The United Nations-mandated intervention to protect civilians caught up in a one-month-old revolt against Khadafy drew criticism from Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who questioned the need for a heavy bombardment, which he said had killed many civilians.

This prompted Khadafy to declare a “long war” after jubilant rebels who only a day before were in danger of being crushed by his forces now boasted they would bring him down.

The United States (US) military said the international assault would hit any Khadafy forces on the ground that are attacking the opposition.

In an attack that carried as much symbolism as military effect, a cruise missile blasted a building in Khadafy’s residential compound near his iconic tent.

It was not known where Khadafy was at the time, but it seemed to show that while the allies trade nuances over whether his fall is a goal of their campaign – he is not safe.

“It was a barbaric bombing,” said government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim, showing pieces of shrapnel that he said came from the missile. “This contradicts American and Western (statements) ... that it is not their target to attack this place.”

But the US, carrying out the air strikes in a coalition with Britain, France, Italy, and Canada, among others, said the campaign was working and dismissed a ceasefire announcement by the Libyan military on Sunday evening.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said one of its submarines had again fired Tomahawk guided missiles on Sunday night as part of the second wave of attacks to enforce the United Nations (UN) resolution.

Outside Benghazi, smoldering, shattered tanks and troop carriers from what had been Khadafy’s advancing forces littered the main road. The charred bodies of at least 14 government soldiers lay scattered in the desert.

With Khadafy having vowed to fight to the death, there were fears his troops might try to force their way into cities, seeking shelter from air attacks among the civilian population.

In central Benghazi, sporadic explosions and heavy exchanges of gunfire could be heard in the streets late on Sunday evening. A Reuters witness said the firing lasted about 40 minutes.

In Misrata, the last rebel-held city in western Libya, government tanks moved in after a base used by Khadafy’s forces outside was hit by air strikes on Saturday, residents said.

A Libyan government health official said 64 people had been killed by Western bombardment on Saturday and Sunday morning, but it was impossible to independently verify the report.

As this developed, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa called for an emergency meeting of the group’s 22 states to discuss Libya. He requested a report on the bombardment, which he said had “led to the deaths and injuries of many Libyan civilians.”

Arab support for a no-fly zone provided crucial underpinning for the passage of a UN Security Council resolution last week that paved the way for Western action to stop Khadafy killing civilians as he fights an uprising against his 41-year rule.

US President Barack Obama spoke to Jordan’s King Abdullah, while Vice President Joe Biden phoned leaders in Algeria and Kuwait to shore up Arab support.

The intervention is the biggest against an Arab country since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Withdrawal of Arab support would make it much harder to pursue what some defense analysts say could in any case be a difficult, open-ended campaign with an uncertain outcome.

A spokesman for the rebel movement, Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, criticized Moussa's comments, telling Al Jazeera that more than 8,000 Libyans aligned with the rebel movement had been killed.

On the other hand, US officials, eager to avoid similarities to the invasion of Iraq and toppling of Saddam Hussein, have been playing down Washington's role and emphasizing that overthrowing or killing Khadafy is not the goal of the attacks on Libya.

In Brussels, NATO envoys failed to agree on any alliance involvement in enforcing the no-fly zone.

NATO members Turkey and Germany have spoken out against the zone, and diplomats said France had argued against involvement by an alliance whose reputation in the Arab world had been tainted by its involvement in the war in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Brent climbed more than $2 on Monday to top $116 after western forces launched a military campaign against Libya, stoking fears that violence will intensify in North Africa and the Middle East – source of more than a third of the world's oil.

Unrest over the weekend also flared in Syria and Yemen in the wake of popular uprisings that toppled long-time leaders in Tunisia and Egypt earlier this year. A crackdown on protests in Bahrain last week also had oil traders on edge.

Libya is considering offering oil block contracts directly to China, India and other nations it sees as friends, Libya's top oil official said on Saturday, instead of opening bidding processes.

China, India, Russia, Brazil and Germany were the five nations that abstained in last week's UN vote to authorize the use of force against Gaddafi. The other ten members of the Security Council voted in favor. Here in the Philippines, President Benigno S. Aquino III yesterday expressed hope the escalating turmoil in Libya will be resolved soon to curb the sharp rise of world oil prices.

The President likewise said the government will continue to bring to safety the remaining Filipinos in the troubled North African state while admitting that transportation may be difficult amid ongoing allied strikes at targets in Libya.

Around 2,000 Filipinos, mostly in the medical services, have opted to stay in Libya despite government’s offer to repatriate them for free.

“In the case of the Middle East, hopefully there will be a resolution soon, especially in Libya then of course that might help dampen the pressures that are forcing the price of oil to have a continuing increase,” President Aquino told reporters at the Palace.

In another development, Muslims in the Philippines, including leaders of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and several civil society organizations (CSOs) yesterday slammed the UN-authored foreign intervention and attacks on Libya, saying UN was practicing double standard in applying international law.

Mayor Muslimin G. Sema, chairman of his own MNLF group, said that instead of intervening and dropping Tomahawk bombs on Libya that kill even the civilians, what the UN should have done was to implement a ceasefire through international monitors.

Genalyn Kabiling & Edd Usman, Manila Bulletin