A loud blast rocked central Tripoli this evening and aircraft flew above the Libyan capital, in a resumption of Nato strikes after a quiet day that followed the heaviest day of bombing since strikes began in March.
Yesterday saw hours of relentless bombing, but the bombing stopped in the early hours of this morning.
Meanwhile, Nato sought broader support for the Western bombing campaign today with alliance air power stretched by the heaviest strikes on Tripoli so far.
But as Nato defence ministers met in Brussels met to discuss the Libyan campaign, some allies which have refused to take part in the bombing said they would not alter their stance and Sweden, a non-Nato participant in the mission, said it would scale down its role.
Of the 28 Nato allies, only eight, led by Britain and France, have been conducting air strikes against Col Gadafy's forces, and a senior US official warned this week that while there were no risks to the mission as yet, fatigue was beginning to set in among the aircrews already committed.
All Nato allies agree that Col Gadafy must go, but not all view military intervention as the best way to achieve this and some lack the capabilities to contribute to the mission.
Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he would call on ministers for more burden-sharing and British defence minister Liam Fox said he would push for a stepped-up effort by other allies.
"We want to see increased urgency in some quarters in terms of Libya," he told reporters in Brussels.
However, there was no sign other allies would be willing to do more, and some plan to cut their existing commitments.
Germany, which opposed the Libyan intervention, said it understood the pressures on Britain and France but would not change its position. Spain said it would not join the strike mission.
"Germany sticks to its position, no military engagement," German deputy defence minister Christian Schmidt told reporters.
Spanish defence minister Carme Chacon said Spain would keep up its role of assisting in enforcing a no-fly zone and the arms embargo, but would not undertake strike missions. "It will be the same contribution, the same format," she said.
Norway said last month it would scale down its air strike role after its three-month commitment ends on June 24th.
Sweden said it would prolong its participation in the military alliance against Col Gadafy, but would cut its number of fighter jets to five from eight and switch their role to reconnaissance from patrolling the no-fly zone.
While Nato says its bombing campaign has greatly reduced the capacity of Col Gadafy's forces, it has yet to land a knock-out blow and analysts say the conflict could drag on for many months, in the absence of a "lucky strike" on Col Gadafy himself.
Mr Rasmussen said last week he hoped Nato's mission could be completed by the end of September, but many consider that optimistic, given the limitations of rebel forces and the fact that Nato has ruled out sending ground forces.
"I think the vast majority of the proponents have vastly underestimated the difficulties and I don't think they anticipated how long this would drag out," said Christopher Schnaubelt of the Nato Defence College in Rome.
"I don't see them increasing the capacity of the rebels to enable them to defeat Gadafy's forces in centres of power like Tripoli any time soon, so I wouldn't be surprised if Nato was there for years. I think it's 50-50 whether we end up in a frozen conflict and de facto partition of Libya, with Gadafy controlling part of it and the rebels the other."
Mr Rasmussen said last week that Col Gadafy's departure could take some time or could come suddenly, but the international community must begin planning to ensure a peaceful transition. He said he did not see a major role for Nato after it had fulfilled its UN-mandated mission to protect civilians, but Nato could help to reform the security sector.
US Admiral Samuel Locklear, commander of the Joint Operations Command at Naples conducting the Libya campaign, suggested last week a small force may be needed once Col Gadafy's regime collapses to help the transition to democracy.
He said this could come from the United Nations, the European Union, or for a short time from Nato. However, Nato officials said that while ministers would discuss the alliance's post-Gadafy role, there was no plan to deploy ground troops.
Reuters