Greece's foreign minister said after a meeting in Athens between the prime minister and a Libyan envoy that Kadhafi's regime is "looking for a solution."

The New York Times meanwhile reported that at least two of Kadhafi's sons are proposing a transition to a constitutional democracy that would include their father's removal from power.

More than 250 patients were brought from Misrata to the rebel port of Benghazi on Sunday on board a Turkish aid ship, which was to pick up another 60 or so wounded people from the eastern front before steaming on to the Turkish port of Cesme.

Those on the aid ship, many torn apart by shrapnel and bullets, told of a city under lockdown that has gone weeks without electricity or running water, where snipers have emptied the centre, and mortar rounds and rockets rain down at random on residents huddled inside their homes.

Kadhafi's forces besieging Misrata, 215 kilometres (130 miles) east of Tripoli, have been targeted by air strikes launched by US, British, French, Canadian, Danish and Belgian jets since March 19 under a UN mandate to use "all necessary measures" to protect civilians, but the siege has not been broken.

The US military had planned to begin withdrawing its combat jets and Tomahawk missiles from the air campaign at the weekend as NATO allies were to take the lead in bombing Kadhafi's forces.

But the Pentagon announced on Sunday that the US involvement would continue through Monday at NATO's request, because of "recent poor weather in Libya."

Meanwhile, Kadhafi was hit by another defection.

Former foreign minister and UN General Assembly president Ali Treiki became the latest official to abandon Kadhafi, after the flight to Britain of foreign minister and regime stalwart Mussa Kussa days earlier.

A Kadhafi envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Laabidi, was to travel on Monday to Turkey and then on to Malta after a visit to Athens which came at the request of Libyan authorities.

"According to what the Libyan envoy said the regime seems to be looking for a solution," Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said in a statement after a meeting on Sunday between Laabidi and Prime Minister George Papandreou, who had spoken with his Libyan counterpart by telephone on Saturday.

On the front line, rebels who had entered the eastern town of Brega Sunday and then staged a tactical withdrawal after being ambushed, were early Monday regrouping on the road back into rebel-held territory some 22 kilometres (14 miles) to the east.

An advanced column was on the move back towards the town and made it to within eight kilometres (five miles) of the outskirts without encountering any resistance from loyalist forces, an AFP correspondent reported.

Intermittent explosions had rumbled across the desert landscape on Sunday as the rebel vanguard traded rocket and artillery fire with Kadhafi forces inside the town.

But Monday morning there was no immediate indication of where Kadhafi's forces were and an unusual silence had descended on the front.

"Maybe Kadhafi's forces are just ahead, maybe not," said one rebel fighter, Mohammad Jahmi, scanning the horizon with binoculars. "There were NATO planes flying over the area earlier this morning but no bombs were dropped," he added.

The town has been the scene of intense exchanges for several days, with both sides advancing only to withdraw again later under fire.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed diplomat and a Libyan official briefed on the plan, said the transition would be spearheaded by one of Kadhafi's sons, Seif al-Islam.

It is not clear whether Kadhafi, 68, has signed on to the reported proposal backed by his sons, Seif and Saadi, the report said.

But one person close to these sons said the father appeared willing to go along, the paper said.

The two sons "want to move toward change for the country" without their father, The Times quoted one person close to the Seif and Saadi camp as saying.

"They have hit so many brick walls with the old guard, and if they have the go-ahead, they will bring the country up quickly."

The defection of Kadhafi's top officials have been seen as a sign his regime is crumbling and that he is becoming more and more isolated.

Treiki, the latest in a string of officials to abandon the regime, met Arab League chief Amr Mussa for talks in Cairo on Sunday.

Treiki resigned his official duties as an adviser to Kadhafi but did not pledge allegiance to the rebels, Arab League sources said.

He was Tripoli's envoy to the United Nations until 2009 when he became president of the UN General Assembly.

Doctors said last week that 200 people had been killed in Misrata since the fighting began, a figure that is likely to have risen in recent days.

Rebels control the eastern and northern areas of the city, which is dotted with checkpoints manned by teenage gunmen in chequered scarves, according to an AFP correspondent who was briefly able to enter last week.

It is the last major bastion of the rebellion in the western half of the country, while in the east Kadhafi's forces have halted the poorly trained and disorganised rebels at Brega.

Turkey organised the aid ship, which also brought medical and other basic supplies to the besieged city, for "humanitarian purposes", Ali Davutoglu, the Turkish consul general in Benghazi, told reporters.

Around a dozen doctors and nurses on board will tend to the patients until they reach Turkey, performing surgery if necessary, before transferring them to hospitals.

burs/bpz/kir

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