The opposition controlled vast territories Monday in Libya, including major oil fields, the Gaddafi colènel remaining deaf to the growing pressure from the international community considering all options including the military.
The 14th day of unprecedented upheaval, Muammar Qaddafi and his forces no longer control that Tripoli and its region.According to European Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger, major Libyan oil fields are now "under the control of tribes and interim forces who returned to power."
The opposition has announced the imminent resumption of oil exports from the east under its control, with the departure of a ship bound for China.
The international community sought ways to end the instability in the country and reflected such a ban airspace.
The U.S. military positions in naval and air forces around Libya, the Pentagon said, adding that its planners were studying various options.
"We're repositioning forces to have the flexibility necessary once the decisions have been taken," said Pentagon spokesman, Dave Laplane.
The chief diplomat Hillary Clinton said that no military action involving U.S. ships were expected in the country.
A spokesman for the White House held that "exile" of the leader was also "a possibility".
President Barack Obama received for his part, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the situation.
In France, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said that all options were under consideration, including that of the ban on flights over the territory of Libya which would however require the involvement of NATO and UN approval. "I know that evokes military solutions, these solutions are being evaluated by the French government," he said.
Italy has supported a ban on flights over Libya.
After the United Nations and the United States, the European Union on Monday adopted an arms embargo against Libya and a freeze on assets and visa bans against Colonel Qadhafi and 25 of his relatives.
The United States has blocked $ 30 billion of assets since the Libyan sanctions announced Friday by the White House, said a senior Treasury official in Washington.
Information obtained from witnesses, air raids on forces loyal to Qadhafi were denied by the Libyan authorities.
These days, flights suspected of being linked to arms trafficking between Belarus and Libya have been identified by the International Institute for Peace Research in Stockholm.
Facing increasing pressure from the international community, Gaddafi, in power for over 40 years, remained adamant.
"My people adore me. They died to protect me," he said in an interview with ABC television.
The West is preparing to help the opposition, which created an "independent National Council" to represent "the liberated cities.
This body will be "the face of Libya during the transition period," said his spokesman Abdelhafez Ghoqa, while the EU has indicated that in the process of "making contacts" with the Libyan authorities in transition.
"We rely on the army to liberate Tripoli," saidGhoqa.
Apart from the East, the opposition claimed control of several towns around the capital and in the west, including Nalout (230 km west of Tripoli) and Zawiyah (60 km west of the capital ).
The strategic cities of Misrata, east, and Gherien the south, also seem under control of the opposition.
In Tripoli, checkpoints were set up in and around the capital by militant pro-Gaddafi and bread and gasoline were rationed, according to one resident.
Beyond sanctions, Hillary Clinton claimed on Monday that are prepared "additional measures for the Qaddafi government accountable, to provide humanitarian assistance and support for the Libyan people in their quest for a transition to democracy."
The United States will send two teams of humanitarian border with Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, "she announced, while the International Red Cross has demanded immediate access to the west of Libya.
France is sending two aircraft to Benghazi to provide humanitarian aid and the World Food Program has announced the shipment of 80 tons of high energy biscuits.
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is conducting a preliminary investigation into the violence in Libya, prior to any investigation for crimes against humanity.
The UN chief Ban Ki-moon spoke of a balance of a thousand deaths.
Nearly 110.000 people, mostly Egyptian and Tunisian workers have already fled the country, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Oil prices fell Monday in New York, the commitment of Saudi Arabia to ensure the stability of a market worried about oil production in Libya has calmed tensions.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of light sweet crude for April delivery finished at 96.97 dollars, down 91 cents from Friday.
