The Pentagon’s top officials say nations other than the U.S. need to step up if Libya’s rebels want equipment and training, vowing that U.S. troops won’t get involved on the ground.

Secretary of Robert Gates is adamant that troops will not be on the ground in Libya. Sources say the CIA has small teams of operatives to make assessments of rebel needs.

NATO is now officially in charge. United States involvement is set to significantly diminish today.

Muammar Gaddafi’s troops are reported to have recaptured the key oil port of Ras Lanuf and the town of Bin Jawad on Wednesday. Fighting is continuing with Misrata also under attack by Gaddafi troops.

BBC News Africa Gaddafi forces push rebels back

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Gunmen wearing military uniforms over explosives belts charged into a government building in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit on Tuesday in an attack that left 56 people dead, including 15 hostages who were shot execution-style.

About eight or nine insurgents were involved in the attack that began about 1:00 p.m. local time and last about four hours. A car was blown up immediately before the attack, apparently as a diversion. An intense shootout ended with 56 dead and about 100 injured when the insurgents blew themselves up.

Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda are suspected in the attack.

U.S. troops are scheduled to leave at the end of the year.

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BBC News Middle East Iraq blames al-Qaeda for Tikrit attack

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told ABC’s “This Week” that the implementation of the no-fly zone over Libya was complete and had “eliminated” Qaddafi’s ability to attack rebel-held cities. Now the no-fly zone can be “sustained with a lot less effort,” Gates said.

In the 24 hours ending at 3:00 p.m. UT yesterday, coalition forces flew 167 sorties, or military flights, over Libya, including 88 designed to strike targets on the ground, according to an e-mail from Navy Captain Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman. Since the Libyan operation began, the U.S. has flown 884 sorties, while coalition allies have flown 540, he said.

Multiple news sources are reporting that Libyan rebel forces advanced to western Libya with support from NATO air strikes targeting Sirte, the hometown of Muammar Qaddafi. The reports came hours after the NATO Western alliance agreed to take command of military operations from the U.S.

Nine explosions were heard in Sirte as planes passed overhead. Armed forces loyal to Qaddafi were seen driving around in pickup trucks. Abdel Rahman Shalgham, Libya’s former ambassador to the United Nations, told Al Jazeera television that the rebels had taken control of Sirte.

Libyan Government Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim says, “What the West wants in Libya is not democracy, you want oil. Oil is thicker than blood for many western goevernmnts.”

Rebels also recaptured the oil ports of Brega and Ras Lanuf, after U.S.-led aerial bombardment of government positions in the area.

View Larger Map of Sirte, Libya

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Gangs of young men, some armed with swords and hunting rifles, were reported to be roaming the streets of Latakia, Syria on Sunday. After security forces killed anywhere from 50-100 demonstrators with demonstrations beginning in Daraa, Syria; anarchy is rising. Roaming gangs in Latakia closed alleys with barricades and roughly interrogated passersby in streets.

The worst violence apparently occurred in Latakia, a coastal city that is a mix of Sunnis living in the urban center, and members of Assad’s minority Alawite branch of Shiite Islam, along with small minorities of Christians, ethnic Turks and other groups, are located in villages on Latakia’s outskirts.

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Fifty to 100 protesters have been killed by Syrian security services in the largest protests to take place in the country for decades. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the use of deadly force against protesters as “unacceptable”.

Syria has been governed under an Emergency Law since 1962, resulting in the effective suspension of most constitutional protections for citizens. Hafez al-Assad was in power for 30 years and his son Bashar al-Assad has been in power for the past 10 years.

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Tens of thousands of mostly peaceful demonstrators streamed into central London on Saturday to march against government budget cuts. Video shows a small breakaway group smashing its way into a bank, breaking windows and spray painting logos on the walls.

At least thirteen shops on Oxford Street were closed as anarchists and police were involved in struggles. A masked mob surrounded and beat about 12 police officers near Sackville Street and Piccadilly. Thirteen police officers were reported injured overall.

Police report 211 people were arrested for offenses ranging from disorderly conduct to criminal damage to aggravated trespass and violent disorder equipped with the intent to cause criminal damage.

Late afternoon police were focusing on the area of Fortnum and Mason where organized anti-tax evasion activists, known as UK Uncut, had gathered.

In all, 66 people were reported injured.

Palestinian Hamas increased missile offensive on Israeli cities. On Thursday, March 24, heavy Grad missiles hit Ashdod and Ofakim.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, said Israel is ready to use “great force” in retaliation for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and a bombing at a bus station in Jerusalem.

More than two dozen people have been injured in a bomb explosion at a crowded bus stop in central Jerusalem. It appears to be the first militant attack in the city in several years.

A powerful bomb left inside a bag at bus stop outside Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station exploded Wednesday, killing one woman and wounding at least 25 people, several with life-threatening injuries.

The last bombing in Jerusalem involved a suicide bomber in 2004.

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