BBC News with Marion Marshall
Western leaders have been discussing ways to increase pressure on the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi to stop him killing the people rebelling against him and persuade him to step down.
The Pentagon in Washington says it's
reposition
ing naval and air forces around Libya so that there's
flexibility
for action should government planners require it.
From Washington, here's Andrew North.
United States already has a permanent military presence in the region around Libya, including a large air and naval base on nearby Sicily, less than an hour's flight from Tripoli. So the Pentagon announcement that it's repositioning its forces seems partly designed to send a message to Colonel Gaddafi. It has not
spelled out
what the ships and warplanes will be used for, although any ground invasion or air strikes are unlikely, but they may be used to
enforce
an arms embargo and a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent further attacks by Colonel Gaddafi's aircraft on opposition supporters. A no-fly zone still has to be agreed by the UN Security Council. But Washington, Britain and other allies say they are now actively discussing the possibility.
At least 1,000 people an hour are continuing to arrive at Libya's border with Tunisia
in an attempt to
escape from the turmoil inside Libya. Throughout Monday, the refugees, many of them Egyptian migrant workers, have been joining thousands of others already there. Jim Muir reports from Tunisia.