Western-led air strikes give anti-government forces upper hand and cost 'many lives'

Tripoli, Libya - Libyan rebels' push westwards toward Tripoli gathered momentum on Sunday as their pursuit of Muammar Gadhafi's forces saw them wrest back control of key oil town Ras Lanuf.

Their next target is Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, a central coastal city, and on the way they captured Bin Jawad, a hamlet 50 kilometers west of Ras Lanuf, AFP correspondents reported.

The rebels, on the verge of losing their eastern stronghold city of Benghazi before the air war began on March 19, on Saturday seized back Ajdabiya and Brega, 160 and 240 km to the west.

The coastal complexes at Ras Lanouf and Brega were responsible for a large chunk of Libya's 1.5 million barrels of daily exports, which have all but stopped since the uprising that began Feb 15

And, spurred on by the aerial bombardment, they were on Sunday eyeing Al-Bisher, a town another 30 km west along the road to Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.

In Tripoli, government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim said overnight that the Western-led air strikes were killing soldiers and civilians between the strategic town of Ajdabiya and Sirte.

"Tonight the air strikes against our nation continue with full power," he said.

"We are losing many lives, military and civilians," Ibrahim added while repeating a call for a ceasefire and an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Sunday set out the broad outlines of a diplomatic plan to resolve the crisis in Libya that could include exile for Gadhafi.

"We cannot envisage a solution in which he would stay in power," Frattini told La Repubblica daily, adding that "clearly exile for Gadhafi would be different".

Speaking at his Sunday blessing, Pope Benedict called for the "suspension of the use of arms" and expressed concern for civilian populations.

He said he was praying for a return of peace in Libya and the entire North African region.

"I appeal to international bodies and those who hold military and political responsibility for an immediate start of a dialogue that suspends the use of arms," he told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square.

In Libya's west, French fighter jets destroyed at least five warplanes and two helicopters of government forces in the Zintan and Misrata regions on Saturday, said a statement on the French armed forces website.

On Saturday, the rebels, backed by the Western barrage, poured into Ajdabiya, where destroyed tanks and military vehicles littered the road.

The bodies of at least two government fighters were surrounded by onlookers taking photos, while a mosque and many houses bore the scars of heavy shelling as the rebels celebrated, firing into the air and shouting "God is greater".

Ambassadors from the 28-nation NATO alliance gathered at its headquarters later to mull military plans for a transfer nailed down only after long days of fraught talks, over objections raised by France and Turkey.

Pressed by Western powers, notably the United States and Italy, to take the helm as swiftly as possible, the alliance was expected to give a thumbs up, possibly approving and activating immediate engagement, NATO sources said.

AFP-AP-Reuters