EU, US begin planning for post-Gaddafi Libya

The European Union is actively planning for a Libya without Muammar Gaddafi following the rapid advance of rebel forces over the weekend.

"We seem to be witnessing the last moments of the Gaddafi regime and we call on Gaddafi to step down without further delay and avoid further bloodshed," Michael Mann, a spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, said on Monday.

"We have post-Gadaffi planning going on ... we do have a number of scenarios that we have worked in terms of our assistance post-Gadaffi," he said.

The EU urged the rebels to act responsibly and protect civilians as they push into the capital Tripoli.

Britain urged the rebel Libyan National Transitional Council to maintain order and not pursue reprisals after rebel fighters swept into the heart of the capital Tripoli on Monday.

Fears surface that rebels aren't ready to lead

Britain, which has played a lead role in international efforts to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, wants to avoid a repeat of the chaos and bloodshed in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"The first and most important thing is to make sure that civil order is preserved, that there is food, that there is water, there is power -- all the things that people need to make sure their daily lives go on," UK Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt told BBC TV.

"The evidence of what has happened in other cities would suggest that when the National Transitional Council has been in charge instead of the Gaddafi regime things have worked perfectly well, perfectly smoothly," he added.

Western powers have been intensifying planning for post-Gaddafi Libya in recent days in response to a rapid succession of rebel victories around Tripoli, according to officials involved in the talks.

The NATO alliance on Friday authorized formal planning for post-Gaddafi Libya and TNC members were due to meet officials from the United States, Britain, Jordan and United Arab Emirates to discuss "day-after" planning in Dubai this week.

The White House believes that unless transition plans are firmed up quickly, post-Gaddafi Libya may be chaotic and it may be impossible to fulfill the West's promise to protect Libya's people from humanitarian crisis.

Some US and European officials fear Libya's opposition movement is not fully ready to govern. Their hope is that enough of Gaddafi's institutions will remain intact to enable the formation of a transitional government that can maintain a measure of civil order.