Gadhafi tells rebels 'surrender or flee' as his forces gain in east and west Libya

TOBRUK, Libya - Moammar Gadhafi's forces struck the rebellion's heartland with airstrikes, missiles and artillery on Tuesday, trying for the first time to take back a city that serves as a crucial gateway for the band of fighters who threatened his four-decade hold on power. Rebels rushed to the front and sent up two rickety airplanes to bomb government ships, as mosques broadcast pleas for help defending the city.

The pro-Gadhafi forces surprised rebels with attacks on two sides of the city of Ajdabiya, and the opposition was outgunned.

"They don't have the arms, but they have the will to fight," Lt. Col. Mohammed Saber, an army officer who defected to the uprising, said by telephone as explosions and gunfire rattled in the background.

The assault on Ajdabiya in the east came after Gadhafi forces took back the last rebel town west of Tripoli. With the victory in Zwara, a seaside town about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the Tunisian border, the regime has largely consolidated control in the west, where only weeks earlier his rule seemed to be crumbling. The only other opposition-held city in the western half was under a punishing blockade, its population running out of supplies.

The dramatic turn in Gadhafi's fortunes has outpaced French and British efforts to build support for a no-fly zone, which fell apart on Tuesday in the face of German opposition and U.S. reluctance.

An activist who confirmed the use of the warplanes against government ships warned rebels would now use them to bomb "oil wells and oil sites."

The activist, who asked not to be named, said rebels procured a handful of "very old" warplanes weeks ago but did not want to use them, believing that Western powers, with Arab diplomatic support, would imopse a no-fly zone over Libya.

"We did not want to commit any violations. And we did not want to exacerbate the situation," she said.

Gadhafi said he expects victory, telling the Italian newspaper Il Giornale that the rebels' options are closing. "There are only two possibilities: Surrender or run away."

He said he was not like the Tunisian or Egyptian leaders, who fell after anti-government protests. "I'm very different from them," he said. "People are on my side and give me strength."

Ajdabiya leads to the eastern half of the country, which the opposition has held since the uprising began on Feb. 15. If Gadhafi's troops are able to capture the city of 140,000, the way would be open from them to assault Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and effectively the opposition's capital, 140 miles (200 kilometers) away from Ajdabiya.

Ajdabiya is also a key supply point for the rebels, with ammunition and weapons depots that they used in their previous advance west toward Tripoli - now turned into a retreat. Until now, the Gadhafi forces' offensive toward the east has battled over two oil ports on the Mediterranean Sea, and Ajdabiya is the first heavily populated city in the area they have tried to retake.