AFP
Libyan rebels have retreated from another key town under heavy shelling from government forces as Muammar Gaddafi loyalists sweep closer towards the main opposition-held city of Benghazi.
A lightning counter-offensive over the last week has pushed ragtag rebel fighters out of Mediterranean coastal towns, allowing the regime to wrest back momentum against a month-long uprising to end Gaddafi's four-decade grip on power.
France, which alone has recognised the rebels' interim national council as the rightful representative of Libya, has called for a speeding up of the push for a no-fly zone, as demanded on the ground in rebel-held areas.
Dozens of rebels on Sunday fled east out of the town of Brega towards Ajdabiya, the last rebel-held town before the coastal city of Benghazi just 170km away, which the Libyan opposition have made their de facto capital.
Libyan state television later declared Brega "purged of the armed gangs".
From Ajdabiya there is also a straight desert road to the oil port of Tobruk, which to date has given rebels full control over the east up to the Egyptian border, a vital transit route for supplies from the outside world.
In Benghazi, all mobile telephone services were cut for around three hours for an unknown reason. The streets were largely deserted around the rebels' headquarters in the city's court house early on Sunday.
"The euphoria is over. We are frightened of what's coming, frightened of getting blown up," said retired civil servant Mohammed Gepsi.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Sunday it has shipped seven truckloads of food and medicine from Jordan to Benghazi.
Charity Doctors Without Borders warned that rebels are being denied medical help in government-held areas and urged access to treatment for the wounded.
"In several conflict zones, such as Zawiyah and Misrata, large numbers of people are cut off from any external assistance, while critical medical needsand shortages of medicine and materials are reported," it said.
Zawiyah, just west of the capital, fell to Gaddafi's forces on Friday after bitter fighting, while in Misrata, a city east of Tripoli which continues to hold out against attacks that last week killed at least 21 people, residents reported renewed firing on Sunday.
In Tripoli, state television said foreign firms are being asked to resume oil exports, claiming its ports are safe despite the month-long conflict and the flight of tens of thousands of expatriate workers from the country.
"All employees are asked to return to their jobs in all oil facilities. And we urge (foreign) firms to send their tankers to load and unload," the television said, quoting the National Oil Corporation.
Oil giant Total said on Friday the unrest has slashed Libya's output by 1.4 million barrels a day to under 300,000. The biggest market is Europe.
Rebel morale was boosted by an Arab League decision on Saturday to support a no-fly zone over Libya and to make contact with the insurgents' provisional national council in Benghazi.
But apart from defectors from Gaddafi's army, the rebels have no military experience and few heavy weapons, and are virtually powerless against air attack.
Declaring Gaddafi has lost all legitimacy, the Arab League urged the UN Security Council "to assume its responsibilities" and "take the necessary measures to impose an air exclusion zone for Libyan warplanes".
The White House welcomed the decision and vowed to "advance our efforts to pressure Gaddafi, to support the Libyan opposition, and to prepare for all contingencies, in close coordination with our international partners".
But Washington has stopped short of giving full support for the no-fly zone which is being pushed for by Britain and France, reflecting divisions in the administration of President Barack Obama.
In Paris on Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to meet her counterparts from the G8 to discuss ways to help the Libyan opposition and hold talks with Mahmud Jibril, a member of the opposition national council.
The United States has agreed to name a special envoy to deal with the opposition, but has refrained from recognising any particular leader or group as it struggles to understand the nebulous movement.
Clinton has said a plan for a no-fly zone will be presented to NATO on Tuesday, but Washington has cautioned that a move to send aid teams to rebel-held areas of eastern Libya should not be seen as military intervention.
The United Nations has sent an envoy to Tripoli to discuss access to the country for humanitarian relief efforts, although Tripoli has made no mention of the mission by former Jordanian foreign minister Abdul Ilah Khatib.
The envoy will have a political role in trying to end the conflict but also to try to open up humanitarian access to the Libyan population, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in New York.