Libyan rebels repelled a counter-offensive by leader Muammar Gadafy's troops today but appealed to foreign powers to impose a no-fly zone to stop further attacks.
Government forces, with air supremacy and a big advantage in tanks, still appear to have regained the momentum against the uprising and their push could overtake sluggish international efforts to halt Col Gadafy.
European Union leaders today called on Col Gadafy to surrender power and backed the creation of humanitarian aid zones to help those affected by violence in Libya.
Speaking after an emergency summit in Brussels, French president Nicolas Sarkozy said EU leaders were eager to help Libyans, both in neighbouring countries where thousands have fled to and also within Libya itself.
"The Council has decided that the European Union will allow humanitarian agencies and actors access to humanitarian zones, in places that we did not specify, to deal with displaced persons, at first in Tunisia and Egypt," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference.
"We would like these humanitarian zones to then exist in Libya to deal with the tens of thousands of displaced people."
He said France had always ruled out military intervention on the ground but said the military option should be considered if civilians were targeted. "Nobody wants it, but it is clear that Europe is sending a message and did not want to exclude this option," he said.
He said Col Gadafy must go and the rebel Libyan National Council was considered by the European Union as the legitimate political representatives of the Libyan people.
The sound of explosions and small arms fire surrounded the Libyan town of Ras Lanuf today as government troops fought to recapture the oil port.
After hours of fighting, insurgents withdrew east of the small town and a large column of black smoke billowed from storage tanks at Ras Lanuf's oil installation. Rebels said the plant was hit by a series of government air strikes, but the Libyan government denied bombing the storage tanks.
The insurgents then regrouped outside the town and counter-attacked and seized it back, they said.
"There has been intense fighting with Gadafy's forces. They have withdrawn from the residential area to the west. We are now combing the area," rebel fighter Mohammed Aboul Hassan told Reuters by telephone from Ras Lanuf.
Col Gadafy's son Saif al-Islam told the rebels they faced a full-scale assault to crush their uprising which began after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in neighbouring Egypt a month ago.
Mr Sarkozy said France and Britain were "open," if the United Nations backed it, to "defensive" air strikes against Col Gadafy's forces if they used chemical weapons or warplanes to target the civilian population.
But in practice, any military action will require the participation of the United States which, along with NATO, has expressed doubt over the wisdom of imposing no-fly zones without full international backing and a legal justification.
US National Intelligence chief James Clapper said Gaddafi was "in this for the long haul" and was likely to prevail.
Reuters