BENGHAZI - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are near the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and “everything will be over in 48 hours”, Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said. Asked about discussions among world powers to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, he replied: “The military operations are finished. In 48 hours everything will be over. Our forces are close to Benghazi. Whatever decision is taken, it will be too late.” Muammar Gaddafi's tanks and artillery struck a rebel-held town and other loyalist forces advanced on Libya's main rebel bastion of Benghazi on Wednesday as diplomatic efforts to stop him appeared to lose momentum. Italy, a potential base for a no-fly zone proposed by Britain and France, ruled out military intervention in the oil-exporting country to support an increasingly vulnerable-looking rebellion against Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule. “We cannot have war, the international community should not, does not want and cannot do it,” Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in Rome. As the Libyan army told people in Benghazi to lay down their arms, aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres said the violence had forced it to withdraw its staff from Benghazi and begin moving teams to Alexandria in Egypt. “Security conditions have made it effectively impossible for medical teams to travel safely to areas where the fighting has created the greatest need,” it said. Residents in rebel-held Misrata, 200 km (130 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi's stronghold, said his forces had attacked the city using tanks and artillery. “Very heavy bombardments are taking place now from three sides. They are using heavy weapons including tanks and artillery ... They have yet to enter the town,” said one resident, called Mohammed, by telephone. A second resident, called Saadin, confirmed the account and said the attack began at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT). Pro-Gaddafi leaflets in Benghazi In Benghazi, where the revolt began in mid-February, residents said they had found some leaflets lying around in the city streets suggesting that if they gave up the fight against Gaddafi now, they would not be harmed or punished. The leaflest accused rebels of being driven by al Qaeda and high drugs, an allegation routinely levelled by the government against an uprising that was inspired by pro-democracy rebellions that toppled the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents. Salah Ben-Saud, a retired undersecretary at the Agriculture Ministry, said in Benghazi that life in the town was normal and “pro-Gaddafi people have not really shown their face.” “There were rumours that he (Gaddafi) would try to take back Benghazi and that made people a bit nervous, but he didn't and people here don't think he would succeed anyway if he tried.” Thousands gathered in a square in Benghazi on Tuesday evening denouncing Gaddafi as a tyrant and throwing shoes and other objects at his image projected upside down on a wall. Foreign powers have condemn Gaddafi's crackdown but show little appetite for action to support the revolt. A Gaddafi victory and a crackdown on protests in Bahrain could turn the tide in the region against pro-democracy movements. Supporters of a no-fly zone to halt Libyan government air strikes on rebels circulated a draft resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday that would authorise one, but other states said questions remained. The draft was distributed at a closed-door meeting by Britain and Lebanon after the Arab League called on the council on Saturday to set up a no-fly zone as Gaddafi's troops advanced against the rebels based in the east. German Ambassador Peter Wittig told reporters after the meeting his country still had queries, and noted that while the Arab League had called for a no-fly zone it also opposed any foreign military intervention. Veto powers Russia, China and the United States, along with Portugal, Germany and South Africa are among the members that have doubts about the wisdom of a no-fly zone. A senior Libyan foreign ministry official said the government hoped to regain all rebel-held territories soon.
