Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi waves in Tripoli before making a speech which he sought to defuse tensions after more than 10 days of anti-government protests in Libya, March 2, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

BREGA, Libya - Muammar Gadhafi's forces struck at rebel control of oil export hubs in Libya's east for a second day on Thursday as Arab states weighed a plan to end turmoil that Washington said could make the country "a giant Somalia".

A leader of the uprising against Gadhafi's 41-year-old rule said he would reject any proposal for talks with Gadhafi to end the conflict in the world's 12th largest oil exporting nation.

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China hopes all sectors of Libya can work together to solve the current crisis and restore order in a peaceful way as soon as possible, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu on Thursday.

Jiang made the remarks at a regular press briefing while commenting on the current situation in Libya and Bahrain.

She said there are three principles that should be respected in settling Libya's problems: the first is to respect Libya's sovereignty and territorial integrity; the second is to seek peaceful solutions for the ongoing crisis; and the third is for the UN Security Council to take the opinions of Arabian and African nations fully into account.

Political fallout

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Thursday announced the suspension of cooperation with violence-wracked Libya.

The Paris-based UN agency signed a partnership agreement with the Gadhafi International Foundation for Charity Associations in 2001 to engage in a range of activities in the fields of science, culture and communication.

"This partnership has now been terminated," UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova said in a statement.

UNESCO made the decision after the UN General Assembly suspended Libya from the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, according to the statement.

European Union foreign ministers on Thursday were summoned to an extraordinary meeting on Libya in Brussels on March 10, the latest in a packed series of talks next week on the turmoil.

As the EU shifts into top gear on Libya, the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the meeting of the 27 ministers would be held as "a working lunch".

The informal talks will "assess ongoing developments in Libya and the wider region" and prepare for an extraordinary EU summit called for the next day, March 11, a statement said.

The crisis summit of heads of state and government, scheduled for Friday, aims to seek a joint response on the turmoil in Libya while thrashing out a common policy for the future toward Arab states on Europe's southern flank.

Dutch marines held

Three Dutch marines were captured by forces loyal to Muammar Gadhafi during a rescue attempt of two European workers and are being held by Libyan authorities for five days, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday.

The two Europeans, one Dutch and one whose nationality was not released, were handed over unharmed to the Dutch embassy in Tripoli on Thursday and have left Libya, the ministry said.

The three were surrounded by armed men on Sunday after landing near Sirte in a Lynx helicopter from the navy ship HMS Tromp, which was anchored off the Libyan coast to help evacuations from the conflict-torn country, spokesman Otte Beeksma said.

Dutch officials are in "intensive negotiations" with Gadhafi's government to secure the marines' release, he said.

Reuters-AFP-Xinhua-AP