LIBYA: Gaddafi's troops are preparing to take Benghazi assault

AFP - The pro-Gaddafi forces regained the advantage in Libya Tuesday, a month after the start of the insurgency, pounding Ajdabiya (east) and announcing an offensive on the insurgent headquarters in Benghazi, (is), not the G8 no agreement on military intervention.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in the evening to be "determined to crush the enemy" in a televised speech, hammering: "if it is a foreign conspiracy we'll crush it, if it is an inside job we will also crush. "

Government forces launched air force and heavy artillery against Ajdabiya, strategic communication node and final lock held by the rebels before Benghazi, 160 km further south, cutting the main road between the two cities.

The official television and a senior Libyan government announced qu'Ajdabiya was controlled by loyalist forces.

The Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said Tuesday evening qu'Ajdabiya AFP was "under control" forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

The information had been denied earlier by the military spokesman of the National Council of Libya, the governing body of the rebels based in Benghazi.

"Ajdabiya is still in the hands of the revolutionaries," said the spokesman, Khaled El-Sayeh, saying: "Army units tried to enter the city, but our forces have repulsed.He also denied the insurgents to retreat Benghazi despite the scenes of stampede which has seen an AFP journalist.

Hundreds of civilians and insurgents fleeing Ajdabiya arrived in the south of Benghazi in cars, trucks and pickups.

"I took my family as much business as possible and we left," he told AFP a family man, Said, 42 years, telling "there was a lot of bombs."

The fighting has killed at least three dead and fifteen wounded, according to doctors, in addition to two deaths received during the night.

"There are still some elements that take and our forces are now chasing them," said Khaled Kaaim stating: "We will now beyond Ajdabiya, our forces are moving towards Benghazi.

The Libyan army announced on television on an imminent offensive Benghazi, where the rebels have used anti-aircraft guns in the evening, without journalists on the spot from the AFP have seen or heard aircraft.

It was unclear whether the rebels retaliated in an attack or expressing their joy after rumors of a bombing aimed at the residence of Kadhafi in Tripoli.Fireworks took place at the same time as the heavy artillery and air defense, early in Benghazi.

The Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) withdrew its staff from Benghazi, stressing that "everyone evacuate Benghazi, humanitarian as journalists."

The major powers met at the G8 in Paris have dismissed for lack of consensus the military option to slow the forces of Muammar Gaddafi, merely promised for this week a new UN resolution on tougher sanctions.

The NATO countries were examined for the first time the military options available to them if the alliance decided to intervene in Libya, although the probability of a UN resolution authorizing them down.

The French Minister of Foreign Affairs Alain Juppe described as "outdated" idea of ​​establishing an air exclusion zone, originally due by Paris and London as well as the Arab League and claimed by the Libyan opposition.

He spoke of "targeted strikes", while stating that the Security Council of the United Nations was blocked because of opposition from the Chinese, while the Americans have still not defined its position.

Barack Obama has again called on the Libyan leader to leave, but his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton refused to promise military aid to the rebels.

The United States expanded its sanctions 16 firms Libyan government, the national oil company.

Crunch time for the insurgents, who have announced they still masters of Misrata (150 km east of Tripoli), where government forces were gathered in a nearby barracks, presaging an attack.

Zouari, a town located 120 km west of Tripoli on Monday and resumed the pro-Gaddafi, supporters of the regime demonstrated by the television, and shots rang out, "probably shooting in the air to scare residents, "according to a witness near the rebellion.

Since February 15, the bloody suppression of the insurgency has killed at least hundreds dead and forced more than 250,000 people to flee the country.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on fighters to allow civilians to flee, noting the unusually low number of women and children arriving at the borders with Egypt and Tunisia.

According to the International Energy Agency, Libyan oil production, usually by 1.6 million barrels per day, was nearly stopped in recent days.

On the other hand, London confirmed Tuesday the arrest of a Libyan man with dual British and Libya after it became known to journalists in a Tripoli prison by claiming to have raised funds for a Islamist organization.