BENGHAZI, Libya (MEO) — Rebels said they suffered heavy
losses in eastern Libya after being “tricked” by Moamar Gaddafi’s
forces, as the U.S. pressed Africa to take tougher action against the
strongman’s regime.

The rebels meanwhile gained another diplomatic boost when
Germany recognized their National Transitional Council (NTC) as the
“legitimate representative” of the Libyan people.

On the battlefield however, the insurgents came under attack
on numerous fronts by Gaddafi loyalists amid a surge of fighting across the
country after weeks of stalemate.

On the eastern frontline between the rebel-held transport
hub Ajdabiya and the oil town of Brega, which is in the hands of Gaddafi’s
soldiers, a firefight on Monday left 21 rebel combatants dead, their commander
said.

“Our men were tricked. Gaddafi’s soldiers pretended to
surrender, coming with a white flag, and then they fired on us,” Mussa
al-Mograbi said.

About 20 rebels were wounded and transferred to hospital in
Ajdabiya, 100 miles south of Benghazi, the de facto capital of rebels who have
been fighting to overthrow Gaddafi since mid-February, he said.

Mograbi added that four of his men were killed and 30
wounded in a skirmish the previous day.

Battles were also being fought in the western town of
Zintan, the Berber mountains southwest of Tripoli, in nearby Yafran, and at
Dafnia near Misrata, Libya’s third city, rebel sources said.

An AFP correspondent said Gaddafi’s forces pounded the
outskirts of Zintan on Sunday, killing at least seven rebels and wounding 49.

In Addis Ababa, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on
Monday pressed all African states to demand Gaddafi step down and take tougher
action against his regime.

Seeking to wrest support from a leader who has helped them
financially, Clinton also urged African countries to expel Gaddafi’s diplomats
and increase their support for the opposition, saying their words and actions
can help bring peace to Libya.

“I urge all African states to call for a genuine
ceasefire and to call for Gaddafi to step aside,” the first U.S. chief
diplomat to speak to the African Union said during a visit to the body’s
headquarters in Addis Ababa.

Senegal and Gambia are the only African states to have
recognized the NTC as the legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people.

In Benghazi on Monday, German Foreign Minister Guido
Westerwelle said after meeting rebel leaders that Germany now recognizes the
NTC as the “legitimate representative” of the Libyan people.

“We want a free Libya, in peace and democracy without
Gaddafi,” he added.

Berlin abstained from a UN Security Council resolution vote
on March 17 backing intervention in Libya and chose not to join the NATO-led
air war, but Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere said last week it would be
ready to consider sending peacekeeping troops to Libya if and when Gaddafi
falls.

In Amman, NTC chairman Mustafa Mohamed Abdel Jalil told
reporters Germany’s recognition “will definitely boost international
support for the Libyan revolt.”

“Such political gains are key to the revolt and prove
that Gaddafi’s regime has finished,” he said.

Gaddafi remains adamant he will not step down, according to
the head of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who said that during
a game of chess in Tripoli on Sunday the strongman insisted he had no position
of power to relinquish.

“I am neither premier nor president nor king. I do not
hold any post in Libya and therefore I have no position which I should give
up,” Ilyumzhinov quoted Gaddafi as telling him.

In Tripoli, the regime spokesman said its forces had
eliminated rebel “pockets of resistance” at Zawiyah west of the
capital.

Mussa Ibrahim told reporters Gaddafi’s forces had
“total control” of the area from Ajdabiya in the east to the Tunisian
border in the west.

In London, the head of the Royal Navy said Britain could
have to make tough choices about its military priorities if the Libya campaign
drags on.

Admiral Mark Stanhope, the First Sea Lord, said Britain
might have to rethink its priorities if the operation went on longer than six
months.

“How long can we go on as we are in Libya?”
Stanhope asked at a media briefing.

“Certainly in terms of NATO’s current time limit that
has been extended to 90 days, we are comfortable with that.

“Beyond that, we might have to request the government
to make some challenging decisions about priorities.”

Britain has been one of the chief players in the NATO
military alliance enforcing a United Nations mandate.

Their mission is to enforce a no-fly zone and protect
civilians in Libya as Gaddafi attempts to crush the rebel uprising.

The U.S. House of Representatives vote late Monday to
prohibit the use of funds for American military operations in Libya.

Lawmakers adopted the amendment to a military appropriations
bill by a vote of 248 to 163.

A number of members of Congress have recently expressed
their dissatisfaction at President Barack Obama’s decision to go ahead with
operations in Libya in March and to continue without congressional
authorization.

The amendment, introduced by Democratic representative Brad
Sherman from California, invokes the War Powers Resolution, a 1973 law that
limits presidential powers on sending troops abroad into combat zones without
the consent of Congress.

Sherman’s text states that “none of the funds made
available by this act may be used in contravention of the War Powers Act.”

According to the War Powers Resolution, the president must
seek congressional authorization to send U.S. troops into combat and must
withdraw American forces within 60 days if Congress has not authorized the
military action.

The same measure was presented in another bill to fund the
Department of Homeland Security but failed to pass on June 2.

Lawmakers must still approve the appropriations bill as a
whole and the measure must still be approved by the Senate.

The White House has been under rising pressure from
congressional critics demanding details about U.S. goals in Libya and
questioning the likely costs and duration of the campaign, in which Washington
now has a supporting role.

The House of Representatives recently passed a symbolic
resolution chiding Obama for not seeking congressional approval for U.S.
involvement in Libya and giving him until June 17 to respond.