Pressure is mounting against Muammar Gaddafi as international efforts edge closer towards presenting a no-fly zone resolution to the UN Security Council.

The Libyan leader made an unexplained appearance at a hotel in Tripoli before foreign journalists but failed to make any comment. Most thought it was a stunt to prove to the world he was still in the country.

The US and Britain are two of several nations considering the no-fly zone option but both insist it must have broad support.

The United States agrees.

“I think it is very important that this not be a US-led effort because this comes from the people of Libya themselves, this does not come from the outside,” said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

In Strasbourg, the European Parliament welcomed two representatives of Libya’s opposition movement. Although the bloc has called for Gaddafi to step down, the meeting was said not to be an endorsement of the men but rather part of a fact finding strategy.