Gaddafi's government has been rocked by two weeks of bloody clashes with protesters seeking to topple his 41-year-old regime. Chavez on Monday proposed creating an international peace mission with forces from friendly nations to try to mediate the unrest gripping the North African nation and avoid civil war. As rebels repulsed a fierce onslaught by Gaddafi's forces on a key oil town, the longtime leader warned earlier that "thousands" would die if the West intervened. The United States and its allies meanwhile cooled talk of imposing a no-fly zone over his country amid growing global calls for action to stop Gaddafi from using warplanes against his own people and to protect refugees scrambling to escape. Chavez claims the United States is "exaggerating things and twisting things to justify an invasion" of Libya.

Both leaders regularly make public condemnations of US "imperialism" and have exchanged visits in recent years. Ties are so close that Gaddafi was rumoured at one point to have fled to Caracas, claims later denied. Dutch soldiers taken prisoner In other developments, three Dutch soldiers were taken prisoner at the weekend by armed men during an operation to evacuate civilians from Libya, the Dutch defence ministry said today. "We confirm it," a navy official told AFP when asked about the capture of three marines reported by Dutch daily De Telegraaf. The paper said the three marines were helping with the evacuation from Sirte of two civilians, one Dutch and another European, in a helicopter that crashed.

The marines were attacked by armed men loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi who captured them. The two civilians were handed over by the Libyans to the Dutch embassy and have since left Libya, according to De Telegraaf. Thousands of Africans fear being mistaken for mercenaries In the rush to get foreigners out of Libya, thousands of migrant Africans are being left behind, holed up at home terrified as insurgents mistake them for mercenaries fighting for Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Rumours that Gaddafi has hired fighters from south of the Sahara to quash a popular revolt against him have made hordes of Africans targets of popular anger, many from poor countries unable to organise their evacuation. Libyan border crossings were overwhelmed on Wednesday by tens of thousands of hungry, fearful people fleeing its burgeoning civil war.

Egypt and a handful of European nations launched emergency airlifts and sent ships to handle the chaotic exodus. UN refugee agency spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said over 180,000 refugees have reached the border. Beyonce donates Gaddafi fee Beyonce says she donated money she received for performing for the Gaddafi clan to Haiti relief efforts more than a year ago. The superstar made the revelation in a statement on Wednesday to The Associated Press. Her announcement comes days after singer Nelly Furtado tweeted that she had gotten $US1 million from the Gaddafi clan to perform in Italy in 2007. Furtado says she's donating that money to charity.

Beyonce's publicist says she performed at a private party on the island of St Barts on New Year's Eve in 2009. Once it was revealed that the performance was linked to the Gaddafi family, she gave the money and commissions to earthquake relief in Haiti. Loading Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is being investigated for possible war crimes. AFP/AP