US repositions forces near Libya EU slaps sanctions on Gaddafi TRIPOLI: International pressure on Muammar Gaddafi to end his crackdown on opponents escalated Monday as his loyalists closed in on rebel-held cities closest to the capital. The US moved naval and air forces closer to Libya and said all options were open, including the use of warplanes to patrol the North African nation's skies and protect Libyans threatened by their leader. France said it would start flying aid to the opposition-controlled eastern half of the country. The European Union imposed an arms embargo and other sanctions, following the lead of the US and the UN. The EU was also considering the creation of a no-fly zone over Libya. And the US and Europe were freezing billions in Libya's foreign assets. “Gaddafi has lost the legitimacy to govern, and it is time for him to go without further violence or delay,” US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. “No option is off the table. That of course includes a no-fly zone,” Clinton added. British Prime Minister David Cameron told British lawmakers: “We do not in any way rule out the use of military assets” to deal with Gaddafi's regime. Gaddafi, who has launched the most brutal crackdown of any regime facing a wave of popular uprisings, laughed off a question from ABC News about whether he would step down as the Obama administration is demanding. “My people love me. They would die for me,” he said. ABC reported that Gaddafi invited the UN or any other organization to come on a fact-finding mission. His bloody crackdown has left hundreds, and perhaps thousands, dead. But clashes appear to have eased considerably over the past few days after planeloads of foreign journalists arrived in the capital at the government's invitation. Gaddafi's opponents, holding the east and much of the country's oil infrastructure, also control pockets in western Libya near Tripoli. They are backed by mutinous army units, but those forces appear to have limited supplies of ammunition and weapons. Gaddafi opponents have moved to consolidate their hold in the east, centered on Benghazi, where the uprising began. On Monday, pro-Gaddafi forces retook control of the border crossings with Tunisia in the west after they had fallen under opposition control and bombed an ammunition depot in the rebel-held east, residents in the area said. The Libyan Defense Ministry denied the bombing. Regime forces also moved to tighten their ring around two opposition-controlled cities closest to the capital Tripoli – Zawiya and Misrata – where the two sides are locked in standoffs. In Misrata, pro-Gaddafi troops who control part of an air base on the city's outskirts tried to advance Monday. But they were repelled by opposition forces, who included residents armed with automatic weapons and defected army units allied with them, one of the opposition fighters said. No casualties were reported. The opposition controls most of the air base, and the fighter said dozens of anti-Gaddafi gunmen have arrived from further east in recent days as reinforcements. Several residents of the eastern city of Ajdabiya said Gaddafi's air force also bombed an ammunition depot nearby held by the opposition. State TV carried a statement by Libya's Defense Ministry denying any attempt to bomb the depot. In Washington, the Pentagon said it was moving some naval and air forces closer to Libya in case they are needed. The US Treasury Department said that at least $30 billion in Libyan assets have been frozen since US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Libya last week. France promised to send two planes with humanitarian aid the eastern opposition stronghold city of Benghazi, hoping to give it the momentum to oust Gaddafi. The EU slapped its own arms embargo, visa ban and other sanctions on Gaddafi's regime. And Europe was also considering the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent any air attacks by the regime on rebellious citizens. Clinton met in Geneva with foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany and Italy to press for tough sanctions on the Libyan government.
