Gadhafi makes gains in Libya as U.S., allies continue talks

? Moammar Gadhafi’s forces hammered rebels with tanks and rockets, turning their rapid advance into a panicked retreat in an hourslong battle Tuesday. The fighting underscored the dilemma facing the U.S. and its allies in Libya: Rebels may be unable to oust Gadhafi militarily unless already contentious international airstrikes go even further in taking out his forces.

Opposition fighters pleaded for strikes as they fled the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, where artillery shells crashed thunderously, raising plumes of smoke. No such strikes were launched during the fighting, and some rebels shouted, “Sarkozy, where are you?” — a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of using air power against Gadhafi.

Reports overnight indicated that the rebels were in flight from Brega and Ras Lanouf.

World leaders meeting in London agreed that Gadhafi should step down but have yet to decide what additional pressure to put on him.

“Gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to lead, so we believe he must go. We’re working with the international community to try to achieve that outcome,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters after the talks concluded.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said it “has to be made very clear to Gadhafi: His time is over.” But Germany and other countries have expressed reservations about the current military intervention in Libya, let alone expanding it.

France has struck a more forceful tone. Defense Minister Gerard Longuet told France-Inter radio that Paris and London believe that the campaign “must obtain more” than the end of shooting at civilians.

The rout of the rebels Tuesday illustrated how much they rely on international air power. Only a day earlier, they had been storming westward in hopes of taking Sirte, Gadhafi’s hometown and a bastion of his support in central Libya. They reached within 60 miles of the city before they were hit by the onslaught from Gadhafi’s forces, driving them back east to Bin Jawwad under barrages of rocket and tank fire.

Many of the ragtag, untrained volunteers who make up the bulk of the rebel forces fled in a panicked scramble. However, some of them backed by special forces soldiers from military units that joined the rebellion took a stand in Bin Jawwad, bringing up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own and returning fire.

The two sides traded salvos for hours, drilling Bin Jawwad’s buildings with shrapnel and bullet holes. The steady drum of heavy machine gun fire and the pop of small arms could be heard above the din as people less than a mile outside the village scaled mounds of dirt to watch the fighting.

But by the afternoon, rebels fled further east, their cars and trucks filling both lanes of the desert highway as they retreated to and even beyond the oil port of Ras Lanouf, roughly 25 miles away. Some loyalist forces had reached the outskirts of Ras Lanouf, where the thud of heavy weapons was heard and black smoke rose from buildings.

It was the second time in weeks that rebel forces have been driven back from an attempted assault on Sirte. The last time, early in the month, it nearly meant the end of their movement: They retreated hundreds of miles west and Gadhafi forces nearly stormed their capital, Benghazi, until the U.S. and European strikes began 10 days ago, driving Gadhafi’s forces back from bloody sieges.