Gadhafi forces score key victory against rebels

RAS LANOUF, Libya – Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have scored a significant victory, recapturing the closest city to the capital to have fallen in rebel hands. On another front near the opposition-held east, loyalists trying to stop anti-government fighters from advancing toward the capital pounded the rebels with airstrikes and rockets.
At least 20 people were injured in the clashes, some of them seriously.
Representatives of the opposition said they have received an offer to negotiate the terms of Gadhafi's departure. However, they could not confirm whether the envoy who made the offer was authorized by the regime and said in any case, they would not negotiate with the government. Libyan state television denied that Gadhafi had sent an envoy to talk to the rebels.
In Benghazi, the main city in east, assailants in a car tossed a grenade at a hotel where foreign journalists were staying but there were no casualties and only some light damage to the windows, an opposition official said.
The rebels are fighting to oust Gadhafi from power after more than 41 years, inspired by protesters who managed to topple authoritarian rulers in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt. However, the Libyan uprising has already proved much more violent, and could be the start of a drawn out and bloody civil war.

The latest round of fighting on opposite ends of Libya's Mediterranean coast once again revealed the weakness and disorganization of both sides in the conflict.

Gadhafi's regime has been using its air power advantage more each day to check a rebel advance west toward Tripoli on the main highway leading out of the opposition-controlled eastern half of the country. The increasing use of air power underlines the vulnerability of the rebel forces as they attempt to march in open terrain along the Mediterranean coast and could prompt world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to deny Gadhafi that edge.

The United States and its NATO allies edged closer Monday to formulating a military response to the escalating violence in Libya as the alliance boosted surveillance flights over the country and the Obama administration signaled it might be willing to help arm Gadhafi's opponents. Europe, meanwhile, kick-started international efforts to impose a no-fly zone.