Libya's Moamar Khaddaffi's regime is looking much more solid than it did a few days ago.
Khaddaffi's forces have recaptured parts of Brega, Libya's refinery city and supplier of the country's benzene, and sections of Ajdabiya. That's a major blow to the rebels because Ajdabiya controls the strategic crossroads leading to linking Tripolitania to rebel-held Cyrenaica in the east.And the loss of Brega is liable to pinch fuel supplies for the rebels unless they can hold on to their foothold there and push Khaddaffi's men out.
Khaddaffi has been able to use African mercenaries and his air force to great effect.And the rebels have been appealing for Western aid in the form of at least a no fly zone.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France and Britain would support the idea of setting up a no-fly zone over Libya if Khaddaffi's forces continued to attack civilians, but so far that hasn't translated into any action.
The US was fairly explicit in saying that it wasn't at all ready for that sort of intervention. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that the Obama administration hadno plans for imposing no-fly zones over Libya, reversing herself from the day before when she claimed such plans were being "actively considered". Obviously, someone grabbed her by the lapels of her pantsuit and told her she was speaking out of turn.
Both SecDef Gates and JCO Admiral Mullen went public shortly after Secretary Clinton's initial statement to pour cold water on the idea of a no fly zone, or any US military intervention.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez claimed that the Libyan government had accepted a plan by Venezuela to seek negotiations to settle the conflict.
The Chavez plan involves sending an international commission to talk with both sides in Libya, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said earlier that the plan was under consideration.
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