to Gadhafi in 1996 and condemned the actions of his regime against the Libyan people.
Source: Agence France Presse
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