In Libya, fighting rages on

RAS LANUF, Libya - Government and rebel forces engaged in afierce battle Monday for control of this oil depot on theMediterranean coast, as regime loyalists mounted assaults on severalfronts to reclaim ground lost since the Feb. 17 uprising began.

In a second day of heavy fighting for control of Ras Lanuf, thesite of a major oil refinery east of Tripoli, loyalists bombardedthe town with airstrikes. To the west, the besieged rebel-held cityof Zawiyah faced a fourth straight day of lethal assault.

But with neither side able to muster overwhelming force, theresult appeared to be a bloody stalemate, with the death tollsrising in both east and west from the burgeoning civil war overMoammar Gaddafi's 41-year-long rule.

"Yesterday, we were so optimistic," said Najla el-Mangoush, a lawprofessor who works with the opposition's governing council in theeastern city of Benghazi. "Now I'm worried about what's happening."He said that Gaddafi "has used every dirty trick on us."

In an apparent government overture, a former Libyan primeminister appeared on state television to make what was called adirect appeal to the leaders of the opposition in Benghazi, therebels' provisional capital.

"Give a chance to national dialogue to resolve this crisis, tohelp stop the bloodshed, and not give a chance to foreigners to comeand capture our country again," said Jadallah Azous al-Talhi, whowas prime minister in the 1980s.

The opposition, however, dismissed the notion of peace talks."They've been asking for contact, but the council has refused," saidJalal el-Gallal, a spokesman with the opposition in Benghazi,referring to the revolutionaries' governing committee. MohamedFanoush, a member of the Benghazi city council who is allied withthe opposition, also said overtures from Gaddafi's regime had beenrejected out of hand. "The answer was: 'There will be nonegotiations as long as you are killing Libyans,' " Fanoush said.

In the western city of Zawiyah, a rebel spokesman speaking bysatellite phone said Gaddafi's troops had rolled into the city withtanks for a fourth day Monday. Phone, electricity and Internetservices had been cut. "They demolished the mosque, came into thesquare, but after seven hours, we beat them back," said thespokesman, Mohamed Magid.

He said that at least 10 rebels were killed and more than 30wounded in what he described as fierce urban warfare. "For a fourthday, they have come, and for a fourth day, we have beat them back.But they are still on the east, west and south of the city, and theyare going to return. . . . We are low on supplies, medicines. Weneed support. We need help."

Another rebel-held city, Misurata, which is Libya's thirdlargest, appeared quiet most of Monday, after weathering a majorassault by government troops Sunday. A rebel spokesman at a Misuratahospital, Abed el-Salam Bayo, said 21 opposition fighters andcivilians were killed along with 19 government troops. As night fellMonday, door-to-door alerts warned residents that loyalist tankswere again approaching.

"We still fear another attack, so everyone is preparing molotovcocktails that we are making from Pepsi-Cola bottles," said SalahAbed El-Aziz, a 60-year-old architect in Misurata. "The morale inthe city is very high. It was a beautiful battle; the price washigh. But this is the price we have to pay for our freedom."

In Ras Lanuf, which was seized by rebels Friday, the governmentlaunched a morning air attack. At least one bomb fell inside thegrounds of an ethylene refinery, where chemical storage tanks poseda major risk of explosion. Although the Libyan jets dropped bombs inthe area throughout the day, Gallal said that there had been noground fighting and that rebels maintained control of the city.

"Ras Lanuf is definitely in the hands of the rebels," Gallalsaid. "But the other guys are well dug in." At least for now, thegovernment appears to have succeeded in holding off what the rebelshoped would be a push westward to Sirte, a government strongholdhalfway between Benghazi and Tripoli that is Gaddafi's home town.

Gaddafi made an appearance on state television Monday that wasinexplicably cut short. He got more time in during an interview witha French television network, during which he said Libya was animportant partner of the West and attempted to paint the rebels asal-Qaeda operatives.

Nearly 200,000 people have fled Libya since the fighting began,according to the United Nations, which said Monday that it expectsthe number to double over the next three months. In all, as many as1 million Libyans and migrant workers will require assistance, theUnited Nations said in issuing an appeal for $160 million to coverthe costs.

A summary of the appeal said that although "the clearesthumanitarian needs" stem from the outflow of people fleeing thecrisis, "there are likely to be many more migrants within Libya whowant to leave" but have been unable to do so.

U.N. officials cautioned that the estimate is preliminary andthat they do not have a complete picture of the extent of need inLibya, particularly in government-controlled Tripoli and theconflict zone in the west. Over the weekend, Libyan Foreign MinisterMusa Kusa acceded to a request by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send an assessment team to Tripoli to determine the extendof Libya's humanitarian needs. But as of Monday, the U.N. team hadnot been given the visas and guarantees of unhindered access itneeds to carry out its work.

Ban has named Abdul-Illah Khatib, a former Jordanian foreignminister, as a special U.N. envoy to Libya. Khatib has been directedto consult with Libyan authorities and others in the region "on theimmediate humanitarian situation as well as the wider dimensions ofthe crisis."

Faiola reported from Tunis. Staff writer Colum Lynch at theUnited Nations and special correspondent Samuel Sockol contributedto this report.