But Anders Fogh Rasmussen also acknowledged the brutal war that has raged for nearly two months would be resolved politically, not militarily.

"The game is over for Kadhafi. He should realize sooner rather than later that there's no future for him or his regime," the NATO secretary-general told CNN's "State of the Union" program.

"We have stopped Kadhafi in his tracks. His time is running out. He's more and more isolated."

Given the "wind of change" sweeping across North Africa and the Middle East, the death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and the growing pressure on the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Danish former prime minister said he was "very optimistic" that Kadhafi would ultimately lose his decades-old grip on power.

NATO forces have kept up an air bombing campaign against Libyan military targets since March, but have failed so far to prevent Kadhafi from killing scores of his own people in rebel-held towns and cities -- the stated goal of a UN resolution authorizing the allied mission.

"First of all, we have to realize that there is no military solution. We will need a political solution" to break the stalemate, said Rasmussen.

But he also recognized it was "hard to imagine the attacks, the outrageous and systematic attacks against Libyan people, will stop as long as Kadhafi remains in power."

The United States led the bombing campaign in its first week but has since relinquished lead operational control to the transatlantic military alliance. US President Barack Obama has also called for Kadhafi to relinquish power.

His national security adviser, Tom Donilon, said Washington has no plans for now to step up its involvement in Libya.

"NATO is still running this operation now, we're supporting it," Donilon told ABC television's "This Week."

"They have the assets that are needed for them to engage in the civilian protection mission, and they are engaging."

Asked whether the United States would take the lead once more in allied operations in Libya, Donilon simply answered "no."

"The future belongs to the Libyan people, and it's for the Libyan people to decide the future of the country. We are there to protect civilians against any attack according to the UN Security Council mandate, and we will stay as long as necessary to fulfill that mandate," he added.

Former vice president Dick Cheney, meanwhile, criticized the Obama administration's "confused" policy on Libya.

"It's not clear exactly what the policy is," he told "Fox News Sunday."

"The idea that you can turn something that important over to NATO and have NATO deal with Libya and support our interests there doesn't work very well... It's unfortunate we haven't been more forthright and more forceful in terms of our approach."

He said the Obama administration should have engaged in a real military effort to rid Libya of Kadhafi.

"It's not enough to simply sit on the sidelines and say get rid of Kadhafi," Cheney said. "It looks as though the policy of the administration has been is to hope for Kadhafi's departure but not be prepared to do enough to make sure it happens."

earlier related report
Kadhafi steps up attacks across Libya: rebels
Benghazi, Libya (AFP) May 7, 2011 - Troops loyal to Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi pressured rebels on several fronts on Saturday after helicopters violated a no-fly zone in the besieged city of Misrata, rebels said.

"It seems that the more desperate Kadhafi gets the more he unleashes his firepower on the people," said Abdul Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the opposition National Transitional Council.

He said intensified shelling Saturday struck the port city of Misrata and western towns near the Tunisian border, while loyalist fighters attacked the southern oasis towns of Ojla and Jalo, which neighbour oil facilities.

Ghoga said the escalation of violence reflected a knee-jerk reaction to increased political and economic pressure after France, Britain, and Germany expelled Libyan diplomats and a trust fund was set up for rebels.

"Kadhafi's natural reaction is to wreak havoc on the population, on the civilians and the cities," he said.

He said helicopters disguised as Red Cross vehicles overflew the besieged western city of Misrata on Friday, dropping anti-ship mines into the port, which is the only entry of humanitarian supplies to the city.

NATO admitted its no-fly zone had been violated on Thursday when one of the ships involved in its operations spotted a number of helicopters flying over Misrata, which came under fire from rebel forces.

Shelling of the city continued on Saturday although complete details of the damage were yet to emerge, Ghoga said, without providing the number of casualties.

"They are destroying the infrastructure in particular the oil storage tanks," said Ghoga.

In the western mountains towards the border with Tunisia, Kadhafi forces unleashed a salvo of Grad rockets on Zintan and Wazin, forcing an estimated 20,000 people to flee for shelter across the border, he said.

"Wazin and Zintan are being heavily bombarded by Grad missiles," a rebel information officer told AFP adding that Kadhafi's troops were "firing randomly" and that overwhelmed rebels had pulled out of Wazin.

"The fighting was too heavy for them," he said.

A convoy of cars carrying Kadhafi fighters on Saturday attacked the southern oasis towns of Jalo and Ojla, Ghoga said.

"Kadhafi cannot keep his forces there so he keeps attacking them at different times but they remain in revolutionary hands," Ghoga said.

A member of the military council of Kufra said the southern oasis town Chad was "under rebel control" although Kadhafi forces were still in the area.

He said "six rebels were killed on Friday" when they clashed with loyalists at a checkpoint set up between Jalo and Kufra.

Ghoga once again appealed to the international community to provide arms for the "revolutionaries in order to enable them to defend themselves, their families and their cities."

"I think if we get the armaments we can make a difference in the ground."

He put the number of rebels fighting Kadhafi troops on their various frontlines at less than 3,000.

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