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Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi massed Thursday outside the city of Misrata — the last major rebel foothold in the west — apparently in preparation for an attack, as the rebels at both ends of the country’s coast battled to hold off the Qaddafi forces and their superior firepower.
Musa Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Qaddafi government, confirmed that its forces were preparing to take Misurata just as they did Zawiyah, another western town that had been held by the rebels.
Government soldiers have surrounded and made their first ground assault on Ajdabiya - the last town before the main rebel-held city of Benghazi.
Tanks are also pounding the last rebel-controlled city in the west, Misrata.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged the UN Security Council to back a draft resolution that would include a military no-fly zone.
Muammar Gaddafi’s forces captured the last rebel-held town west of Tripoli after a heavy barrage of tank and artillery fire Tuesday as regime forces pressed forward in the east.
The victory in Zwara, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Tunisian border, solidifies Gaddafi’s hold in his western stronghold, reversing gains made by rebels in several cities early in the uprising against his rule that began on 15 February.
Gaddafi’s gains in recent days have increased pressure on the US and other Western powers to intervene to stop the bloodshed.
The Obama administration on Monday held its first high-level talks with the Libyan opposition and introduced a liaison to deal full time with their ranks. But it remained undecided about exactly how much support to lend a group it still knows little about while turmoil and uncertainty increase across the Arab world.
Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamar Gaddafi have been attacking the town of Ajdabiya, the last major population centre before the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.
Rebel fighters in Ajdabiya said four shells had hit west of the town while a former officer who defected from Mr Gaddafi’s air force said there had been air strikes.
The town is crucial to allowing government forces to besiege the rebels in Benghazi by cutting off their lifeline to the east and the Egyptian border.
Two key highways run out of Ajdabiya; one goes along the coast to Benghazi, and the other cuts across the desert to Tobruk.
Muammar Qaddafi’s forces swept rebels from one of their final strongholds with hours of searing waves of strikes from warships, tanks and warplanes on Sunday but the insurgents claimed that they moved back in after nightfall.
One rebel said that after their initial defeat, opposition forces destroyed armored vehicles and captured dozens of fighters from Qaddafi’s elite Khamis Brigade in the oil town of Brega, driving others back into the town’s airport.
Another opposition fighter told The Associated Press by telephone that celebrations had broken out in the nearby city of Ajdabiya, and celebratory gunfire, honking and shouting could be heard in the background.
A crack Libyan brigade commanded by Muammar Gadhafi’s son Khamis was slowed by a mutiny as it advanced on Misrata on Saturday, with 32 soldiers joining the rebels holding the city, a rebel there said.
One defector was a general, said the rebel named Mohammed. The feared 32nd Brigade tried but failed earlier in the day to take Misrata, the last major rebel holdout in western Libya.
Stalled about 10-15 km south of the city, the brigade broke out in a fire-fight after dozens of troops balked at the idea of killing innocent civilians in the impending attack, rebel spokesman Gamal added.
Rebel fighters have attacked the capital of South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, the southern army has said.
The number of casualties is not known, but the attack on Saturday in Malakal, one of the south’s three main
settlements, marked an escalation in a wave of clashes between the south’s army and rebel fighters.
The fighting has raised fears over the stability of the region in the countdown to its secession - due on July 9.
“There is fighting going on in Malakal. Militia have penetrated the town. They raided at night,” Philip Aguer, the southern army spokesman told the Reuters news agency.