United States today appeared to admit that the rag-tag Libyan army has little hope of toppling Colonel Gaddafi by force

United States today appeared to admit that the rag-tag Libyan army has little hope of toppling Colonel Gaddafi by force - as Defence Secretary Robert Gates predicted the dictator would be brought down by political and economic pressure.

It came on another miserable day for anti-Gaddafi forces, as they again fled heavy shelling in their pick-up trucks and the dictator insisted he would stay in Libya 'until the end' .

The latest fighting centered on Brega, a town important to Libya's oil industry on the coastal road that leads to Tripoli. It has gone back and forth between rebel and loyalist hands, and it was today a no man's land, with Gaddafi's forces at the western gate and rebels east of the city.

Mr Gates was echoed by scores of Western officials including the Italian foreign minister who said the dictator would be undone by more defections after foreign minister Musa Kusa rather than 'acts of war'.