Some Gaddafi forces pulling back, says US official

Spanish ground crew work on an F-18 jet fighter plane at the Nato air base of Decimomannu, in the southern Italian island of Sardinia, March 20, 2011. Nato ambassadors on Sunday approved an operations plan for the alliance to help enforce a UN arms embargo on Libya, a Nato statement said.

Forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi “pulled back” from the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and two other towns after UN-authorised airstrikes, a US national security official said today.

The official, who declined to be identified, said advances by Gaddafi’s forces against Benghazi, Ajdabiya and Misrata had “stalled” as a consequence of the military action by US and European forces that began on Saturday.

But he said Gaddafi’s forces remained active and the United States did not believe the Libyan leader was fulfilling promises to implement a ceasefire.