Muammar Gadaffi’s troops are reported to have retaken a key town in eastern Libya as they continue their push into rebel strongholds.
Brega, the site of a major oil terminal between Ras Lanuf, which has already been lost by rebels, and Benghazi, came under heavy shelling and air strikes.
Reports suggested rebel fighters had been forced to retreat and then flee the town.
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An army official told Libyan state television that “Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs.”
Government forces are now thought to be heading towards Ajdabiyah, 93 miles south of Benghazi - the base for the uprising against Gadaffi.
Rebel fighter Masoud Bwisir, who is manning one of the gates to the town, said: “He’s out of Brega. He’s on the way, maybe in half an hour his rockets will reach us here.”
The loss of Brega would be the latest in a series of setbacks for opposition forces, which just a week ago were thought to have held the entire eastern half of the country and were themselves heading towards the capital Tripoli.
But Gadaffi’s forces now appear to have reversed many of those early gains, with the help of superior firepower from the air and tanks on land.
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“There’s no uprising anymore,” said rebel Nabeel Tijouri, whose heavy machine gun had been destroyed in the fighting. “The other day we were in Ras Lanuf, then Brega, the day after tomorrow they will be in Benghazi.”
Libyan state television has also reported that all the country’s oil ports were “secure” and steadily returning to work after an end to “acts of sabotage”.
Yesterday the Arab League, which represents 22 Arab countries, backed plans for a no-fly zone over Libya, which is also supported by Britain and France, to prevent warplanes being used against rebel fighters.
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The Arab League voted in favour of asking the UN to impose such a restriction, but neither the EU nor Nato has given their backing to the proposal. The US has yet to put its full weight behind the idea, while Russia has expressed serious concerns.
New York- based Human Rights Watch has claimed Libyan security forces have launched “arbitrary arrests and forced disappearances” in Tripoli to stamp out protests against Gaddafi’s rule.
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The human rights group claims it has compiled evidence from residents in the capital suggesting scores of people had been detained for organising or taking part in anti-government protests or if they were suspected of speaking to foreign media.
Sarah Leah Whitson, the Human Rights Watch Middle East and North Africa director, said: “Gaddafi and his security forces are brutally suppressing all opposition in Tripoli, including peaceful protests, with lethal force, arbitrary arrests, and forced disappearances.
“Given Libya’s record of torture and political killings, we worry deeply about the fate of those taken away.
“The arrests and disappearances in Tripoli have cowed many who were peacefully protesting the government.”
Gadaffi has claimed the revolt, which followed similar uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, was conducted by a small group of al-Qaeda operatives backed by foreign forces.
Yesterday Libyan-born Abu Yahia al-Libi, al-Qaeda’s Afghanistan commander, posted a video message on jihadist websites calling for Gadaffi’s regime to be brought down and Islamic rule to be established in Libya.
In the 31-minute speech, entitled "To Our People in Libya" produced by As-Sahab, the media wing of Al Qaeda, he gave his backing to the rebellion and said Gaddafi should be punished for his links to the West.
With reference to Egypt, Al-Libi, also known as Abulbakar Mohammed Hassan, said ousting Western-backed Arab regimes was a step to reach the goal of every Muslim, which was to establish Sharia law. He rose to prominence in al-Qaeda after escaping from the American military prison at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in 2005.
The crisis in Libya is set to feature highly, along with the fallout from the Japanese tsunami, when the G8 foreign ministers meet in Paris this week.