AJDABIYAH: Muammar Gaddafi's troops seized the strategic Libyan oil town of Brega Sunday, forcing rebels to retreat eastward and putting extra pressure on world powers still deliberating on a no-fly zone. The government offensive had already driven the rebels out of Raslanuf, another oil terminal 100 km to the west on the coast road, and the seizure of Brega and its refinery deprived the rebels of more territory and yet another source of fuel. The government, in a message on state television, said it was certain of victory and threatened to “bury” the rebels, who it linked to Al-Qaeda and “foreign security services”. A United Nations humanitarian coordinator sent to Tripoli told Reuters he wanted access to areas on both sides of the conflict to assess the impact of the violence on civilians. On the diplomatic front, France said it would intensify its efforts to persuade world powers to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, where Gaddafi's troops seemed to have gained the initiative in their struggle with rebels seeking an end to his four-decade rule. Meanwhile, Libya said it would welcome an African Union panel that will try to help resolve the crisis, but condemned an Arab League call for a no-fly zone over the country. “There's no uprising any more,” said a rebel Nabeel Tijouri, whose heavy machine gun had been destroyed in the fighting. “The other day they were in Raslanuf, then Brega, the day after tomorrow they will be in Benghazi.” Brega is 220 km south of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and Ajdabiyah is the only sizeable town between the two. State television carried a confident message from the authorities. “We are certain of our victory, whatever the price,” it said. Rashid Khalikov, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Libya, said in an interview he wanted unimpeded access. “The situation is changing from one day to another,” he said. “The main concern is to find out what's going on, which we don't know. There are various reports about the humanitarian impact of recent events. The civilian population is suffering a lot.” The speed of the government advance may overtake drawn-out diplomatic wrangling on whether or how to impose a no-fly zone. The United States said the Arab League's call for a UN no-fly zone to protect Libyan cities was an “important step”, but Washington remained cautious about military intervention. Fresh from crushing the revolt in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, elite government troops and tanks turned to Misrata, Libya's third biggest city with 300,000 people and the only pocket of rebel resistance outside the east. Rebels said a mutiny among government troops stalled their advance Sunday for a second day, but this was impossible to confirm independently.
