Zawiya appeared to change hands twice during the day as Gaddafi tried to crush the uprising against him by bombarding the western town and the frontlines of the rebel-held east of the country.

A doctor in the town said earlier many dead lay in the streets, including old people, women and children, with at least 40 killed, probably many more. He also said the rebels had been driven from the center earlier in the day.

Al Jazeera television said several members of Gaddafi's forces were killed in Zawiyah, including a general and colonel. The government stuck with its earlier report that its forces had driven rebels from the center and state television said people there were celebrating victory over "terrorist gangs."

The counter-offensive by Gaddafi has halted the rebels' advance in the east, where they were forced to withdraw from the frontline town of Bin Jawad after coming under heavy shelling.

At the same time, the Libyan government appeared to be putting out feelers toward western governments who have tried to isolate Gaddafi with financial sanctions and are discussing further measures to try to stop the violence and force him out.

Libyan government emissaries appeared to have flown to Brussels to talk to European Union and NATO officials meeting on March 10-11, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said, suggesting the situation was very fluid.

Portugal said a Gaddafi envoy met its foreign minister March 9 to explain Tripoli's view of the conflict and Greece said another will meet Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Dollis, in Cairo on March 10 morning. There were no details of the kind of message the emissaries were bringing.