KHOMS, Libya – Britain's prime minister said Wednesday that time is running out for Moammar Gadhafi's forces, as the Libyan government tried to deny reports that rebels were making fresh gains toward the capital.
Further rebel successes in the four-month-old uprising will depend heavily on NATO airpower, which has grounded Gadhafi's air forces and weakened his other military capabilities.
But some ranking NATO officers suggested this week the mission was straining the alliance's resources.
"Time is on our side," British Prime Minister David Cameron told lawmakers Wednesday. "We have got NATO, we've got the United Nations, we've got the Arab League, we have right on our side. The pressure is building militarily, diplomatically, politically, and time is running out for Gadhafi."
The Libyan government, meanwhile, took foreign journalists on Wednesday to the town of Khoms on the Mediterranean coast located about 65 miles (100 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli.
The trip for journalists based in the capital, who are under constant supervision by government minders, was meant to dispel recent reports about resurgent rebels advancing toward Tripoli.
Part of the motivation was also no doubt to put down rumors that Gadhafi had moved weapons near the Roman ruins of Leptis Magna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so that NATO would be reluctant to bomb them.
While there were no indications of arms on the vast, overgrown archaeological site, there were plenty of signs of duress in this town less than 50 miles from a rebel front line: More than 600 cars lined up for fuel in one massive line on the way to the city. An ATM sat lifeless and covered in dust in a downtown shopping center.
Mansour Mahmoud Toumi, 22, a university student hanging out at the archaeological site, said there have been no tourists since January.
"It's difficult," he said, before quickly adding: "Gadhafi is good man."
What started as a peaceful uprising against Gadhafi has become a civil war, with poorly equipped and trained rebel fighters taking control of the eastern third of Libya and pockets of the west.
But the fighting had reached a stalemate until last week when NATO began the heaviest bombardment of Gadhafi forces since the alliance took control of the skies over Libya under a U.N. resolution to protect civilians from Gadhafi's wrath. NATO has been pounding Gadhafi's military and government positions with increasing vigor and the rebels are again on the move.
In recent days rebel forces have advanced along the Mediterranean coast toward Zlitan, but on Wednesday returned nine miles to the town of Naeima, which they had previously reached the day before. NATO had instructed the rebels to withdraw ahead of expected bombing runs.
If the rebels move on to take Zlitan, they would be within 85 miles (135 kilometers) of Tripoli's eastern outskirts. Khoms is the next major city after Zlitan on the way to Tripoli.
Also Wednesday, the African Union pleaded for an immediate "humanitarian pause" in Libya followed by a cease-fire. Mauritanian Foreign Minister Hamady Ould Hamady, who heads the AU Ad Hoc Committee on Libya, told the U.N. Security Council that the Libyan people are experiencing "indescribable suffering."
Prolonged military operations are posing new challenges for the stability of the country and the region, he said.
Other African leaders also have expressed concern about the military action.
Speaking to his own parliament, South African President Jacob Zuma accused Western powers of misusing the U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized military action to enforce a no-fly zone and to protect civilians in Libya.
"We strongly believe that the resolution is being abused for regime change, political assassinations and foreign military occupation," Zuma said on Tuesday.
The South African leader has tried to mediate a solution to the Libyan conflict on behalf of the African Union, but the Libyan rebels have rejected the AU proposal for a cease-fire and talks, insisting Gadhafi must leave power before any negotiations take place.
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Al-Shalchi reported from Misrata. Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.
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