Libya: NATO Strikes At Eight Gaddafi Warships

“We have significantly degraded Gaddafi’s war machine and now we see the results – the opposition has gained ground,” he said.

The rebels’ National Transitional Council, based in Benghazi, has appealed for international help for towns in the Nafousa mountains, south west of Tripoli.

Ahmed Bemoussa, a council member who visited the region, said people there were under constant bombardment from Col Gaddafi’s forces and had run out of water.

Mr Bemoussa said Nato strikes in the region appeared to be doing little to halt the attacks, and appealed for the establishment of an internationally monitored corridor to bring in aid.

Restrictions on reporting in Libya mean such accounts are hard to verify.

But the BBC’s David Loyn in Benghazi says that if Mr Bemoussa is to be believed, conditions in the mountain region have become are as bad as during the worst days of fighting in the coastal town of Misrata last month.

On Thursday, US President Barack Obama said “time is working against Gaddafi” and that he does not have control over his country.

In a major speech to the State Department. Mr Obama said the Libyan opposition has organised a “legitimate and credible interim council”.

“When Gaddafi inevitably leaves or is forced from power, decades of provocation will come to an end, and the transition to a democratic Libya can proceed.”

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said Mr Obama’s comments were “delusional”.

“He believes the lies that his own government and media spread around the world. It’s not Obama who decides whether Muammar Gaddafi leaves Libya or not. It’s the Libyan people.”