UN Security Council members backing a no-fly zone over Libya are calling for a vote on Thursday that could lead to a resolution to ground Moammar Gadhafi's warplanes.

Reasoning that urgent action was needed to protect civilians from aerial bombardments, Britain and France put forward a draft resolution on Wednesday to impose the no-fly zone, The Associated Press reported.

'In 48 hours, we will have finished our military operation.'—Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi

If authorized, the proposal would ban flights in Libyan airspace, except for planes carrying aid or flying out foreigners.

But Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the leader's son, scoffed at the prospect of any kind of resolution to enforce a no-fly zone, saying the discussions were futile at this point.

"A resolution of what against who?" he said in an interview with Euronews. "It’s too late. In 48 hours we will have finished our military operation. We are at the gates of Benghazi.”

Late Wednesday, Reuters reported that Gadhafi's forces issued an ultimatum for residents to flee opposition-held areas in Benghazi, the rebel movement's de facto capital.

In a message to residents, the army's statement promised that pro-Gadhafi forces would arrive soon "to cleanse your city from armed gangs," Reuters reported, citing a broadcast by the local Al-Libya television station.

As the midnight deadline passed, however, residents said all was still quiet.

Rebels battle to hold key city

Earlier in the day, rebels fought to hold the strategic eastern city of Ajdabiya, 800 kilometres east of Tripoli as Gadhafi loyalists intensified their attacks.

Gadhafi's forces entered Ajdabiya on Tuesday. The city of 140,000 has been a strategic holding for the opposition, which has used it as a base from which to send supplies to other rebel-held cities.

New York Times journalists missing

Four New York Times journalists reporting from Libya are missing, the newspaper said Wednesday.

Editors at the paper said they last heard from the team Tuesday morning. According to second-hand reports, the newspaper said, the journalists were rounded up by pro-Gadhafi forces in Ajdabiya.

That information has not yet been confirmed by The Times, the paper's executive editor, Bill Keller said.

“We have talked with officials of the Libyan government in Tripoli, and they tell us they are attempting to ascertain the whereabouts of our journalists,” he said.

The missing journalists have been identified as:

  • Anthony Shadid, the Beirut bureau chief and a Pulitzer Prize winner for foreign reporting;
  • Stephen Farrell, a reporter and videographer previously kidnapped by the Taliban in 2009 and rescued by British commandos;
  • Tyler Hicks, a photographer who has worked extensively in the Middle East and Africa;
  • Lynsey Addario, also a photographer with Middle East experience.

Britain's Guardian newspaper said Wednesday its reporter, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, has been released by Libyan officials and was now out of the country. He was arrested and later released along with Andrei Netto, a correspondent for a Brazilian newspaper.

Both men were captured two weeks ago in the coast town of Sabratha.

If government forces are able to take Ajdabiya, they could then approach Benghazi.

Most of the population of Ajdabiya has fled, AP reported.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Gadhafi not to move on Benghazi, saying "a campaign to bombard such an urban centre would massively place civilian lives at risk."

He called on both sides to agree to a ceasefire.

'They are waiting impatiently'

Rebels have lashed out at Western countries for being slow to assist them in the wake of intensified attacks by Gadhafi's forces.

"People are fed up," rebel spokesman Saadoun al-Misrati told AP. "They are waiting impatiently for an international move.

"What Gadhafi is doing, he is exploiting delays by international community. People are very angry that no action is being taken against Gadhafi's weaponry."

Al-Misrati was speaking in Misurata, the last rebel-held city in the west, which came under heavy shelling Wednesday.

UN debates no-fly zone

The rebels have pleaded for the implementation of a no-fly zone over Libya, arguing it would give them a better chance against Gadhafi's forces, which have struck primarily from the air.

The UN Security Council met in private Wednesday to discuss a draft resolution introduced Tuesday that included no-fly provisions.

France and Britain have been the main backers of a no-fly zone. Other powers, including Germany and Russia, have been hesitant to get involved militarily.

World powers failed to make headway on the issue during a meeting of G8 foreign ministers Tuesday. It was then deferred to the UN Security Council for further debate.

U.S. Secretary of Statement Hillary Clinton, in Cairo, said support was growing in the international community for tougher action against Gadhafi's regime. The Arab League's support over the weekend for a no-fly zone was "an extraordinary statement," Clinton said, as it showed the bloc's approval for taking action against one of its own.

The league suspended Libya's membership last month.

In this image taken from Libya State TV on Tuesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the nation about the government's attempt to quell the uprising. In this image taken from Libya State TV on Tuesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi addresses the nation about the government's attempt to quell the uprising. Libya State TV/Associated Press

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, also in Cairo, said Canada is ready to act against Libya, and all options are on the table — from imposing tougher sanctions on the North African country to the no-fly zone.

"Canada has been open to looking and examining all options and that of course still remains," he said.

In Egypt, Cannon met with the Arab League's secretary general to discuss the events unfolding in Libya.

"I impressed upon him the importance of Arab leadership in this crisis," he said.

'People are on my side'

Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya with an iron fist for four decades, has remained defiant through the four-week uprising to oust him.

He appeared on national state television Tuesday, calling the rebels "rats" and accusing Western nations of wanting the country's oil.

Earlier in the week, Gadhafi said he was not like Tunisian and Egyptian leaders who fell after massive anti-government protests earlier this year.

"I'm very different from them," he said in an interview published Tuesday in the Italian newspaper Il Giornale. "People are on my side and give me strength."

With files from The Associated Press