CASPER
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Libyan tanks fired on rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf and warplanes hit another oil hub further east Thursday as Muammar Gaddafi carried counter-attacks deeper into the insurgent heartland.
In the west, Gaddafi's army laid siege to try to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of the shattered city of Zawiyah, strategically significant because it is close to his powerbase in the capital Tripoli, after fierce see-saw battles this week.
But the rebels took an important step toward international legitimacy when France recognized their national council.
While oil prices have been kept high by the bombardments in the east of the Arab North African state, there was no clear sign of deliberate intent by Gaddafi to ruin oil infrastructure.
NATO and the European Union were looking into imposing a "no-fly" zone over Libya to stop the government using jets and helicopters against the outgunned rebels, who seized a string of cities east and west of Tripoli early in the three-week-old war to end Gaddafi's 41 years of iron-fisted rule.
Despite rebel appeals to take the skies away from Gaddafi's forces, no quick action was expected as NATO has made clear it needs wider, United Nations endorsement for such a move.
More than 500 km (300 miles) east of Tripoli, Gaddafi's warplanes and gunboats off the Mediterranean coast bombarded rebels around Ras Lanuf, with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.
There was a series of air strikes, and insurgents fired anti-aircraft guns toward warplanes and rockets out to sea toward Gaddafi's naval forces, without visible effect.
Two rebel fighters said they saw Ras Lanuf's residential area, including the vicinity of its hospital, get bombed and that government forces had fired rockets from sea, air and ground. There was no apparent damage to the hospital.
Later, at least two tanks were seen bearing down on ragged rebel lines outside Ras Lanuf and opening fire.
The rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted a westwards insurgent push in its tracks but were making inroads into the rebels' eastern centers.
State television said rebels had been ousted from the port and airport of Es Sider, a further oil terminus about 40 km (25 miles) up the coast west of Ras Lanuf.
OPEC member Libya was turning away tankers from ports as storage depots dried up because of supply disruptions caused by the fighting. Libya's oil trade has virtually been paralyzed as banks refuse to clear payments in dollars due to U.S. sanctions, cutting off major importers such as Italy and France.
The intensified fighting near oil installations kept crude prices hovering near recent 2.5-year highs, with Brent crude trading at $114.55 a barrel.
In the west, Gaddafi's army laid siege to try to starve out insurgents clinging to parts of the shattered city of Zawiyah, strategically significant because it is close to his powerbase in the capital Tripoli, after fierce see-saw battles this week.
But the rebels took an important step toward international legitimacy when France recognized their national council.
While oil prices have been kept high by the bombardments in the east of the Arab North African state, there was no clear sign of deliberate intent by Gaddafi to ruin oil infrastructure.
NATO and the European Union were looking into imposing a "no-fly" zone over Libya to stop the government using jets and helicopters against the outgunned rebels, who seized a string of cities east and west of Tripoli early in the three-week-old war to end Gaddafi's 41 years of iron-fisted rule.
Despite rebel appeals to take the skies away from Gaddafi's forces, no quick action was expected as NATO has made clear it needs wider, United Nations endorsement for such a move.
More than 500 km (300 miles) east of Tripoli, Gaddafi's warplanes and gunboats off the Mediterranean coast bombarded rebels around Ras Lanuf, with projectiles crashing close to a building of the Libyan Emirates Oil Refinery Company.
There was a series of air strikes, and insurgents fired anti-aircraft guns toward warplanes and rockets out to sea toward Gaddafi's naval forces, without visible effect.
Two rebel fighters said they saw Ras Lanuf's residential area, including the vicinity of its hospital, get bombed and that government forces had fired rockets from sea, air and ground. There was no apparent damage to the hospital.
Later, at least two tanks were seen bearing down on ragged rebel lines outside Ras Lanuf and opening fire.
The rebels also reported an air strike on Brega, another oil port 90 km (50 miles) east of Ras Lanuf, indicating that Gaddafi loyalists had not only halted a westwards insurgent push in its tracks but were making inroads into the rebels' eastern centers.
State television said rebels had been ousted from the port and airport of Es Sider, a further oil terminus about 40 km (25 miles) up the coast west of Ras Lanuf.
OPEC member Libya was turning away tankers from ports as storage depots dried up because of supply disruptions caused by the fighting. Libya's oil trade has virtually been paralyzed as banks refuse to clear payments in dollars due to U.S. sanctions, cutting off major importers such as Italy and France.
The intensified fighting near oil installations kept crude prices hovering near recent 2.5-year highs, with Brent crude trading at $114.55 a barrel.
