Also on Monday, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said his country was ready "to intensify its military action" in Libya by taking part in the NATO air raids against Gaddafi's military sites.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi looks at his sunglasses as he meets with leaders of the Social Committee of the People, hours after NATO forces flatten a building inside his Bab al-Aziziyah compound, in a pitched tent in Tripoli in this still image taken from video April 25, 2011. [Xinhua]

In a telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama, Berlusconi said Italy "had decided to positively reply to the requests by NATO to boost the efficiency of its military participation in the Libyan mission," according to a statement issued by the premier's office.

"Italy has decided to increase the operative flexibility of its planes by means of aimed actions against specific military targets belonging to Gaddafi's regime with the goal of defending the Libyan civil population," the statement said.

Meanwhile, Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci criticized what he said were attempts by the Libyan rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) to change his country's position towards the crisis, which was based on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of others.

"Some people in Benghazi supported by other parties tried to bring Algeria to change its diplomatic position, which is totally impossible," local El Chourouk newspaper quoted Medelci as saying in an interview.