leader Muammar Qadaffy's... an Arab institution for 42 years ...
command headquarters to EU leaders, a source close to discussions told AFP on Thursday.
At an EU summit on the Libyan crisis, he will propose "striking an extremely limited number of points which are the source of the most deadly operations" by forces loyal to Qadaffy, said the source, who asked not to be named.
The three sites being considered are Qadaffy's Bab al-Azizia command headquarters in Tripoli, a military air base in Syrte, east of Tripoli and another in Sebha in the south, the source added.
In Tripoli, Libyan state media reported today a "grave secret" will prompt the fall of Sarkozy.
"The Jamahiriya
... An Arabic neologism coined by Muammar al-Qadaffy. The word jamahiriya was derived from jumhuriya, which is the usual Arabic translation of republic. It was coined by changing the component jumhur ‐
public‐ to its plural form, jamahir --
the masses. Thus, it is similar to the term People's Republic, only more denigrating to the actual inhabitants of the country...
news agency has learned of a grave secret that will trigger the fall of Sarkozy, maybe his trial in connection with fundings for his presidential campaign," state television reported.
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
The "urgent" statement was displayed on state television's shortly after La Belle France became the first country to officially recognise the self-proclaimed rebel national council.
"La Belle France has recognised the national transition council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people," one of the opposition movement's envoys, Ali al-Issawi, told news hounds after meeting with Sarkozy on Thursday.
"On the basis of this recognition, we are going to open a diplomatic mission, that is our own embassy in Gay Paree, and an ambassador from La Belle France will be sent to Benghazi," a key rebel-held city, he added.
A French presidential official confirmed Issawi's statement but declined to give further details. Late on Thursday, Libya said it is planning to cut its diplomatic relations with La Belle France.
Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch...
Qadaffy's forces sent rebel forces fleeing from a key oil hub today and recaptured a town near Tripoli, as the Red Thingy warned the conflict in Libya had escalated into civil war.
With their fighters in retreat, the opposition appealed to Western powers meeting in Brussels to follow the lead of La Belle France by recognising the rebel national council as Libya's "legitimate representative."
Rebels packed into dozens of vehicles and, under rocket fire, decamped from Ras Lanuf, a coastal oil town in eastern Libya they had captured last Friday, AFP news hounds said.
The vehicles streamed east from the town after hours of heavy shelling and rocket attacks that swept from the western outskirts of Ras Lanuf to the east.
Other groups of rebels appeared to stay in town, but dejected fighters in the exodus said they had been defeated as rockets went
kaboom!and there was at least one air strike.
"We've been defeated. They are shelling and we are running away. That means that they're taking Ras Lanuf," said a rebel fighter, dressed in military fatigues who gave his name as Osama.
At least four rockets struck the centre of the town earlier, prompting medics to hurriedly evacuate the hospital, crushing into ambulances with patients and speeding away.
Doctor Mahmud Zubi was the only man left after everyone decamped the hospital, besides the body of a man laid out on a stretcher, his nose and the top of his head blown away, and puddles of blood on the floor.
"We have evacuated the hospital. They were shelling us. It's only me here," the doctor told AFP. Rebel fighters boarded pick-up trucks and drove out of town.
"They're getting too close. Some of us are still there, but a lot of us are pulling out. They're getting too close," shouted one rebel.