While the opposition has managed to fight off onslaughts by Gadhafi's forces in some places -- including what a witness described as an "amazing" victory against Gadhafi's heavy artillery Sunday in the town of Misrata -- the regime has advanced as well.
U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday "there are credible reports of the use of helicopter gunships against civilians by government forces."
UN
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Three members of the U.N. Security Council -- France, Britain, and the United States -- were working Monday on a possible resolution that would include language on a no-fly zone over Libya, diplomatic sources at the United Nations said.
But any kind of military intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, two fellow permanent members of the council that wield veto power.
US Govt.
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U.S. President Barack Obama said Monday he had a "very clear message to those who are around Col. Gadhafi: It is their choice to make how they operate moving forward and they will be held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place there."
"We've got NATO as we speak consulting in Brussels around a wide range of potential options, including potential military options, in response to the violence that continues to take place inside Libya," he said.
NATO
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In a statement, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said NATO did not intend to intervene in Libya, but "as a defence Alliance and a security organization, it is our job to conduct prudent planning for any eventuality."
Quote from InvestVision:
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On Tuesday NATO meeting may say 'as libyan govt air rides are continuing on opposition we are getting ready to limit Libyan air rides advances as situation warrants.
Indicating destroing Libyan run ways if govt air rides start causing human casuvality.
Knowing this Libyan govt so far using air rides to limit rebels advancement , not to kill rebels directly with air rides
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576185800310247010.html?mod=mktw
Libyan govt
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But government forces succeeded in stopping an advance by rebels on Sirte from their capital, Benghazi, in the east, and Monday's air strikes kept the rebels on the defensive.
Col. Gadhafi's military is larger and better equipped than the rebels, but it faces the daunting task of having to dislodge rebels from heavily populated urban settings and in remote desert locations. The rebels have been strengthened by defections of soldiers with equipment.
One retired Western military officer on the ground in Libya says the government could take out rebel positions in Zawiya, for example, about 30 miles from Tripoli, if it were ready to accept huge collateral damage and civilian deaths. It is unclear whether the government has the resources to mount such an effort in more than a few places.
UN
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The secretary-general urged Libya, in a telephone conversation Sunday with Libyan foreign minister Musa Kusa, to lift media restrictions and allow humanitarian organizations freedom of movement
," Mr. Ban's spokesman said. Mr. Kusa agreed to the immediate dispatch of a U.N. humanitarian assessment team to Tripoli, he said.
US
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Senior Obama administration officials said it would be difficult for the U.S. to enforce a no-fly zone without the direct participation of key North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies with major air bases near Libya, particularly in Italy.
U.S. officials said NATO planners were meeting daily to prepare options for defense ministers scheduled to discuss Libya on Thursday.
Sen. John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads the Foreign Relations Committee, told "Face the Nation" the U.S. can do more to "bolster the opposition," but he offered no details. Mr. Kerry said the U.S. and its allies should plan for a no-fly zone but not implement it right away.
Short of enforcing a no-fly zone, Mr. Kerry said the country's runways could be bombed to make it harder for Col. Gadhafi to use aircraft to attack the opposition.