Liveblogging: Find events Friday in Libya and the Arab world

AFP - Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi continued Friday to bomb rebel positions in eastern Libya, while the West showed its rapprochement with the opposition, which has lost two cities in recent days.

European leaders have increased the pressure on the Libyan leader, in power for nearly 42 years, calling the National Transitional Council of the Opposition (CNT) based in Benghazi (east), an interlocutor "legitimate".

President Barack Obama announced at the same time he was going to have a representative to the rebellion Jamahiriya.

France acknowledged Thursday CNT as "the legitimate representative of the Libyan people." Libya has responded Friday by suspending diplomatic relations with Paris.

On the ground, the loyalist forces launched two airstrikes east of Ras Lanuf, reaching an insurgent checkpoint and a refinery, according to AFP journalists.

This strategic oil city, south-west of Benghazi, a stronghold of the rebellion, was the basis for a week rebel advance in eastern Canada.But the insurgents had to abandon it, after intense bombardment Thursday of the pro-Gaddafi.

"Their supremacy was complete. They shot from boats, and they control the air," said a doctor at Brega, a city further east.

According to medical sources, the fighting on Thursday in Ras Lanuf made more than 10 dead and dozens wounded insurgents.Friday, an AFP reporter also saw at least five bodies evacuated from the city.

The intense bombardment that hit Lanouf Ras blocked the progression of the insurgents left Benghazi to conquer the coastal cities to Tripoli.

Last Saturday, the rebels had advanced to Ben Jawad, a town a few dozen miles west of Ras Lanuf, but had been expelled the next day by pro-Gaddafi, whose strikes have continued s intensified since.

A Zawiyah, 40 km from Tripoli, the regime's forces were celebrating their victory Friday in the rebel stronghold officially dropped Wednesday after more than two weeks of fierce resistance, according to an AFP journalist.

According to rescue workers at the border between Tunisia and Libya, a man arrived on the night of Zawiyah told that the situation was "catastrophic" and that "there were dead bodies everywhere."

Elsewhere, the rebels still controlled Misrata (150 km east of Tripoli) and several cities in the Northwest, especially in the mountainous region of Jabal Al-Gharbi, witnesses said.

In Benghazi, the rebels remained committed to fighting men of Kadhafi, despite setbacks recorded in recent days.

"We are not afraid of the army composed of mercenaries to 90%.We can beat them, "says Khaled, Fathi Ali's uncle, a 21-year insurgent killed Thursday in Ras Lanuf and buried Friday.

More than 10,000 people have also gathered in this city to demand the departure of Colonel Gaddafi.

At a summit in Brussels, the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU countries have agreed to dialogue with the Libyan opposition and discussed a military option carefully to protect civilians, although they remain sharply divided to this prospect.

They decided to consider "all options" available, in an allusion to a possible military intervention, but specifying that it should be "a demonstrated need, a clear legal basis and support of the region."

For this purpose, a tripartite summit to be held soon between the EU, the African Union and Arab League, which meets on his side on Saturday in Cairo that the emissaries of the Libyan regime will not be allowed to participate.

"The current leadership (of Libya) must relinquish power immediately," he also said EU President Herman Van Rompuy after the summit.

United States President Barack Obama, "concerned" about the ability of Muammar Gaddafi to stay in power, said he was determined to "tighten the noose" on the Libyan regime, and made solemn warning against the risk of a large-scale massacre in Libya.

"The United States and the international community have an obligation to do what they can to prevent a repetition of what happened in the Balkans in the 90s, what happened in Rwanda", he said.

More isolated every day on the international level, Colonel Gaddafi has threatened Europe to stop supporting the fight against international terrorism and illegal immigration.

If "Europe does not and ignores the active role of Libya in the fight against immigration (...) Libya will be required (...) To withdraw from efforts against terrorism and to completely change its policy toward al-Qaida, "he said, quoted by state news agency Jana.

On the humanitarian front, Ras Lanuf, doctors called the International Red Cross for help.The International Organization for Migration said in turn negotiate with the Libyan authorities to send a humanitarian mission in Libya, where thousands of immigrants awaiting repatriation.

Since mid-February, more than 250,000 people have fled to neighboring Libya, according to the UN, and the bloody suppression of the uprising has claimed hundreds of lives.

A UN humanitarian mission is expected Saturday in Libya to assess humanitarian needs, announced in the evening the Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Libya, Khaled Kaaim.