I will never resign, vows Gaddafi

The Libyan government has softened its public stance against any compromise that would end the fighting, but government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said that any changes must be led by Gaddafi, who has ruled the country for more than four decades.

“We could have any political system, any changes – constitution, election, anything – but the leader has to lead this forward,” he said in Tripoli.

“Don’t decide our future from abroad, give us a proposal for change from within,” Mr Ibrahim said, criticising Western powers who have a “personal problem with the leader” and economic interests they believe would be better served if Gaddafi’s government collapsed.

The comments were unlikely to appease the rebels fighting to depose the Libyan leader who has a legacy of brutality. Any long-term settlement is likely to pose tough questions about the fate of Gaddafi’s family and the new leader of a post-Gaddafi nation, and the opposition has rejected any solution that would involve one of his sons taking power.

The rebels had managed to take part of the town of Brega on Monday, aided by an international air campaign that has pounded Gaddafi’s heavy weapons, but the rocket and artillery salvoes unleashed on the rebels indicated the government’s had retained offensive capabilities.

Rebel attempts to fire rockets and mortar bombs against the government forces were met with aggressive counter bombardments that sent many of the rebel forces scrambling back all the way to the town of Ajdabiya, dozens of miles away.

There did not appear to be any immediate response from the international aircraft patrolling the skies that have aided the rebels in the past.

Earlier there was an air strike against a convoy of eight government vehicles advancing towards rebel positions, rebel officer Abdel-Bast Abibi said. The information came from surveillance teams. The strike hit two of the vehicles, prompting the others to turn around and race back into the city.

Nato said last night that its aerial onslaught on Gaddafi’s forces had so far destroyed 30 per cent of the Libyan dictator’s weapons.

The opposition to Gaddafi was further boosted yesterday when a tanker arrived in Libya’s rebel-held port of Marsa el-Hariga to load up a shipment of oil for export, potentially giving the resistance crucial funding amid escalating violence.

The tanker, which can carry a million barrels of oil, was chartered by Geneva-based oil trader Vitol SA.

Speaking yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron sought to reassure Muslim opinion about the Nato-led military operation in Libya which he emphasised was not an “attack on Islam”.

He said the action not only had the backing of Arab countries and the United Nations but was designed to save the lives of innocent, mainly Muslim, civilians.

More than 400,000 people have escaped the violence in Libya in the last month, arriving in surrounding countries such as Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan. Tunisia alone has received more than half of the outflow from Libya and has mobilised a massive relief operation.

The UN refugee agency’s goodwill ambassador, the Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, travelled to the Tunisian-Libyan border yesterday to urge greater international support for people fleeing Libya.

“We would encourage others, individuals and governments, to continue to support and assist with the needs on the ground,” the star said.