TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi and rebels seeking his downfall were on Thursday battling each other on the military and diplomatic fronts, as oil facilities came under attack on the eastern front.

With fighting raging around the eastern oil town of Ras Lanuf and Zawiyah, just west of Tripoli, Gadhafi sent emissaries to Egypt, Greece and Portugal, while members of the rebels' national council were due in Paris after lobbying the European Parliament.

Libya could suspend its relations with France after Paris recognized the rebel National Libyan Council as the "legitimate representative" of the Libyan people, Libya's official news agency said on Thursday.

The agency quoted a foreign ministry official as saying Libya could take such a measure due to information about France's intervention in the country's domestic affairs.

France was the first country to recognize the national council and said it would exchange ambassadors between Paris and Benghazi, the eastern Libyan city which being held by rebels.

Syria says it is against any foreign intervention in Libya.

Thursday's statement by the Syrian Foreign Ministry comes as Western countries debate whether to protect the rebels from Gadhafi's air force by putting a no-fly zone over some or all of the country.

The statement said foreign interference "is considered a violation of Libya's sovereignty, independence and territorial unity".

An oil installation was also ablaze near As-Sidra 10 km further west, although National Oil Corp chief Shukri Ghanem played down its importance.

"Fortunately, the explosion ... was in a small storage supply facility in Sidra ... It has not affected the production," Ghanem said, adding, "it was diesel, it's not crude oil."

Ghanem said, however, that oil output was down more than two-thirds, as crude prices rose in Asian trade, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rising 46 cents to $104.84 per barrel.

AFP-AP-Xinhua