Libyan rebels claimed to have taken two more key objectives in their advance on Tripoli, and that a former prime minister ostracized from Moamer Kadhafi's regime had fled to rebel-held territory.
"Zawiyah is free," rebels said Friday as they took up positions in its hospital hours after pounding the centre of this oil refinery town, the last major barrier before possibly advancing on Tripoli from the west.
The key refinery is the only source of fuel to the capital, and could leave it without critical supplies.
Hundreds of rebels armed with assault rifles had marched from the central square, a stronghold of forces loyal to Kadhafi, to the hospital decorated with portraits of the veteran leader, an AFP journalist said.
Kadhafi snipers were staked out on rooftops as the battles raged, with buildings and streets in the town centre showing signs of massive damage from the warfare.
Rebels have been seeking to sever Tripoli's supply lines from Tunisia to the west and to Kadhafi's hometown of Sirte in the east in a move they hope will cut off the capital, prompt defections and spark an uprising inside Tripoli.
Insurgents also said they seized Zliten from Kadhafi's forces, only hours after reporting they were in the centre of the town, 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Tripoli.
"Zliten is now under the control of our fighters, but the fighting is not finished," the Information Centre For Misrata Military Council said.
"Kadhafi forces have used tanks to try unsuccessfully to repel the rebels."
It said some rebels and 40-50 Kadhafi forces were dead. Another 12 African mercenaries were captured and 40 insurgents were wounded, 10 of them seriously.
FORMER LIBYAN PM JOINS REBELS
Meanwhile, rebel forces said former Libyan prime minister Abdessalam Jalloud, who fell out of favour with Moamer Kadhafi in the mid-nineties, had joined them, though they declined to provide his location "for security reasons."
A senior rebel who requested anonymity said Jalloud and his family had arrived in Zintan, a rebel-held town southwest of the capital.
Rebel television channel Libya Awalam quoted Jalloud on its news ticker as saying: "Kadhafi's regime is finished."
Jalloud, who served as prime minister from 1972 to 1977, was a member of the hard core of officers who grabbed power with Kadhafi in 1969 and was long considered the regime's second-in-command before being gradually sidelined in the nineties.
Following his dispute with Kadhafi, he had retired from politics altogether and lived under virtual house arrest.
His defection was the latest blow to Kadhafi's regime.
The regime has come under increasing military and diplomatic pressure, and Libya has been rife in recent days with rumours that Kadhafi himself was preparing to flee.
With the rebels pushing closer to Tripoli, vowing to take it before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan ends in late August, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini urged the population of the capital to rise up against Kadhafi.
"We hope the people of Tripoli, who unfortunately are already fleeing, understand the regime has harmed its own people and will therefore join a process of political change to cut off room for manoeuvre for Kadhafi's regime," Frattini said in Rome.
For its part, the International Organisation for Migration said it was drawing up plans for the evacuation of thousands of migrants stranded in Tripoli because exit points have been cut off following a spate of rebel successes.
IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya said no date had yet been set for the start of evacuations from Tripoli but that thousands of migrants were waiting to leave.
"There are already thousands of Egyptians who are ready for evacuation now, and what we are hearing is that every day there are more and more requests," Pandya said.
"They can't get out by road because the nearest exit point would be Tunisia, and the fighting on the western front has closed off that option," she said.
For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross said the intensified fighting has seen a "rapid deterioration in the humanitarian situation" in several Libyan towns.
It expressed serious concern over reports that "weapon bearers" were misusing health care centers.
"We are hearing about hospitals being attacked or used for military purposes," the ICRC added.
The statement listed Brega, as well as the western towns of Zawiyah, Garyan, and Sabratha, near the rebel-held city of Misrata, where it said conditions were worsening for civilians.
NATO air strikes destroyed one of the homes in Tripoli of Kadhafi brother-in-law and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, an AFP journalist said.
Guards told reporters an Indian who worked as a cook was killed but could not confirm whether Libya's spy master was home when residents said the early morning air strikes took place.
A slew of explosions had been heard overnight in the heart of the seaside capital where Kadhafi's residential complex is located, as well as in several areas in the west of the city.
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