Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a fierce attack on Libyan rebels in Zawiya, sources in the town say.
Casualties were reported as 50 tanks and 120 pick-up trucks launched three attacks on the rebel-held town 50km (30 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli.
“I don’t know how many are dead – they tore Zawiya down to ashes,” a source in the town said.
Elsewhere, warplanes fired missiles on residential areas and near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanuf.
Rebels say they have rejected an approach by officials offering to hold talks on an exit for the Libyan leader.
The Libyan leader had not sent anyone himself, but lawyers from Tripoli had volunteered to act as go-betweens, former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who heads the rebels’ Transitional National Council, told AFP.
Col Gaddafi has refused to cede power in the past, arguing that he has no official position and therefore it is impossible for him to resign. (BBC)
