Rebel fighters were in control of a key village south of the Libyan capital on Thursday, as another group advanced toward Tripoli from the east in the biggest push in weeks toward Moammar Gadhafi's main stronghold.
Rebels firing their rifles into the air in celebration poured into the village of Al-Qawalish, 60 miles southwest of Tripoli, after a six-hour battle with pro-Gadhafi forces who had been holding the town.
Rushing through an abandoned checkpoint where government troops had left tents and half-eaten bread in their rush to get away, the rebels ripped down pro-Gadhafi flags.
The seizure of Al-Qawalish represented an important step by the rebels toward cutting off the supply lines of pro-Gadhafi forces in Tripoli.
Farther north, rebels pushed westward from the city of Misrata to within 10 miles of the center of the town of Zlitan, where large numbers of pro-Gadhafi forces are based.
But they came under artillery fire. Doctors at the al-Hekma hospital in Misrata said 14 fighters had been killed on Wednesday and about 50 were injured.
Under pressure
The advances came amid reports that Gadhafi — under pressure from a five-month uprising against his rule, sanctions and a NATO bombing campaign — was seeking a deal under which he would step down.
His government has denied any such negotiations are under way, and NATO's chief said he had no confirmation that Gadhafi was looking for a deal to relinquish power.
A Libyan official told Reuters on Wednesday there were signs a solution to the conflict could be found by the start of August, though he did not say what that solution might involve.
In the rebel-held cities of Benghazi and Misrata, thousands demonstrated against Gadhafi, waving European and rebel flags and calling for the end of his four-decade rule.
The rebel advances followed weeks of largely static fighting. Heavily armed Gadhafi forces still lie between the rebels and Tripoli, and previous rebel advances have either bogged down or quickly turned into retreats.
But with Al-Qawalish now in rebel hands, they can advance northeast to the larger town of Garyan, which controls the main highway leading into Tripoli. Libyan state television reported on Wednesday that NATO hit targets in Garyan as well fuel tanks in the town of Brega, 130 miles west of Benghazi.
The previous big advance in the region was last month, when rebels pushed 12 miles north from their base in the Western Mountains to the town of Bir al-Ghanam.
Misrata push
At the frontline on the outskirts of Zlitan, a unit of fighters had built a sand-bank behind which they could shelter while firing at government troops. There were still sounds of intermittent shelling as night fell.
Unit commander Tarek Mardi, a 36-year-old former banker, said pro-Gadhafi forces had tried to push his fighters back but they had held their ground.
"Why isn't NATO doing its job, where are the Apaches?" he asked, referring to the attack helicopters the alliance had deployed to Libya. "We are protecting our people, our country. We want to save our land from Gadhafi. He is a criminal."
More than 100,000 rebel supporters spilled into the streets of Benghazi waving European and rebel flags and chanting slogans against the Libyan leader.
Gadhafi, who has ruled oil producer Libya for 41 years, says the rebels are armed criminals and al-Qaida militants. He has described the NATO campaign as an act of colonial aggression aimed at stealing Libya's oil.
Talk of a deal
A Russian newspaper this week quoted what it described as a high-level source as saying Gadhafi is sounding out the possibility of stepping down on condition there was a political role for one of his sons.
A Libyan government spokesman denied that report, saying Gadhafi's future was not up for negotiation.
Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaim told Reuters in Tripoli that a solution to the conflict could be found before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins early in August.
"There are signals that the crisis will find a solution in the coming weeks. We will do whatever possible so that our people will spend Ramadan in peace," he said.
"Currently the key hurdle to a solution is the NATO military campaign, and we hope that our friends in the African Union organization will do whatever possible to convince it to stop its aggression against our people."
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he had no confirmed information that Gadhafi had sounded out the possibility of stepping down.
"But it is quite clear that the end state must be that he leaves power," Rasmussen told a news conference in Brussels.
NATO began airstrikes against Libya in March. The coalition and its Arab allies are operating under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians.
Some countries in the coalition have interpreted that mandate broadly, with France acknowledging it has provided weapons to rebels operating in the mountains and other countries providing non-lethal aid to rebel-held areas.