Heavy gunfire broke out in Tripoli March 6, as rebels dismissed claims on Libyan state TV that forces loyal to Moammar Qaddafi have recaptured a string of key towns, including Misrata, Tobruk and oil hub Ras Lanuf. It is clearer that Sirte—Qaddafi's hometown on the central coast—and Sebha in the south remain in government hands. A militia led by the dictator's son Khamis Qaddafi is said to have shelled the rebel-held city of Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli, before moving in with more than 20 tanks. Witnesses in Zawiyah said at least 30 people, ­including women and children, were killed as tanks blasted houses, cars and ­ambulances trying to reach the wounded, and troops dragged people from their homes.

Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds of protesters demanding the ouster of Libyan strongman Moammar Qaddafi in Tripoli's eastern Tajoura neighbourhood after Friday prayers March 4. In another section of the capital, near the landmark Green Square, a group of anti-regime protesters came to blows with loyalists. (Middle East Online, March 4) Fierce armed clashes between regime loyalists and rebels left "many dead and wounded" at an oil compound in Raslanuf, a doctor at a hospital in rebel-held eastern Libya said. (Middle East Online, March 4)

An Israeli company is recruiting mercenaries to support Moammar Qaddafi's efforts to put down the uprising against his regime, an Israeli news site reported March 1. Citing Egyptian sources, the Hebrew-language news site Inyan Merkazi said the company is run by retired Israeli army commanders. The report said the head of the company recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and intelligence chief Aviv Cokhavi. It added that the officials all approved the company's recruitment of mercenaries to help Qaddafi. It said Israeli officials approved the recruitment out of fears that if toppled, Qaddafi would be replaced by an "extremist Islamic regime."

President Hugo Chávez has spoken to Moammar Qaddafi about creating a bloc of friendly nations—tentatively dubbed the Committee of Peace—to mediate a resolution to Libya's crisis, Venezuela's Information Minister Andres Izarra said through Twitter March 2. "We can confirm Libya's interest in accepting this proposal, as well as the Arab League's," Izarra said. "Today Venezuela presses ahead with its agenda in the Arab world and the world at large to seek peace in Libya."

Libyan rebel forces launched a successful offensive to drive Moammar Qaddafi's troops from the key eastern oil port of Brega on March 2. "Brega is liberated. We have forced them to 30 kilometers west," said rebel fighter Khalid al-Aqoly. At dawn, Qaddafi's forces, backed by tanks and heavy weaponry, had seized the airport and oil terminal in Brega, the westernmost town held by the comparatively poorly armed opposition. As the battle for Brega raged in a day of fierce fighting, Qaddafi went on television to deny there is any opposition to his 41-year rule. (Middle East Online, March 2)

With much of his army defecting to the opposition that now holds Libya's east, Moammar Qaddafi is notoriously making use of mercenaries from countries to the south in Africa. Recent reports indicate that these prominently include Tuareg fighters from Mali and Niger who flocked to Libya in the 1970s and '80s, recruited into an "Islamic Legion" modeled on the French Foreign Legion. A Tuareg leader in Mali, Ibrahim Ag Mohamed Assaleh, said some 16,000 Tuaregs remain in the Libyan security forces. "We've been getting updates from some of them by phone," Assaleh said by telephone. "They say their orders are to protect Qaddafi and they will defend him to the end." (CP, March 1)

The UN Security Council on Feb. 27 unanimously ordered a travel ban and asset freeze on Moammar Qaddafi's regime, and ordered an investigation into possible crimes against humanity in Libya. The council made a new demand for an immediate end to the violence, which it said had been incited "from the highest level" of Libyan leaders. The travel ban and asset freeze in Resolution 1970 targets the 68-year-old Libyan leader, four of his sons, and top defense and intelligence officials. (Middle East Online, Feb. 27)

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez expressed his support for embattled Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi in a Twitter post Feb. 25: "Long live Libya and its independence! Qaddafi is facing a civil war!" The Tweet was immediately protested by Venezuela's opposition, which is also demanding that Qaddafi return a replica of independence hero Simón Bolívar's sword that Chávez decorated him with when he hosted the Libyan in 2009.