Efforts appear to be under way to offer Muammar Gaddafi a way of escape from Libya, with Italy saying it is trying to organise an African haven.
Europe’s prospects of receiving Libyan oil shipments would be weeks away even if rebels were quickly removed from the international sanctions list.
As Libya’s rebel fighters push west, opposition representatives in Benghazi are trying to form a government-in-waiting.
Libya’s ramshackle rebel army has pushed west to retake a series of towns from the forces of Muammar Gaddafi who are being pounded by air strikes.
US intelligence reports suggest that Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have placed the bodies of people they have killed at the sites of coalition air strikes.
Libyan rebels backed by allied air strikes recaptured the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiyah on Saturday, pushing out Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
Western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi’s tanks and artillery in eastern Libya to try to break a battlefield stalemate.
Western warplanes bombed Muammar Gaddafi’s armour in eastern Libya on Friday to try to break a battlefield stalemate and help rebels take Ajdabiyah.
The humanitarian reasons for acting are clear, the practicalities are clear as mud.
East of the centre of Tripoli, crowds of Libyans are gathering to see first-hand evidence of the impact of the "colonialist crusader aggression".
The Libyan rebels watched in awe, some with a creeping admiration for their foe, as the narrow plumes of thick black smoke rose one after the other.
Coalition forces launched a seventh day of air strikes against the regime of Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi on Friday.
Support of the United Nations resolution was an attempt to avoid further criticism, diplomats say.
Nato said it would enforce a Libya no-fly zone but stopped short of taking full command of UN-backed military operations.
Western warplanes hit Libya for a fifth night on Thursday, but have so far failed to stop Muammar Gaddafi’s tanks shelling rebel-held towns.
Western warplanes silenced Muammar Gaddafi’s artillery and tanks besieging the rebel-held town of Misrata on Wednesday.
A defiant Muammar Gaddafi said Libya is "ready for battle" as Western leaders on Wednesday mulled their next steps.
Western powers pounding Libya’s defences will wind up in the dustbin of history, said leader Muammar Gaddafi as his troops held back rebel advances.
Fighting raged between forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and insurgents on Tuesday despite a UN-mandated no-fly zone.
Western forces lost their first warplane as they pounded strongholds of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi into a fourth day on Tuesday.
Anti-aircraft fire rang out across Tripoli for a third night on Monday, but air attacks on Libya are likely to slow.
Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli compound was rocked by blasts on Monday and his southern strongholds and a navy base were bombed.
Jacob Zuma on Monday warned against foreign military intervention in Libya, saying UN members may not go beyond the terms of a March 17 resolution.
A push by several allies for the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation to take over operations in Libya ran into resistance from France on Monday.
US and allied forces have effectively established a no-fly zone over Libya and halted an offensive by Muammar Gaddafi against rebels in Benghazi.
Muammar Gaddafi’s tanks and other army vehicles smouldered on a strategic road in east Libya on Sunday after Western powers launched air strikes.
Western forces hit targets along the Libyan coast on Saturday, using strikes from air and sea to force Muammar Gaddafi’s troops to cease fire.
Residents of the rebel-held Libyan city of Misrata said government shells and snipers killed nine people on Saturday.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s forces pushed into the rebel-held city of Benghazi on Saturday, defying world demands for an immediate ceasefire.
US, European, Arab and African leaders gather in Paris on Saturday for a summit on Libya with the threat of military strikes growing more intense.
The United States accused Muammar Gaddafi of defying international demands for an immediate ceasefire.
Rebel leaders urge a strike against Gaddafi’s compound as his forces close in on Benghazi.