Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi advanced eastward toward the strategic city of Port Brega

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi advanced eastward toward the strategic city of Port Brega in an intensifying onslaught against outgunned and inexperienced rebels who have retreated across deserts and coastal highways closer to their eastern stronghold in Benghazi.

The Libyan army has made substantial gains in recent days, pushing rebels out of the oil port of Ras Lanuf in the east and retaking the city of Zawiya in the west. The losses were strategic and psychological setbacks for rebels, who after a string of victories were finding they lacked the weapons and training to counter strong government offensives.

After retreating from Ras Lanuf, the rebels set its main perimeter 85 miles to the east in Port Brega. The growing pressure on the city suggests that Kadafi's forces are systematically moving from one rebel base to another as they head along the North Africa coast toward Benghazi.

Opposition figures in the east said the rebels were not in danger of defeat. They conceded, however, that Kadafi's soldiers have exploited an insurgent army plagued by poor communications and inexperienced fighters. But officials said Libyan army officers who defected from Kadafi are increasingly more in control of the rebel strategy.

"The military council started doing its job. But it took three or four days to bring in professionals," said Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the opposition national council. "We had young revolutionaries on the front lines. They've now been moved back to second positions and the professionals have moved ahead of them."

The rebel victory in Ras Lanuf a week ago was regarded by the opposition as key to advancing toward the capital, Tripoli, and threatening Kadafi's 42-year-old rule. The quick shift in fortunes was a blow, but officials in the east tried to spin the retreat as calculated.

"It was a tactical withdrawal," Gheriani said. "There's nothing heroic about sitting in a town that's getting bombed. ... Kadafi's destroying oil facilities and sea ports, but no, he's not working his way up toward Benghazi. He wants to scorch everything in case he's defeated."

Rebel leaders pressed the West to enact a no-fly zone over the country to keep the Libyan army's warplanes grounded.

"We ask the international community to shoulder their responsibilities," Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the rebels' National Libyan Council, told the media. "The Libyans are being cleansed by Kadafi's air force. We asked for a no-fly zone to be imposed from day one, we also want a sea embargo."

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