Rebels lose ground in Libya
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
RAS LANUF (Libya), March 7(Agencies): Libyan rebels ceded ground to Moamer Gaddafi's advancing forces Monday as the United States came under increasing pressure to arm the opposition and the UN appointed a humanitarian envoy.
World oil prices rose again, while NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said attacks on civilians by Gaddafi's troops could amount to crimes against humanity.
US crude oil prices have hit a new two-and-a-half year high amid fears Libya could be facing a full-blown civil war.
US light crude rose by $1.95 to $106.75 a barrel, the highest since September 2008, before falling back sharply.
Brent crude gained $2.43 to $118.4, close to recent highs, before it also slipped back.
The latest price spike follows reported air strikes near the oil terminal at Ras Lanuf, which finds itself on the front line of military conflict.
The rebels began pulling back from the key oil port of Ras Lanuf as fighter jets targeted defences on the edge of town, throwing up palls of smoke amid fears that government forces were gearing for an attack.
After the bloodiest fighting of the three-week-old conflict Sunday, the United Nations demanded urgent access to scores of "injured and dying" in the western city of Misrata.