Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi said on Tuesday they will soon move against the rebel bastion of Benghazi in the east, state television quoted a statement from the army as saying.

Addressing residents of the country's second city, the statement said: "The armed forces are arriving to ensure your security, undo the injustice done to you, protect you, restore calm and bring life back to normal."

"This is a humanitarian operation being undertaken in your interests, and is not aimed at taking revenge against anyone," it added.

Benghazi, some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) east of the capital Tripoli, has been the stronghold of the rebellion against Kadhafi that erupted a month ago.

earlier related report

West can't agree on no-fly zone over Libya
Paris (UPI) Mar 15, 2011 –

France and Britain failed to convince their Western allies to establish a no-fly zone over Libya amid reports that forces loyal to leader Moammar Gadhafi are winning ground in the North African country.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Tuesday in Paris admitted he hadn't managed to convince all Group of Eight members at a Monday dinner.

Germany and Russia were against imposing a no-fly zone over Libya, a move called for by France and Britain top protect rebels and civilians there.

British Foreign Minister William Hague said there was "common appetite" to increase pressure on the Libyan regime, the BBC reports. There have been reports that some Western powers are preparing a U.N. Security Council resolution on Libya that could contain proposals for tighter sanctions and a no-fly zone.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on the sidelines of the Paris meeting, spoke with Mahmoud Jebril, a Libyan rebel leader, over U.S. assistance for the democratic movement in Libya.

Washington has been reluctant to call for a no-fly zone, given its missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The BBC quoted German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle as saying that Berlin didn't want to be "sucked into a war in North Africa."

This comes despite the Arab League's general backing for a no-fly zone, which would mean that Libyan planes would have to remain grounded or face being shot down by Western planes.

Russia warned, however, that the Arab League hadn't formalized that support and said more talks were needed.

For the rebels, more talks may very well mean defeat.

While the world is watching the Japanese nuclear crisis unfold, Gadhafi is launching ever-stronger military offensives against rebel positions in the west and east of the country, with reports of hundreds of casualties each day. The ultimate target is the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in the east.

Observers have warned that the rebels eventually won't be able to resist the stronger firepower of the Gadhafi forces, who have launched fighter jet and artillery attacks.

Juppe has since called for reinforcing sanctions, a maritime embargo and the controversial no-fly zone.

NATO, already stretched with its mission in Afghanistan, isn't exactly excited of fighting on another front.

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters that NATO shouldn't intervene in Libya.

"Military missions have to though through to the end," he said on the sidelines of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels. "We mustn't slip into something of which we aren't fully convinced and that can't be realized."

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