World leaders say Gadhafi 'must go'

World powers agreed yesterday that Moammar Gadhafi should step down after 42 years as Libya's ruler but did not discuss arming the rebels who are seeking to oust him.

Top diplomats from up to 40 countries, the United Nations, NATO and the Arab League came to that conclusion at crisis talks in London on the future of the North African nation.

"One thing is quite clear and has to be made very clear to Gadhafi: His time is over. He must go," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement. "We must destroy his illusion that there is a way back to business as usual if he manages to cling to power."

Meanwhile in Libya, Gadhafi's forces hammered rebels with tanks and rockets, turning their rapid advance into a panicked retreat in an hourslong battle Tuesday.

Opposition fighters pleaded for strikes as they fled the hamlet of Bin Jawwad, where artillery shells crashed thunderously, raising plumes of smoke. No such strikes were launched during the fighting, and some rebels shouted, "Sarkozy, where are you?" -- a reference to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the strongest supporters of using air power against Gadhafi.

In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters the subject of arming rebels did not come up. "That was not one of the subjects for discussion," Hague said.

Hague's comments suggest the UN-backed coalition cobbled together to defend civilians from Gadhafi's onslaught is still hanging back from throwing its entire weight behind the ill-organized rebels, whose exact makeup and motives remain unclear.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the international community must support calls for democracy sweeping Libya and its neighbors, but warned that change would not be easily won. "Under different governments, under different circumstances, people are expressing the same basic aspirations: A voice in their government, an end to corruption, freedom from violence and fear, the chance to live in dignity and to make the most of their God-given talents," Clinton said.

In Libya, the rout of the rebels Tuesday illustrated how much they rely on international air power. Only a day earlier, they had been storming westward in hopes of taking Sirte, Gadhafi's hometown and a bastion of his support in central Libya. They reached within 60 miles of the city before they were hit by the onslaught from Gadhafi's forces, driving them back east to Bin Jawwad under barrages of rocket and tank fire.

Many of the untrained volunteers who make up the bulk of the rebel forces fled. However, some of them backed by special forces soldiers from military units that joined the rebellion took a stand in Bin Jawwad, bringing up truck-mounted rocket launchers of their own.