The opposition already control major centers in the east, including the regional capital Benghazi, and reports that the towns of Misrata and Zuara in the west have also fallen brought the tide of rebellion ever closer to Gaddafi's power base.

The town of Az-Zawiyah, just 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, may also have fallen. Al Jazeera television broadcast pictures on Thursday of what it said was a burning police station there.

The brief, grainy pictures were followed by footage of around 20 bodies, most with their hands tied behind their backs. The satellite station said the men had been shot for refusing to shoot protesters.

Al Arabiya television said Gaddafi would address residents of the town shortly.

The uprising has virtually wiped out Libyan oil exports, said the head of Italy's ENI, Libya's biggest foreign oil operator. The unrest has driven world oil prices up to around $117 a barrel, stoking concern about the economic recovery.

Anti-government militias are in control of Zuara, about 120 km (75 miles) west of Tripoli, fleeing Egyptian construction workers who crossed into Tunisia told Reuters on Thursday.

There was no sign of police or military and the town was controlled by "popular committees" armed with automatic weapons.

"The people are in control. Police stations have been burned and we didn't see any police or army in the past few days," Egyptian laborer Ahmed Osman said after leaving the town and crossing the border into Tunisia.

Separately, lawyers and judges said they had the coastal city of Misrata, 125 miles east of Tripoli, in their grip, according to an Internet statement.

With help from "honest" military officers, they had removed agents of the "oppressive regime" in Misrata, said the statement, which could not immediately be verified.

World leaders condemned Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on the week-long revolt that has split Libya, but did little to halt the bloodshed from the latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.

U.S. President Barack Obama made his first public comments, condemning as "outrageous" and "unacceptable" attacks on protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days.

DEFIANCE

Washington and Brussels spoke of possible sanctions against a man whose 41 years in power have been marked by idiosyncratic defiance of the West, yet there seemed little cohesion and urgency in the global response to the Libyan crisis.

Muammar Gaddafi was struggling to hold on to power in Libya on Thursday as rebels extended their territory by seizing important towns close to the capital.

The opposition already control major centers in the east, including the regional capital Benghazi, and reports that the towns of Misrata and Zuara in the west have also fallen brought the tide of rebellion ever closer to Gaddafi's power base.

The town of Az-Zawiyah, just 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, may also have fallen. Al Jazeera television broadcast pictures on Thursday of what it said was a burning police station there.

The brief, grainy pictures were followed by footage of around 20 bodies, most with their hands tied behind their backs. The satellite station said the men had been shot for refusing to shoot protesters.

Al Arabiya television said Gaddafi would address residents of the town shortly.

The uprising has virtually wiped out Libyan oil exports, said the head of Italy's ENI, Libya's biggest foreign oil operator. The unrest has driven world oil prices up to around $117 a barrel, stoking concern about the economic recovery.

Anti-government militias are in control of Zuara, about 120 km (75 miles) west of Tripoli, fleeing Egyptian construction workers who crossed into Tunisia told Reuters on Thursday.

There was no sign of police or military and the town was controlled by "popular committees" armed with automatic weapons.

"The people are in control. Police stations have been burned and we didn't see any police or army in the past few days," Egyptian laborer Ahmed Osman said after leaving the town and crossing the border into Tunisia.

Separately, lawyers and judges said they had the coastal city of Misrata, 125 miles east of Tripoli, in their grip, according to an Internet statement.

With help from "honest" military officers, they had removed agents of the "oppressive regime" in Misrata, said the statement, which could not immediately be verified.

World leaders condemned Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on the week-long revolt that has split Libya, but did little to halt the bloodshed from the latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.

U.S. President Barack Obama made his first public comments, condemning as "outrageous" and "unacceptable" attacks on protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days.

DEFIANCE

Washington and Brussels spoke of possible sanctions against a man whose 41 years in power have been marked by idiosyncratic defiance of the West, yet there seemed little cohesion and urgency in the global response to the Libyan crisis.

BENGHAZI REJOICES

Oil wealth has made Libya -- a thinly populated country stretching from the Mediterranean deep into the Sahara -- an important investor in Western economies and won Gaddafi potential allies in forums like the United Nations.

Differences among world powers over how to proceed, some driven by concern not to jeopardize the safety of foreigners caught up in the trouble, appear to limit prospects for immediate international action.

Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya with a mixture of populism and tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969, has promised to "cleanse Libya house by house" to crush the revolt.

In Benghazi, cradle of the uprising and home to tribes long hostile to Gaddafi, thousands filled the streets, lighting fireworks and waving the red, black and green flag of the king the young Colonel Gaddafi overthrew in 1969.

A medical official said some 320 had died in Benghazi alone since protests against oppression and poverty began last week.