Two vessels carrying 1300 US Marines docked at an American base on Crete as part of a military buildup around Libya, the US Navy said.
Souda Bay navy base spokesman Paul Farley said the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge and the USS Ponce arrived at the base, carrying a total of around 4000 personnel, including the Marines.
The ships docked in Crete two days after 400 Marines, from the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, also arrived in Crete.
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The US has said it wants embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down and has not ruled out imposing a no-fly zone over Libya.
Late on Friday, about 100 supporters of Greece's Communist Party rallied in the Cretan city of Hania, near the base, against the arrival of the US forces.
Libyan regime demands UN to suspend sanctions
Muammar Gaddafi's regime has demanded the UN Security Council suspend sanctions taken against the Libyan leader over his crackdown on opposition protests.
In a letter sent to the UN Security Council Gaddafi's government says only a modicum of force has been used against opposition demonstrators and that it was taken aback by the sanctions.
The Gadaffi regime has called for the travel ban and assets freeze ordered against Gaddafi and his entourage to be suspended until the truth is established.
Rights groups say six-thousand people have been killed since protests against Gaddafi erupted on February 15.
The United Nations says more than 1000 have died.
