The United States and its allies should recognize and arm a provisional government in Libya and also impose a no-fly zone that would prevent Libyan aircraft from attacking anti-government protesters there, two leading U.S. senators said Sunday.


Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Joseph Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut who caucuses with the Democrats, told CNN's State of the Union that the Obama administration needs to do more to help protesters oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

"I think the world has to do more," Lieberman said. "I'd begin with the imposition of a no-fly zone, so that Gadhafi can't be attacking his own people from the air."

In addition, Lieberman said, "We've got to recognize the opposition provisional government as the legitimate government of Libya and that we ought to give that government certainly humanitarian assistance and military arms, not to go in on the ground ourselves, but give them the wherewithal to fight on behalf of the people of Libya against a really cruel dictator."

Both Lieberman and McCain stopped short of calling for U.S. forces to get involved. McCain added that the United States and allies should make clear that any foreign mercenaries backing Gadhafi in attacking the Libyan people would face a war crimes tribunal.

Both senators, speaking from Cairo, Egypt, said they understood the administration's concern over making statements or taking steps that could endanger American citizens in Libya, but they called the response so far insufficient.

With residents shouting "Free, free Libya," anti-government rebels who control this battle-scarred city nearest to the capital deployed tanks and anti-aircraft weapons Sunday to brace for an attack by troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. The Obama administration offered "any type of assistance" to Libyans seeking to oust the longtime leader.

Politicians in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi set up their first leadership council to manage day-to-day affairs, taking a step toward forming what could be an alternative to Gadhafi's regime.

In the capital Tripoli, where Gadhafi is still firmly in control, state banks began handing out the equivalent of $400 per family in a bid to shore up public loyalty.

"The Libyan people are fully behind me," Gadhafi defiantly told Serbian TV, even as about half of the country was turning against him and world leaders moved to isolate him. "A small group (of rebels) is surrounded ... and it will be dealt with."

Gadhafi has launched by far the bloodiest crackdown in a wave of anti-government uprisings sweeping the Arab world, the most serious challenge to his four decades in power. The United States, Britain and the U.N. Security Council all slapped sanctions on Libya this weekend.

A day after President Barack Obama branded Gadhafi an illegitimate ruler who must leave power immediately, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton kept up pressure for him to step down and "call off the mercenaries" and other troops that remain loyal to him.

"We are just at the beginning of what will follow Gadhafi. ... But we've been reaching out to many different Libyans who are attempting to organize in the east and as the revolution moves westward there as well," Clinton said. "I think it's way too soon to tell how this is going to play out, but we're going to be ready and prepared to offer any kind of assistance that anyone wishes to have from the United States."

Two U.S. senators said Washington should recognize and arm a provisional government in rebel-held areas of eastern Libya and impose a no-fly zone over the area - enforced by U.S. warplanes - to stop attacks by the regime.

President Obama issued an executive order Friday evening that imposes immediate sanctions on Libyan ruler Muammar al Qaddafi, his sons and his accomplices in the slaughter of civilians. In a letter accompanying the order, Obama declared a national emergency over the situation.

"I have determined that the actions of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, his government, and close associates, including extreme measures against the people of Libya, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. The order declares a national emergency to deal with this threat," Obama wrote in the letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

The executive order itself condemns the "wanton violence against unarmed associates" perpetrated by Qaddafi, his sons, his government, and his close associates. Effective immediately, all U.S.-based assets of Qaddafi and his four sons are to be frozen and transactions intended to move those assets are prohibited. The order allows the measures to be expanded to include any member of the Libyan government who are determined to be complicit in Qaddafi's brutality.

Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi seemed increasingly cornered Sunday as security forces defected to the opposition in a town near the capital and the United Nations Security Council voted for tough restrictions on and possible war crimes charges against the Libyan regime.

Former security forces said they had switched sides and joined the opposition in Zawiya, a town about 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the capital, Tripoli. Some buildings in Zawiya showed signs of damage, including a freshly burned-out police station.

CNN's Nic Robertson, on a government-organized trip to Zawiya, saw armed civilians taking defensive positions on rooftops to prepare for a possible effort by Gadhafi loyalists to retake the town.

About 2,000 people took part in an anti-government protest there, some standing atop tanks or holding anti-aircraft guns. They said they wanted the government overthrown, calling Gadhafi a "bloodsucker."

Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela's top diplomat on Thursday echoed Fidel Castro's accusation that Washington is fomenting unrest in Libya to justify an invasion to seize North African nation's oil reserves.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro claimed the United States is trying to create a movement inside Libya aimed at toppling Moammar Gadhafi.

Maduro did not condemn or defend the violent crackdown on Libyans participating in the popular uprising against Gadhafi's long rule.

But he questioned the veracity of media reports on the bloody uprising, which has crept closer to Gadhafi's stronghold in Tripoli.

"They are creating conditions to justify an invasion of Libya," Maduro said.

"Libya is going through difficult times, which should not be measured with information from imperial news agencies," Maduro added, referring to Western media.

Three separate explosions have left at least ten people dead and dozens wounded in Afghanistan's Kandahar province, local officials say.

Two of the blasts occurred in a span of minutes during a "dog fighting contest" in Arghandab district at 12:00 p.m. local time on Sunday and killed eight civilians and two policemen, a Press TV correspondent reported.

According to the report, the injured people have been rushed to a local hospital.

The third blast rocked a convoy of tanks of US-led troops in another district of Kandahar province at 12:30 p.m. local time.

The Press TV correspondent further added that the foreign troops "suffered casualties" in the attack.

Witness also said that a number of US-led soldiers "were killed or wounded" in the bombing.

A Taliban spokesman has announced that its militants have detained a Canadian spy during their arrest operations in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The spokesman said on Sunday that Rutherford Colin Mackenzie was arrested several days ago in Ghazni city while he was collecting secret information, a Press TV correspondent reported.

According to the spokesperson, there are documents, photographs and footage that confirm his espionage activities.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has fired seven senior interior ministry generals, the Kremlin said Friday without immediately explaining the reason for the dismissals.

The sacked generals include the deputy head of the Moscow interior ministry department and the Russian interior ministry's inspector general, news agencies quoted a Kremlin statement as saying.

It was not immediately clear if the dismissals were linked to last month's suicide bombing in Moscow, which killed 37 people at Russia's busiest airport.

As Russia pushes ahead with its biggest rearmament programme since the fall of the Soviet Union, its decision to buy two amphibious Mistral-class assault ships from France is causing alarm from Washington to Tokyo.

The £856 million pound two ship deal will allow Russia to later build a further two such vessels at its own shipyards, giving it four hi-tech assault ships in total. The vessels can carry up to 16 helicopters, four landing craft, 13 battle tanks, around another 100 vehicles and a 450-strong force. The ships are also equipped with their own on-board hospitals.

It is the biggest and most controversial sale of foreign arms to Russia by a Western country since the Second World War.

CIA agent faces murder charges at hearing in Lahore jail as US-Pakistani relations deteriorate

The trial of Raymond Davis, the CIA agent facing charges of double murder in Pakistan, has started amid tight security and some secrecy in a Lahore jail.

The press and public have excluded from the trial in Kot Lakhpat jail, where Davis has been held since he shot dead two men on a busy Lahore street on 27 January.

US embassy spokeswoman Courtney Beale confirmed that a sessions court hearing was taking place on Friday but said the full trial would not start until Pakistani prosecutors pressed formal charges.

The US consul general in Lahore, Carmela Conroy, was present at the hearing.

The Davis case has sparked a crisis between Pakistan and the US, prompting meetings between top intelligence and military leaders in both countries in recent days.

On Tuesday Pakistan's top brass, led by army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, met a delegation of American generals led by Admiral Mike Mullen at a luxury resort in Oman to discuss the matter.

The US side stressed that it "did not want the US-Pakistan relationship to go into a freefall under media and domestic pressures", according to an account of the meeting obtained by Foreign Policy magazine.