West strikes Libya forces, seeks "diplomatic" way out

President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday said France and Britain were readying a "political and diplomatic" solution on Libya, as western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi's armour in eastern Libya.

Referring to talks in London next Tuesday, Sarkozy said "there will certainly be a Franco-British initiative to clearly show the solution is not only military but also political and diplomatic."

The London meeting of a so-called contact group on Libya to discuss coalition military action in Libya is to bring together Britain, France, the United States and all other coalition partners plus the African Union, the Arab League, and "all interested European nations."

Western warplanes, meanwhile, flew over Ajdabiyah and protesters said they had bombed Gaddafi's forces holding the strategic eastern town.

A Reuters correspondent on the road a few kilometers east of Ajdabiyah heard three explosions and saw large black plumes of smoke rise over its eastern entrance. Gaddafi's forces had been firing shells to hold off an advance by opposition forces.

The protesters had brought trucks with multiple rocket launchers and pick-ups with heavy machine guns after British warplanes struck government military vehicles in Ajdabiyah overnight.

Ajdabiya

Winning back Ajdabiyah would be the biggest victory for the eastern revolutionaries since their initial push westwards went into reverse two weeks ago and the better equipped Gaddafi forces drove them back towards the rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

Earlier on Friday, residents began leaving the west Libyan city of Misrata escaping random shooting by forces loyal to Gaddafi who have taken positions in residential areas to avoid air strikes by coalition forces, a witness from the city told Al Arabiya TV.

In Tripoli, residents reported another air raid just before dawn, hearing the roar of a warplane, followed by a distant explosion and bursts of anti-aircraft gunfire.

Allied operations to enforce a no fly zone to stop a violent crackdown against a popular uprising won more Arab support when the United Arab Emirates said it would take part, but France cautioned the conflict would not be quick.

"I doubt that it will be days," Admiral Edouard Guillaud told France Info radio. "I think it will be weeks. I hope it will not take months."

Guillaud said a French plane destroyed an artillery battery belonging to Gaddafi's forces near the eastern frontline town of Ajdabiyah, 150 km (90 miles) south of Benghazi. Ajdabiyah is strategically important for both sides as it commands the coastal highway to the west.

A NATO official said Planning for no-fly operation over Libya assumes a mission lasting 90 days, but this could be extended or shortened as required.

"Much of the planning assumptions were based on a three-month planning window, but should the (NATO commander) feel it's necessary to extend it, then he would simply have to say... I am anticipating it may be more or less," the official said.

NATO mission

NATO officials said the mission, approved on Thursday, was expected to involved dozens of aircraft from the 28-nation military alliance.

NATO has said it is actively considering taking a broader role on the United Nations-mandated mission in Libya as coalition militaries take aim at the flow of arms and mercenaries to forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

We should expect a decision to take over all operations in the next few days, Oana Lungescu, the spokeswoman for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, told reporters today at a briefing in Brussels.

Separately, the United States urged the Libyan military to stop obeying the orders of Gaddafi and said there would be no let-up in the allied assault as Gaddafi forces clearly were not living up to declared ceasefires and continued to attack towns such as Misrata and Zintan.

"Our message is simple: stop fighting, stop killing your own people, stop obeying the orders of Colonel Gaddafi," Vice Admiral William Gortney told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

His plea came the day after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he hoped the air strikes would fuel a possible mutiny inside Gaddafi's regime and bolster the ranks of opposition forces.

"Let me be clear. When and where regime forces threaten the lives of their citizens, they will be attacked. And when and where regime forces attempt to break the embargo, they will be stopped," Gortney said.