Cairo/Washington: Embattled Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was pushed further to the brink as opposition forces on Monday stormed close to the capital Tripoli and the international community stepped up pressure on him to leave the country to bring an end to the fighting that has claimed at least 1,000 lives.
Unrest continued in and around the capital, with three key areas close to the east of Tripoli falling to opposition forces advancing from Az-Zawiyah, just 50 kms west of the capital, Al-Jazeera channel reported.
As the anti-Gaddafi forces moved close to Tripoli for a final showdown with militia still loyal to Gaddafi, the US and its European allies readied plans for a possible imposition of a 'no-fly zone' over the embattled country.
"Gaddafi was reported to be holed up in the heavily fortified Bab al-Aziziya area of the capital with his mercenaries militia men ringing him," the channel said.
Quoting its correspondent moving with the opposition forces, the channel said heavily armed Gaddafi's forces were manning check-posts between Az-Zawiyah and Tripoli.
It said there were also reports of Gaddafi loyalists demonstrating in small towns on the periphery of the capital. It claimed that Gaddafi loyalists were also venturing to launch probing attacks outside the capital and said that at the moment "the capital was still in his control".
As Gaddafi and opposition forces seemed to be locking into a final battle, US and its European allies appeared to be stiffening their attitude to fast paced developments in Libya.
In a tough message, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Gaddafi to leave the country and end his regime as soon as possible.
"We think he must go as soon as possible without further bloodshed and violence," Clinton told reporters as she headed towards Geneva to attend the UN Human Rights Council meeting today.
"We want him to leave and we want him to end his regime and call off the mercenaries and those troops that remain loyal to him. How he manages that is obviously up to him and to his family," Clinton said.
Obama administration officials were in talks with European and other allied governments for a possible imposition of 'no-fly zone' over Libya to prevent further killings of civilians by troops loyal to Gaddafi, New York Times reported.
US officials are also discussing whether the American military could move to disrupt communications to prevent Col Gaddafi from broadcasting in Libya.
British Prime Minister David Cameron asked Gaddafi that it was "time to go". "There is no future for Libya that includes him," Cameron added.
Britain, which has already revoked Gaddafi's diplomatic immunity today, has frozen assets worth about 20 billion pounds that the Libyan leader and his family held in the country.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Libya had "failed shamefully in its responsibilities to its people".
The BBC quoted Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov as saying that the use of military force against the civilian population was "unacceptable".
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