Gadhafi's Foreign Minister Defects, Arrives in Britain

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi suffered a major blow Wednesday with the defection of his foreign minister even as his forces again proved too strong for the rebels' rag-tag army.

Gadhafi's forces overran the towns of Ras Lanuf, Uqayla and Brega, rebels reported, scattering the outgunned insurgents as world powers mulled arming the fighters to help them oust the Libyan strongman.

But these reverses were perhaps offset when Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa became the most senior figure to defect from the Gadhafi regime since the uprising against his iron-clad 42-year rule erupted more than six weeks ago.

"We can confirm that Moussa Koussa arrived at Farnborough Airport on 30 March from Tunisia," the British foreign ministry said. "He traveled here under his own free will. He has told us that he is resigning his post."

The New York Times, meanwhile, reported that the United States and Britain had inserted covert intelligence agents into Libya to make contact with rebels and to gather data to guide coalition air strikes.

The White House refused to comment on the apparent shadow war and also declined to discuss another report that President Barack Obama had signed a secret order allowing Central Intelligence Agency operations in the country.

A senior U.S. official did, however, welcome the defection of Kussa, interpreting his flight as a sign that Gadhafi's inner circle was beginning to crumble.

"This is a very significant defection and an indication that people around Gadhafi think the writing's on the wall," the source said.

Militarily, though, it was another terrible day for the rebels as superior firepower from Gadhafi's forces saw them driven back 200 kilometers, giving up most of the ground their recent advances had secured.

Agence France Presse reporters and rebel fighters said Gadhafi's troops swept through the oil town of Ras Lanuf, 300 kilometers east of Gadhafi's hometown Sirte, soon after dawn, blazing away with tanks and heavy artillery fire.

But later, an air strike about 10 kilometers west of Ajdabiya, where rebels are sheltering, sent a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky and brought cries of jubilation from the rebel fighters, who had been calling for renewed air support.

"We want two things: that the planes drop bombs on Gadhafi's tanks and heavy artillery; and that they (the West) give us weapons so we can fight," rebel fighter Yunes Abdelghaim told AFP.

The 27-year-old, who was holding a Russian AK-47 assault rifle and French flag, said it seemed as if the coalition had halted its air strikes for two days coinciding with a London conference on the Libyan crisis.

By nightfall, the town of Brega, which also has an oil refinery, was in the hands of loyalists, rebels said, and the sound of artillery fire could be heard on the outskirts of Ajdabiya.

Explosions shook an eastern suburb of Tripoli overnight as warplanes staged a raid on the Libyan capital, a witness told AFP by telephone.

NATO began to take command of Libyan air operations from a U.S.-led coalition as warplanes and other assets from several allies came under the military organization’s control.

"This is a phased process, which will be completed as soon as all allies and partners have transferred authority for their assets," NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told AFP.