[Dawn] The United States and European Union...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
turned up the heat on Libya, as fresh fighting erupted Wednesday along rebel lines at the oil town of Brega.
US diplomats are visiting several African countries to urge leaders to press Qadaffy to leave power immediately, officials in Washington said, while the EU slapped new economic sanctions on Qadaffy's regime.
Fresh fighting erupted Wednesday at the strategic oil town of Brega, an AFP correspondent said.
Mortar rounds and rockets struck intermittently on both sides of the front at Brega, one of the three main focuses in the Libyan conflict, with the other two at the enclave of Misrata to the east and the Nafusa Mountains to the west.
Brega is home mainly to oil facilities, refineries, ports and a residential area.
The United States and EU ratcheted up the pressure on Qadaffy, with Washington lobbying African states to give up support of the Libyan strongman, while the EU imposed new economic sanctions.
In Brussels, the European Union slapped new sanctions on the Qadaffy regime, targeting two "economic entities" linked to human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
abuse, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said.
An asset freeze and visa ban were extended to "two further entities closely linked to the perpetrators of the serious human rights abuses in Libya, given the gravity of the situation," Ashton said in a statement.
She gave no further details but a French official said on Tuesday the restrictions would target Al-Sharara, which operates in the oil sector, and an administrative organization linked to Qadaffy.
Six port authorities, 49 entities and 39 people are now subject to a freeze of their funds and financial resources in the EU, Ashton said.
In addition, the same 39 persons, which include Qadaffy and several family members, are banned from entering the EU.