Increasingly violent clashes in Libya between armed anti-government rebels and forces loyal to Muammar al-Qaddafi threaten to escalate into a civil war, as the two sides battle for control of towns near the capital in the 15th day of fighting.
The intensified combat comes as a revolutionary council in Libya reportedly debates whether to ask the United Nations to execute airstrikes against pro-Qaddafi forces. The council aims to distinguish between help from the U.N. and foreign intervention, which the rebel forces oppose, according to the New York Times.
Anti-government protesters have garnered broad support from their homegrown opposition movements and fear foreign aid could work against them.
The Obama administration knows the Libyan opposition wants to be seen as “doing this by themselves on behalf of the Libyan people – that there not be outside intervention by an external force,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday.
Despite rebels’ efforts to ward off foreign aid, the international community stepped up moves Tuesday to isolate Qaddafi.
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