Qaddafi Forces Still on Offensive

Al Jazeera reports:

Libya has witnessed more intense fighting as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the country's embattled but defiant leader, continue to attack rebel positions across the North African state.

Undaunted by air strikes launched by coalition warplanes aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone, pro-Gaddafi forces  have pressed ahead with their assaults on the towns of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan in the past 24 hours.

Pro-democracy fighters ranged against him are finding the going tough. Mostly outgunned and with little command structure, they have been left to run sporadic raids against Gaddafi's troops, before falling back to their original lines.

But despite the little headway made by them, a rebel commander described the men as "real heroes".

"They are brave to the point of being suicidal," Mohamed Hariri told Al Jazeera.

Amid the continued fighting, Gaddafi insisted he was "ready for battle, be it long or short".

"We will win this battle," he said in an address during a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.

He also railed against the coalition forces, saying: "This assault ... is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history."

The overnight fighting left 14 people dead and 23 injured in Misurata, pro-democracy fighters told Al Jazeera's James Bays. He said they told him that "Gaddafi's forces have now taken over hospital in the town, and positioned snipers on the roof and tanks outside".

"The rebels are calling for a hospital ship to be sent in, as they still control the port, and say that would save many lives, as they now have nowhere to take their injured.

"More civilian deaths have been reported in Ajdabiya and elsewhere, and they calling on international powers to interpret the UN resolution more widely to support them with further attacks against Gaddafi's troops."

Meanwhile, the Libyan transitional council has taken the step of calling themselves an "interim government". They had been wary of using the words before, seemingly cautious of signifying a split in the country.

"But they remain committed to one Libya," our correspondent says. "They want the people of Libya to remain united, just without Gaddafi."

Heading up the new government as an interim prime minister is Mahmoud Jibril, who had been working as a representative to foreign powers. He is best known on the international stage for meeting France's Nicolas Sarkozy - which led to France diplomatically recognising the transitional council as the sole representative of the Libyan people.

When asked why a government had now been declared, a spokesman told Al Jazeera: "The provisional national council is a legislative body, but we need an executive body to take control and provide an administration."

"Our position has been very clear from the beginning, that Libya is one unit - our capital is Tripoli and will forever be Tripoli ... We are striving to liberate the western parts of the country, and Tripoli, and keep the country united. We would like to emphasise this over and over again."

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