Qadaffy... a proud Arab institution for 42 years ...
advanced on the rebel-held western city of Misrata on Wednesday, shelling it from three sides in attacks that killed at least 12 rebels, a rebel front man said.
There was no immediate comment from Qadaffy's government.
"Misrata is under heavy shelling ... Qadaffy forces are shelling Misrata from three sides: east, west and south," rebel front man Hassan al-Misrati told Rooters from inside the town.
"He has sent thousands of troops from all sides and they are trying to enter the city. They are still outside, though."
He added that 12 rebels had been killed and 26 maimed.
The offensive followed a lull in NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants...
bombing of Tripoli on Wednesday, after 24 hours of some of the heaviest bombardments of the Libyan capital since air strikes began in March.
NATO defence ministers met in Brussels on Wednesday, but there were few signs of willingness to intensify their Libya mission, which has so far failed to oust Qadaffy.
The alliance says the bombing aims to protect civilians from the Libyan leader's military, which crushed popular protests against his rule in February, leaving many dead.
But with officials like British Foreign Secretary William Hague talking explicitly of Qadaffy being forced out, critics say NATO has gone beyond its U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
Western powers are lining up behind the rebels. Spain on Wednesday said it had recognised their National Transitional Council as the country's only representative.
"I'm here today to confirm that the National Transitional Council is the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people," Spanish Foreign Minister Trinidad Jimenez told news hounds in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Wednesday.
Rebel front man Abdulrahman said from Zintan that Qadaffy's forces had also shelled the western town on Wednesday morning, after massing large numbers of troops towards it.
"They are now using anti-aircraft weapons," he said.
Qadaffy's troops and the rebels have been deadlocked for weeks, with neither side able to hold territory on a road between Ajdabiyah in the east, which Qadaffy's forces shelled on Monday, and the Qadaffy-held oil town of Brega further west.
Rebels control the east of Libya, the western city of Misrata and the range of western mountains near the border with Tunisia. They have been unable to advance on the capital against Qadaffy's better-equipped forces.