Gaddafi defiant; forces recapture Libya town

Tripoli : Muammar Gaddafi?s forces managed to seize back Marsa El Brega town on Wednesday, while the Libyan leader remained nonchalant even as the international community tried to isolate him with sanctions and America flexed its military muscle repositioning its ships closer to the unstable Arab nation.

According to reports, Marsa El Brega was recaptured by Gaddafi?s men after a violent clash with the rebels.

Meanwhile, the possibility of a civil war now hangs over Libya as the country lies divided into two camps with the capital city Tripoli holding up Gaddafi?s government and revolts flaring up across the country spreading on from the East.

Gaddafi and his son Saif al-Islam, however, showed no sign of tipping over as they warned against military action and reiterated that they would not step down.

The UN has urged for a mass evacuation of the north-African nation as it said some 40,000 people are still waiting to cross the border into Tunisia.

The UN estimates around 1,000 people have died and about 150,000 people have already fled into the neighbouring states of Tunisia and Egypt since the upheaval began.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw her weight in favour of the rebels as she said Gaddafi must step down.

“We have joined the Libyan people in demanding that Gaddafi must go — now, without further violence or delay — and we are working to translate the world’s outrage into action and results,” Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

U.S. officials say all options are being evaluated as it mulls cutting off all diplomatic ties with Libya, even as it positioned two warships closer to the country to ?provide us a capability for both emergency evacuations and also for humanitarian relief.?

In a first-of-its-kind rebuke, the United Nations General Assembly reached a consensus to oust Libya from the 47-member Human Rights Council.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the decision and called for looking into human rights violations in the country that is undergoing the bloodiest Arab revolt, that broke out in mid-February, in recent times.