Hundreds of rebel fighters were pulled out by sea as Muammar Gaddafi's forces were on the verge of overrunning the key western city of Misrata after routing all opposition attacks on the eastern front

hirteen Libyan rebels were killed in an air strike by NATO-led coalition forces in the country's eastern city of Brega, Xinhua reported on Saturday.

Several rebels were also wounded when NATO planes

Libyan rebels skirmished with government forces around the strategic oil town of Brega on Sunday, making incremental gains backed by international air strikes in the see-saw desert battle for the coun

US defence secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday that economic and political pressure and Libya's people — not ongoing military strikes — will eventually drive strongman Muammar Gaddafi from power.

The United States used low-flying combat aircraft against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's ground troops, the Pentagon said on Monday, but denied it was directly supporting the rebels.

Libya’s ramshackle rebel Army has pushed west to retake a series of towns from the forces of Muammar Gaddafi who are being pounded by Western air strikes.

Libya's rebel forces closed in Monday on Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, the gateway to the western half of the country, after it was targeted for the first time by international air strikes.

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Libya’s rebel forces closed on Monday on Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte, the gateway to the Western half of the country, after it was targeted for the first time by international air strikes.

US President Barack Obama said on Saturday the international mission in Libya was clear and focused and succeeding and had saved countless innocents from a "bloodbath" threatened by Muammer Gaddafi.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are now "on the back foot" and are being pursued by rebels from the strategic Eastern town of Ajdabiya, rebel spokesmen in their stronghold of Benghazi said on Saturday.