Libya | featured news

As Libya moves toward civil war, reports of violence and casualties continue to mount between forces loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi and rebel fighters who refuse to let up until Gadhafi's rule ends.

Hundreds of demonstrators call for Moammar Kadafi's downfall in Tripoli but are quickly dispersed by security forces. Rebels continue to hold nearby Zawiya after an assault organized by one of the embattled leader's sons.

If the U.S. military is hesitant to enact a no-fly zone over Libya, the Army is capable of giving the opposition the capacity to use anti-aircraft defenses themselves, Sen. Joe Lieberman suggested Thursday.

The Libyan government has accepted a Venezuelan plan that seeks a negotiated solution to the uprising in the North African country, a spokesman for President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.

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The US defence department says it is repositioning some of its forces around Libya as Western nations consider options for possible intervention against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

The U.N. Security Council has voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his five adult children and top associates.

 Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi opened fire Friday on protesters streaming out of mosques and marching across the Libyan capital to demand the regime's ouster, witnesses said, reporting multiple deaths. In rebellious cities in the east, tens of thousands held rallies in support of the first Tripoli protests in days.

President Barack Obama will talk to the leaders of Britain and France on Thursday about the crisis in Libya as Washington kept all options open, including sanctions and military action.

Opponents of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi pressed their battles for control of major cities to the east and west of the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday, drawing gunfire from government troops as they fought in the town of Zawiya.

U.S. crude jumped to a 28-month high of $100 a barrel on Wednesday, as investors weighed the risk of Middle East unrest spreading from Libya to bigger exporters including Saudi Arabia.