Gaddafi troops force rebels back

An intense offensive by Muammar Gaddafi's forces in the last few hours has seen the Libyan rebels driven back east, at the same time as a major conference in London discussed options for the Libya crisis.

Pro-government forces have effectively re-captured the bulk of the ground the rebels had taken in recent days, showing yet again that the rebel groups are lacking in discipline and organisation, when the heat is applied.

Misrata, closer to Tripoli, has also come under heavy attack and blasts have been reported in the capital.

Anti-Gaddafi forces had made rapid progress westwards from their stronghold in Benghazi in recent days - greatly aided by international air strikes - seizing a number of coastal communities and important oil installations, including Ras Lanuf, Brega, Uqayla and Bin Jawad.

Government forces have now re-taken most of those towns.

This all may set the stage for an escalation in the fighting, already the most violent yet seen in more than two months of popular uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa. Libya's opposition estimates that as many as 12,000 people have died.

In Tripoli, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim said at a news conference that the Gaddafi government was ready to accept international ceasefire monitors and to begin a national dialogue on political change - an offer rebels have rejected in the past.

Mr Kaim said Libya accepted UN Security Council resolution 1973, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, an end to attacks on civilians and a political solution that meets the "legitimate demands of the Libyan people"

Meanwhile, London has been hosting a key summit on the future of Libya.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters the US is not ruling out a political solution in Libya that would have leader Muammar Gaddafi leaving the country.

She says there is no timeline and it appears Gaddafi has made no decisions yet about his future.

Clinton told reporters in London that the international community has not decided whether to arm the rebels, but they talked about providing non-lethal assistance including funds to keep the opposition forces going.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said participants at the London conference had unanimously agreed that Gaddafi should exit Libya.

Although the final statement from the talks made no mention of exile for the Libyan leader, Frattini told AFP: "A consensus has been reached, participants at the meeting unanimously said that Gaddafi must leave the country.

"Beyond that, it depends on the country which may offer to welcome Gaddafi. There is as yet no formal proposal, no country has formulated such a plan, even the African countries which may be ready to make one."

Frattini said that exile did not mean immunity, saying: "We cannot, we do not want to say that because immunity would be in violation of the Rome Statute" which established the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Asked how the Libyan situation would be resolved, he said: "The precondition is that he (Gaddafi) leaves the country."

- AGENCIES