EU Asks Qaddafi to Step Down
BBC reports:
Leaders of the EU's 27 member states have said Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi must surrender power.
The EU is holding an emergency summit in Brussels in the hope of finding a common approach to the political and humanitarian crisis.
France has urged other states to follow it in recognising the rebel's interim council, but has so far failed to gain wider support.
The summit comes as forces loyal to Col Gaddafi continue to make gains.
There have been more airstrikes on the oil port of Ras Lanuf, with reports of a refinery being hit as well as a residential area. Rebels had earlier reported government forces entering the city by boat and in tanks.
The town has been held by anti-Gaddafi forces for several days and rebels still reportedly control the inner city and residential areas.
Western journalists in the city of Zawiya, west of Tripoli, have confirmed the Gaddafi regime's claims that the city has fallen after days of bombardment. A rebel fighter in Zawiya told Reuters they were all but cut off from the rest of the world.
Reuters also reported strikes at the nearby town of Uqaylah and another bombing further east near Brega.
As he arrived at the summit, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters: "Regarding Libya, the problem has a name: Gaddafi. He has to go."
Mr Barroso said the EU would "explore all the possibilities for that to be achieved in full respect of international law and also working in close co-operation with our allies and partners in the region".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it "must be totally clear that somebody who wages war against his own people is no partner for talks with the European Union. Therefore we demand Gaddafi's immediate resignation".
Mrs Merkel said the EU must ensure it sends a united signal, as division would "only play into Gaddafi's hands".
UK Prime Minister David Cameron also said it was important to show unity.
But divisions were certainly evident over whether to follow France in recognising the authority of the Libyan National Council, the interim authority set up by rebels in Benghazi.
Dutch Premier Mark Rutte described it as a "crazy move" which contradicted normal diplomatic practice.
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