Investigators have evidence that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ordered mass rapes and bought containers of sex drugs to encourage troops to attack women, the chief ICC prosecutor said Wednesday.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo said he may ask for a new charge of mass rape to be made against Gadhafi following the new evidence.

Moammar Gadhafi's forces attacked Libya's third-largest city Misrata on Wednesday drawing no response from NATO despite a pledge by the alliance to press its air war, a rebel spokesman said.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 Gadhafi troops attacked the Mediterranean port city from the south, west and east, killing 10 rebel fighters and wounding 26, the spokesman Hassan al-Galai, told Agence France Presse by telephone from the city.

Syrian companies linked to President Bashar al-Assad's regime may be next to be hit by European Union sanctions, diplomatic sources said Wednesday.

"There is talk of strengthening sanctions against Syria with new measures, but there is no text as yet on the table," a European diplomat who asked not to be identified told Agence France Presse.

Bahrain's main Shiite opposition group said on Wednesday that it had been banned from going ahead with a planned presentation detailing abuses committed during a government crackdown on Shiite-led protests earlier this year.

"Authorities have banned a presentation on 'the atrocities of human rights violations since February 14'," the Islamic National Accord Association (Al-Wefaq) said.

NATO pledged on Wednesday no let-up of its relentless air war in Libya after Moammar Gadhafi vowed he would never surrender, even as bombs rained down on his Tripoli residence.

Spain, meanwhile, joined the growing list of countries which recognize the rebels seeking to topple Gadhafi as the sole representative of Libya's people, leaving the strongman more isolated than ever.

Representatives of Palestinian rivals Fatah and Hamas will meet in Cairo on June 14 for new talks on the formation of an interim government, a Hamas official said Wednesday.

In a statement issued by Hamas, Ezzat al-Rasheq said the meeting would follow up on several issues under the terms of a reconciliation deal signed by the two groups last month.

Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a string of recent suicide bombings that killed at least 36 people, including a military intelligence chief.

A car bomb driven by a suicide attacker on Monday killed Colonel Nuri al-Mashhadani and 11 other people, many of them soldiers, Iraqi military sources said.

The U.N. Security Council will on Wednesday discuss a resolution proposed by European nations condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on opposition protests.

Russia and China have strongly opposed Security Council action on Syria, but Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "If anyone votes against that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their conscience."

Turkey will not close its doors to refugees fleeing the repression in Syria, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday as he expressed his sadness about unrest across the border.

Erdogan, who has become increasingly critical of the President Bashar Assad's regime, also urged authorities in Damascus to demonstrate more tolerance towards its civilians.

Tunisia has postponed its first election following the ouster of strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, set to take place in July, to October 23, interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said Wednesday.

"We have taken into account all the views and have decided to hold the elections on October 23," Essebsi said during a meeting of political parties, regional representatives and civil society.