Colonel Muammar Qadaffy... dictator of Libya since 1969. From 1972, when he relinquished the title of prime minister, he has been accorded the honorifics
Guide of the First of September Great Revolution of the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyaor
Brotherly Leader and Guide of the Revolution. With the death of Omar Bongo of Gabon on 8 June 2009, he became the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders. He is also the longest-serving ruler of Libya since Tripoli became an Ottoman province in 1551. When Chairman Mao was all the rage and millions of people were flashing his Little Red Book, Qadaffy came out with his own Little Green Book, which didn't do as well. Qadaffy's instability has been an inspiration to the Arab world and to Africa, which he would like to rule...
launched a major offensive against rebels fighting to end the Libyan leader's decades-long rule.
Pro- and anti-government forces are locked in intense fighting for control of several other cities and towns along the coastline to the east of Tripoli, including Brega and Bin Jawad, as well as in Az Zawiyah to the west of the capital.
Rebel forces in the port city of Ras Lanuf, which is the site of a key oil installation, are now retreating from their positions and heading further east.
Opposition fighters were seen trooping into cars and trucks by the hundreds and fleeing eastwards, after coming under intense mortar and rocket fire, as well as aerial bombardment earlier in the day.
Pro-Qadaffy forces hit a natural gas installation, as well as bombing a civilian house and the area around a hospital, opposition forces said.
In an interview with Rooters news agency, Qadaffy's son Saif al-Islam said that the time had come for full scale military action against the rebels.
"There is no more chance for negotiations with rebels fighting the Libyan government," he said on Thursday.
He said the military would never give up, that they will fight in Libya and die in Libya.
Major offensive underway
"We've been wondering for the last few days about why Qadaffy has not employed his full forces, and today we've seen those forces in action," reported Al Jizz's Tony Birtley, who is in Ras Lanuf.
"We were caught right in the middle as his forces out-flanked, and then out-bombed and out-shot the opposition forces. There was sustained aerial and artillery and mortar bombardment, and then following in by a flanking movement.
"There have been a number of casualties. We've seen trucks going along the highway, but that's being shelled by Qadaffy forces all the way along. I counted ... 50 shells falling.
"We've seen trucks with maimed lying in the back of pick-ups, and I think the casualty toll is going to be high. We also saw and heard extensive ground fire coming from the beach [in the north], we think there's been a flanking movement from the beach.
"But it seems like the major offensive that we thought was going to happen is underway now."
Birtley reported that while many opposition fighters had now left the town, a "hard core" was going back in to fight.
He said the attack showed the "professionalism of Qadaffy's troops, and it shows that ... he's hitting back."
Engineers at the town's oil facilities have been burning off poisonous gas in case of a direct hit on the refinery, rebels say.
"We've been defeated. They are shelling and we are running away. That means that they're taking Ras Lanuf," a rebel fighter, dressed in military fatigues who gave his name as Osama, told the AFP news agency.
"The town of Ras Lanuf has been purged of armed gangs and the green flags have been hoisted over all [government] buildings," Libyan state television reported.
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
on Thursday evening. The report said that government forces were "advancing on Benghazi".
Rebel confidence low
Hoda Abdel-Hamid, our correspondent in Benghazi, reported that officials confirmed that Ras Lanuf and Brega, another town with key oil installations, had come under attack from gunboats. Brega, a key oil and gas hub, was also under attack from the air.
She reported that rebels in Benghazi feel the tide "may be reversing", and that there is a "realisation that this is going to be a long, long uprising".
Qadaffy's men also pounded Az Zawiyah with tanks and war planes.
"The revolutionaries control the centre of Zawiyah and Gadhafi's forces are surrounding it. It's 50-50," a resident who decamped the city said.
"There was no one in the streets, the town is completely deserted, and there are snipers on the roofs," he said, adding that he did not know which side they were on.
An official at one of Libya's largest refineries, which is located in Zawiyah, said it has remained shut for the fourth consecutive day, and would only reopen on Friday if there was no fighting overnight.
Conflicting claims
Forces loyal to Qadaffy say they have wrested the city from the hands of rebels, a claim denied by those fighting against the Libyan leader.
Any independent confirmation of the claims and counter-claims, however, is difficult since journalists are unable to reach the city.
The rebel fighters are largely inexperienced. Abdul Razik Bubakar, 32, car mechanic who has joined anti-Qadaffy forces, told the AP news agency that he is learning how to use anti-aircraft gun on the fly.
"I didn't know anything about it. I just learnt in two or three days. Now I know how to use it, thanks to God. Now I am really quick using it, cleaning it and fixing it," said Bubakar.
"Maybe I don't have enough knowledge for this, but when I do it, thanks to God, it works out."
The battles are raging as rebels pile on pressure on the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to cripple Gaddaf's airforce.
While several world powers have backed such a measure, the modalities are yet to be worked out with
Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Dean Rusk...
, the US secretary of state, saying such a move should be driven by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and not the United States.
NATO and the European Union began fresh talks on a no-fly zone on Thursday, with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's secretary-general, saying that "further planning will be required" if a no-fly zone were to be enforced, under the UN's mandate.
Jakob Kellenberger, the president of the Interational Committe of the Red Thingy (ICRC), on Thursday warned that Libya was in a state of "civil war", and appealed for aid workers to be given greater access to the country.
Amid such discussions, Qadaffy has launched his own diplomatic effort, sending emissaries to Brussels and Cairo.
Opposition forces vowed to continue fighting against Qadaffy, even if a no-fly zone was not imposed.
"If they implement a no-fly zone we will ask for other things. Even if they do not implement it, we will fight," Iman Bugaigis, a media officer with the rebel February 17 Coalition, told news hounds in Benghazi.
"There is no return for us. This nation will not bear both of us. It is us or his (Qadaffy's) family. After what happened in Zawiyah, how can we live with this person?" she said.