President Obama is content to let other nations publicly lead the search for solutions to the Libyan conflict, his advisers say, a stance that reflects the more humble tone he has sought to bring to U.S. foreign policy but one that also opens him to criticism that he is a weak leader. 
 
 The tactic is anathema to many conservatives and worries some liberal interventionists, who believe that only overt American authority can assemble an effective opposition to brutal authoritarian governments such as that of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi. 
 
 Although Obama sees advantages in keeping Washington in the background, especially in a region where the United States is held in such low regard, he has exposed himself to Republican charges that he is absent at a time of crisis. Conservatives say his one-of-the-team approach could also signal a decline in American fortitude after nearly a decade of war. 
 
 Since the uprising began, Obama has devoted just one set of public remarks solely to the situation in Libya, where fighting has reached a harsh stalemate. European nations have taken the lead in drafting a no-fly zone resolution, and Obama has yet to say whether he favors one. He followed France in calling for Gaddafi's ouster. 
 
 At a Wednesday meeting of Obama's senior national security officials, little support emerged for the immediate imposition of a no-fly zone, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. 
 
 Jamming Libyan government communications and deploying U.S. naval assets to help deliver humanitarian aid were among the most favored near-term options, the official said, adding that "at any time facts on the ground could change, but the intelligence assessment now dispels the idea that a no-fly zone is the key here." 
 
 Obama's caution has been dictated in part by the challenge in dealing with one of the world's most hermetic countries and the fluid situation on the ground. The administration knows little about Libya's well-armed rebels, cannot predict the political system that might replace Gaddafi's bizarre rule, and faces an array of military options to stop the fighting. 
 
 Obama's advisers say his low public profile masks the administration's active private diplomacy, which has helped produce strong financial sanctions against Gaddafi's inner circle, and the central U.S. role in military planning underway at NATO, whose defense ministers meet Thursday to consider next steps. 
 
 "This is the Obama conception of the U.S. role in the world - to work through multilateral organizations and bilateral relationships to make sure that the steps we are taking are amplified," said Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications. "Maybe this is a different conception of U.S. leadership. But we believe leadership should galvanize an international response, not rely on a unilateral U.S. response." 
 
 For decades, U.S. presidents have been pressed to choose between intervening in foreign crises or ignoring them. Both paths have led to political risks for recent presidents, whose records are influencing Obama's response to the violence in Libya. 
 
 Anthony H. Cordesman, who holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that "there's always going to be a demand for the United States to take immediate action, but it is not always the right thing to do." 
 
 "Unfortunately, as president, ultimately your reasons don't matter," he said. "It's whether you succeed or fail that does." ||||| PARIS — Moving ahead of its allies, France on Thursday became the first country to recognize Libya ’s rebel leadership in the eastern city of Benghazi and said it would soon exchange ambassadors with the insurgents. 
 
 The move was a victory for the Libyan National Council in its quest for recognition and a setback for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi who has been seeking whatever international support he can as NATO members in Brussels began a debate about the possible imposition of a no-flight zone over Libya. 
 
 The French announcement came as loyalist forces in Libya claimed new successes against the rebels west of the capital in the town of Zawiyah, while, to the east, loyalist forces renewed ferocious assaults on the key oil town of Ras Lanuf. 
 
 President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris on Thursday with Mahmoud Jibril and Ali Al-Esawi, representatives of the Libyan National Council that was set up after the uprising in Libya erupted in February. He was the first head of state to meet with insurgent leaders. 
 
 Soon afterward, a French announcement said France recognized the council as the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. News reports said that, in response, Libya would break diplomatic relations with France. 
 
 The move puts France ahead of other European powers that have been seeking ways of supporting the rebels in their goal of toppling Colonel Qaddafi. Normally, European Union countries say they recognize states, not governments, but the European Parliament has advocated recognition of the rebel leadership in Benghazi. 
 
 France has also set itself apart from some other nations, including the United States, by insisting that any military support for the rebels be authorized by the United Nations Security Council, but not carried out by NATO, since the alliance has an aggressive image in the Arab world. Washington favors using NATO. While he was out of government, Alain Juppé, the new French foreign minister, opposed France resuming full membership in NATO. 
 
 France’s aggressive diplomatic stance is seen as a way of showing commitment to the popular uprisings and democratic changes in the Middle East and North Africa, after Mr. Sarkozy admitted that Paris was slow to recognize the strength of the revolutionary movements in Tunisia, a former French protectorate, and Egypt. 
 
 The British and German governments both indicated on Thursday that their practice was to recognize only states, but British authorities called the rebels “valid interlocutors with whom we wish to work closely.” 
 
 In a highly embarrassing incident last weekend, Britain sent a small contingent of diplomats and special forces to try to make contact with the rebels in Benghazi, but they were arrested and later withdrew aboard a British warship sent to pick them up. 
 
 For its part, Germany on Thursday ordered the freezing of Libyan assets, which the finance ministry in Berlin said were worth “billions.” Rainer Brüderle, the German finance minister, said the decision would affect about 193 accounts held at 14 financial institutions in Germany. 
 
 In Brussels, NATO officials said on Thursday that the alliance has started 24-hour surveillance of Libyan airspace where Colonel Qaddafi has deployed warplanes against rebels trying to advance westward toward loyalist strongholds along the shores of the Gulf of Sirte. 
 
 But it was unclear what further steps NATO would end up taking, if any. The alliance’s secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told reporters that NATO was considering a “range of options,” including humanitarian help, but that any move would be governed by three principles: that there was “demonstrable need,” a “clear legal basis” and “firm regional support.” 
 
 The Libyan National Council has been pressing for foreign aid amid divisions over the extent of external intervention in a revolt that rebel leaders want to preserve as a home-grown phenomenon. The insurgents have acknowledged being overwhelmed by the myriad tasks and challenges facing them. 
 
 “We’ve found ourselves in a vacuum,” Mustafa Gheriani, an acting spokesman for the provisional leadership, said Tuesday in Benghazi. “Instead of worrying about establishing a transitional government, all we worry about are the needs — security, what people require, where the uprising is going. Things are moving too fast.” 
 
 In the evolving diplomacy surrounding the conflict, Colonel Qaddafi has sent envoys across Europe and, according to some reports, Latin America and Africa, in many cases to argue against international intervention. 
 
 On Wednesday, emissaries were reported to have visited Egypt, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers were meeting Thursday to discuss Libya. 
 
 Greece confirmed that the colonel himself had spoken with Prime Minister George A. Papandreou and a government statement in South Africa said that he had spoken by telephone with President Jacob Zuma. 
 
 South Africa’s international relations minister, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said on Thursday that Mr. Zuma told Colonel Qaddafi that South Africa “abhors the heinous human rights violations against his own people.” 
 
 “We took advantage through our president to tell him this has to stop with immediate effect,” the South African Press Association news agency reported. ||||| Read a day-by-day account of the battle for control of key areas of Libya and for the latest on what's next for Libya, the opposition and Moammar Gadhafi, tune in to "AC360º" at 10 p.m. ET Thursday on CNN. 
 
 Ras Lanuf, Libya (CNN) -- Libya's ragtag rebels in Zawiya succumbed Thursday to better armed and organized government soldiers after enduring a week of attacks that left the coastal city strewn with the debris of war. 
 
 The city's main Martyrs' Square was littered with the bombed-out, scorched carcasses of army tanks and other military vehicles. 
 
 Workers were sweeping up the evidence as supporters of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi chanted slogans and waved green flags. 
 
 "Today Zawiya, tomorrow Benghazi," ITV News' Bill Neely said a Gadhafi supporteer told him in a reference to Libya's main rebel-held city in the east. 
 
 Neely said he was the first reporter to reach the city center Thursday after the government wrested its control from the rebels. He said doctors had told him that scores of civilians had been wounded or killed in the siege; they called the onslaught a massacre, a war crime. He counted more than 20 freshly dug graves. 
 
 The city itself was quiet; shops were closed and houses appeared empty. The mosque's minaret was demolished, and spent bullets and other munitions lay on the ground with bloodied mlitary clothing. 
 
 State-run television broadcast video of weapons and ammunition reportedly left behind by the rebels, whom the reporter referred to as "terrorists, dogs and traitors," Neely said. 
 
 Government retaliation against the residents appears to have begun, said one man, who told ITV that government forces were carrying out house-to-house searches in Zawiya. "They start to arrest people, normal people," he said. "Some of them I know personally; they have nothing to do with what's happening." 
 
 Battles also raged in and around the eastern city of Ras Lanuf and many other cities, with the regime using planes and heavy artillery in its effort to reclaim areas that had been taken by the opposition. 
 
 Libya's state TV reported that "Ras Lanuf has been cleansed from the armed gangs connected to al Qaeda." A doctor who worked in Ras Lanuf said at least three people were killed and 30 wounded in fighting before the main hospital had to be evacuated. Doctors at a hospital in the city of al-Brega reported two deaths and more than 20 people wounded in fighting in Ras Lanuf. 
 
 Opposition forces could be seen retreating from the city. Some fighters said they had pulled back to a checkpoint five miles east of the city, but it was not clear who was in control of the city. 
 
 CNN's Ben Wedeman said the rebel forces appeared in disarray. "It's been a very chaotic effort on the part of the opposition fighters from the beginning," he said, adding that they had no command-and-control structure and little discipline. 
 
 He credited them for their enthusiasm and spirit, but added, "Once the going gets tough, the ranks start to fall apart and it descends into anarchy, chaos." 
 
 Saif Gadhafi, a son of Moammar Gadhafi and a prominent spokesman for the regime, vowed to retake eastern Libya as well and insisted his father still commanded support. "I receive hundreds of calls from the east daily and they are saying, 'Save us.' They are begging us and pleading for us to save them and my answer is two words. Listen to me and I want those armed groups to listen to me real well, and I want our people in the east to hear this as well: We're coming." 
 
 He bristled at the possibility of military intervention. "The Libyan people they will never welcome NATO or Americans," he said. "Libya is not a piece of cake; we are not a Mickey Mouse." 
 
 Though the Libyan government forces appeared to advance on the ground, the opposition gained momentum internationally. 
 
 The French government recognized the newly created Libyan opposition movement as the sole representative of the country and the British foreign secretary spoke to an opposition representative over the phone. 
 
 In response, Libyan state TV said the Gadhafi government would consider ending its relationship with France. 
 
 In the United States, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced plans to meet with opposition leaders. She said the United States was suspending relations with the Libyan Embassy in Washington, and an administration official added the embassy "must shut down." 
 
 But an official told CNN that "ending the operations of the Libyan Embassy does not mean we're cutting off diplomatic ties with Libya." 
 
 Protests against the 68-year-old Gadhafi began February 15 as anti-government demonstrators sought his ouster after nearly 42 years of rule, and the discontent devolved into a fierce and bloody civil war. 
 
 America's top U.S. intelligence official, James Clapper, took note of Libya's military prowess at a Senate Armed Services Committee meeting Thursday. He said Gadhafi is in the fight for the long haul, with military far superior to that of the opposition. 
 
 Clapper described the Libyan air defense as "substantial," saying it is the region's second-largest, after Egypt, but he did not address how fighting would fare against Libya if a no-fly zone or other military strategies were imposed. 
 
 He said Gadhafi has a lot of aircraft, although many are not operational. To "some extent," he said, the aircraft have been used for attacks, but they have caused more structural damage than injury. 
 
 In Brussels, Belgium, NATO defense ministers discussed the option of a no-fly zone over the North African country. Its secretary-general said any move to impose one would require a clear mandate from the United Nations. 
 
 NATO also decided to bolster its presence in the Mediterranean Sea and perform detailed planning on humanitarian assistance. 
 
 International military officials say the imposition of a no-fly zone could be complicated, but some opposition figures -- such as Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, a former justice minister who quit last month in protest and now heads the interim government in eastern Libya -- are advocating for the move. 
 
 Gadhafi has said that imposing such a zone would simply unite Libyans behind him. 
 
 Saying NATO is "united," "vigilant," and "ready to act," Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the group's secretary-general, said the body has begun round-the-clock airborne surveillance of Libya's airspace. 
 
 "Time is of the essence," he said, adding that the crisis requires "close international coordination" among organizations such as NATO, the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union, and the Arab League. 
 
 U.S. authorities have frozen $32 billion in assets tied to the Libyan regime, White House spokesman Jay Carney said. 
 
 British Foreign Secretary William Hague spoke by telephone with Mahmoud Jabril, the National Transitional Council's special envoy. 
 
 He said European foreign ministers on Thursday talked about how the EU should react "to the continuing appalling and unacceptable actions" of the regime. 
 
 Hague "made clear that planning was under way on a full range of responses, including the possible establishment of a no-fly zone," the Foreign Office said in a statement. "It would need international support, a clear trigger and a legal basis. He also said that another diplomatic mission would be sent to Benghazi shortly." 
 
 At the NATO meeting, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said a no-fly zone option was still being considered, but was only in the planning stages. Gates added that any military response to Libya would need the United Nations to sanction it. 
 
 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed an executive order banning the sale to Libya of arms, ammunition and military equipment, according to the Kremlin's website. 
 
 The Council of the European Union Thursday announced it will extend restrictions against Libyan entities. 
 
 As for Gadhafi's government, it has sought to influence international sentiment, announcing that its secretary of state for international relations will travel to Portugal, Greece and Malta on an exploratory, fact-finding mission that may include other destinations. 
 
 The country has also invited British, French, Dutch and German fact-finding teams to examine reports of aerial bombardment and massacres. None has taken up Gadhafi on the offer. 
 
 Death toll estimates have ranged from more than 1,000 to as many as 2,000. 
 
 As of Thursday morning, the war had forced out nearly 250,000 people, many of them poor migrant workers who have been stranded at both the Tunisian and Egyptian borders, the U.N. refugee agency said. 
 
 The United States will soon send disaster relief teams into eastern Libya, White House National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon said. He said the teams' activities should not be viewed as military operations. 
 
 U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Thursday condemned the detention and possible torture by Libyan authorities of a BBC news team working to cover the conflict in Zawiya. The journalists, released from detention in Libya Wednesday, told of beatings and mock executions. 
 
 The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, reported that one of its correspondents, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, was missing. 
 
 He was traveling with Andrei Netto of the Brazilian newspaper Estado, who was detained by authorities while reporting from Libya, the Guardian said. Netto was released Thursday and was to leave the country Friday. 
 
 CNN's Ben Wedeman, Pam Benson, Jill Dougherty, Whitney Hurst, Jonathan Wald and Journalist Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report
– France today became the first country to recognize the Libyan National Council as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people, following a meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and two representatives from the upstart government, the New York Times reports. France says it will soon engage ambassadors with the rebel group, which has set up camp in Benghazi. The move puts France ahead of its allies—including the United States, which, the Washington Post observes, has been unusually passive in the Libyan crisis, with President Obama seemingly content to let allies take the lead. France’s statement comes amidst a NATO meeting to decide whether to enforce a No-Fly Zone over Libya. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces have relentlessly exploited their air power against the rebels; today, planes and naval artillery bombarded Ras Lanuf, a major oil port controlled by opposition forces, CNN reports. Loyalist forces also claimed the central square of a rebel-held city just west of Tripoli, according to the Wall Street Journal. Gadhafi has held together the military better than originally appeared likely, and the outgunned rebels appear to have lost their momentum in their push toward the capital.