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Just two weeks after anti-government protesters in Libya liberated the city of Zawiya near Tripoli, Dictator Gaddhafi’s forces have brutally bombed it in an attempt to retake it. According to the Guardian newspaper, Gaddhafi deployed 50 tanks and scores of pickup trucks filled with troops into the city, just 30 miles from the capital. There are currently conflicting reports about who controls Zawiya and it is unknown how many people have died or been injured. It is also difficult to pin down whether or not the anti-government movement has rejected an offer to negotiate with Gaddhafi. Protesters have apparently offered a deal to Gaddhafi that if he were to step down as leader within 72 hours of yesterday, they would refrain from pursuing criminal charges against him in the future. Following Britain’s declaration of a no-fly zone over Libya last week, the UN Security Council is now preparing to pass a similar resolution to bar air activity. NATO has announced that it is monitoring the air activity above Libya 24 hours a day. U.S. military planes are reportedly flying supplies and aid into neighboring Tunisia where thousands of Libyan refugees have fled. President Obama has said that Gaddhafi will be “held accountable for whatever violence continues to take place.” Obama has found himself in a tough spot with some members of Congress and current and former elected officials like Bill Richardson who is urging him to arm the anti-government protesters against Gaddhafi. However, in op-eds and interviews, Libyans have insisted that the U.S. stay out of the fray and that the liberation come from within. But the prospects of Gaddhafi’s downfall may be diminishing unless something changes the dynamic.

GUEST: Khaled M, Activist and artist living in Chicago, part of the Enough Gaddafi group in the US. His father was imprisoned and tortured in Libya in the late 70?s for protesting the Qaddafi regime.

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