A new YouTube posting shows protesters in Libya burning photos of Muammar Gaddafi, who is desperately holding on to power from his sole power base in Tripoli as rebels form a transitional government.

Foreigners and Libyan citizens are crossing the Egyptian and Tunisian borders to escape the savage onslaught from Gaddafi’s remaining loyal soldiers and paid mercenaries. More than 2,000 people are estimated to have been murdered in the uprising that began more than a week ago and has cost Gaddafi support from virtually the entire world, including the Arab League.

Officers who have defected from the armed forces have set up a command station in the eastern part of the country, where most of the country’s oil resources are located and which is under control by opposition forces. The chaos has pushed up the price of oil on the world market to within 50 cents of $100 a barrel, the highest level since late 2008.

The United States and Europe’s leading countries are discussing the possibility of military intervention to establish a no-fly zone in Libya to prevent Gaddafi from resuming aerial bombing of opponents to his regime.

Establishing a no-fly zone would require approval by the United Nations Security Council, which last Saturday night imposed military and economic sanctions on Gaddafi. European countries and the United States have frozen his assets.