Political Turmoil, North Africa | featured news

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said Thursday that the better-equipped forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will over the long term prevail.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi's speech appears to put to rest rumors reported in some international media that the 68-year-old leader had been considering stepping down.In a defiant speech broadcast early Wednesday, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi derided opponents who have seized the eastern half of the country as "traitors" and blamed foreigners and Al Qaeda for perpetrating the unrest roiling the North African state he has ruled for more than four decades.

The crisis in Libya again pushed oil prices higher as the New York Mercantile Exchange opened for trading Monday.

Opposition forces trying to reach Surt, the hometown of Moammar Kadafi, retreat to the desert outpost of Ras Lanuf after a ground and air assault.

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.

 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.

Moammar Gaddafi, Libya's strongman ruler, is commonly portrayed as an egomaniacal buffoon - an autocrat with an affinity for incomprehensible speeches and a flair for the melodramatic.

Stocks fell sharply and oil prices spiked to their highest level in two years on Tuesday as investors worried about the increasingly violent unrest in Libya.

Blames foreign influences for revolt as top officials resign to protest government attacks on civilians; opposition seizes control in some areas.