Pro-Gaddafi forces preparing attack, residents say

PanARMENIAN.Net - Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi were massed in the west of the country on March 1, residents said, and the United States said it was moving warships and air forces closer to Libya.

Residents feared pro-Gaddafi forces were preparing an attack to regain control of Nalut, about 60 km (38 miles) from the Tunisian border in western Libya, from protesters seeking an end to Gaddafi's rule.

The United States and other foreign governments discussed military options on Monday for dealing with Libya as Gaddafi scoffed at the threat to his government from a popular uprising.

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said Gaddafi was "disconnected from reality," was "slaughtering his own people" and was unfit to lead.

She said Washington was in talks with its NATO partners and other allies about military options. The United States also said about $30 billion in assets in the United States had been blocked from access by Gaddafi and his family.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said his government would work to prepare for a "no-fly" zone in Libya to protect the people from attacks by Gaddafi's forces, Reuters reported.

Gaddafi rejected calls for him to step down and dismissed the strength of the uprising against his 41-year rule that has ended his control over eastern Libya and is closing in on the capital Tripoli. "All my people love me. They would die to protect me," he told the U.S. ABC network and the BBC on Feb 28.

He denied using his air force to attack protesters but said planes had bombed military sites and ammunition depots. He also denied there had been demonstrations and said young people were given drugs by al Qaeda and therefore took to the streets. Libyan forces had orders not to fire back at them, he said.