The news out of Libya has not been good at all these past few hours. There was an attack on Brega, an important oil refinery and exportation terminal, by the pro-Gaddafi forces. This attack was later said to have been reversed.

There were further air attacks, although mainly it would seem they were directed against arms depots.

In short, the Gaddafi forces, far from being encircled and about to collapse, have recovered and are mounting a counter-offensive. Given the state of play, it would have been foolish to expect otherwise.

At the same time, considering that the phase of getting foreign nationals out of Libya can now be considered to be almost over, there are moves which seem to presage darker days ahead.

An entire US flotilla, consisting of at least an aircraft carrier, a troopship and destroyers, is passing through the Suez Canal these very hours, joining other US and UK ships that are plying the central Mediterranean. The latest news is that even a Canadian naval vessel has left its Halifax base to cross the Atlantic and join the assets outside Libyan seas.

The thin wedge of the strategy seems to be centred around the possibility of someone – UN, EU or what? – enforcing a no-fly zone all over Libya. That is usually motivated by two reasons: to stop Gaddafi from bombing his own fellow citizens; and to facilitate humanitarian aid to suffering people of whatever nationality.

It is now starting to become clearer that the no-fly-zone option, which earlier looked like an easy option, is not easy at all. First of all, consider the vastness of Libya itself. Secondly, as yesterday’s well-written article on the Christian Science Monitor put it, Gaddafi’s defence capabilities first have to be neutralised, which is not an easy task at all. And, while it could be feasible to bomb runways, that would still leave Gaddafi’s forces able to dominate from the air thanks to the helicopter gunships they have.

That could be why even UK Prime Minister David Cameron, who earlier expressed himself generally in favour, has now adopted a more cautious stance. And also why he is now insisting on a rather impossible UN Security Council resolution, which Russia and possibly other members could veto.

However, the situation in Libya is of extreme seriousness. It is a case of a dictator bombing and killing his own people, and flying in mercenaries from outside the country to do so. This is why the Security Council of the United Nations, in a rare show of unanimity, condemned Gaddafi’s actions. That is why Libya has been removed from heading the UN Human Rights Committee.

If more such killings take place, especially considering that the Gaddafi forces would be shooting mostly unarmed protesters, the world-wide condemnation will be stronger.

One could compare the present situation in Libya to the Serb offensive in Bosnia, which led to unilateral action by NATO to stop the Serb offensive. That was short and circumscribed, and did not lead to any campaigns on the ground, as the US did in Iraq.

One may understand the widespread American resistance to any idea that could lead to an invasion of Libya, and that seems off the cards now. But the free world, Malta not excluded, must stand and protest against the use of force by the Libyan regime to shut down the voice of protest. We cannot equate a bloody dictatorship with a feeble opposition.

At the same time, Malta must make its voice heard in the top decision-making processes. While it sympathises with the people who want freedom of expression and condemns all violence exerted against them, the proper proceedings must be followed internationally and proper discussion held as to what the next step may be.

People in Malta are getting unnecessarily upset that Malta’s neutrality may have been compromised by allowing British and other warplanes to carry out humanitarian missions – it hasn’t. But Malta’s frontline help in the humanitarian crisis must not be allowed to spread to it becoming a frontline anti-Gaddafi base.

The assets now moving into place in the international waters between Malta and Libya, for instance, could well be more than enough to carry out other ways of hindering the Gaddafi war machine – such as through the use of drones to jam and disrupt the Libyan armed forces. Besides, the presence itself of US carriers should be enough to stop Gaddafi from committing more massacres.

That is the least that the people of Libya, our blood brothers as they have been called, expect of us.