The witness, a resident of the capital, Tripoli, said the blasts apparently struck near the airport, where Qaddafi has military camps and forces encircling the capital.

“Over the past days, we didn’t hear any explosions except for planes flying in the sky, but no raids,” said the resident, who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals by the government.

The explosions could be NATO airstrikes on targets held by Qaddafi.

Libyan rebels have been pleading for more NATO airstrikes as top Western and Arab envoys gather in Qatar’s capital to discuss ways to end the Libyan crisis.

Mohamed Ismail Tajouri, a 54-year-old businessman who joined the rebels in their stronghold of Benghazi, said having a rebel delegation attend the Qatar meeting amounts to key international recognition.

“We are proud of this,” he told The Associated Press.

“This political development is really good for the rebels but the Qaddafi regime is not normal. He is a bloody creature, he won’t leave until he spills some blood.” The meeting comes as fighting on the eastern side of the country has been restricted to the occasional barrage of rockets, in contrast to the rapid advances and retreats that characterized much of the fighting there in past weeks.

Qaddafi’s forces, however, continued to shell the besieged city of Misrata in recent days. International groups are warning of a dire humanitarian crisis in Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city and the only city in western Libya that is still partially in the hands of rebels.

At Wednesday’s meeting, a spokesman for Libyan rebels urged the US military to reassert a stronger role in the NATO-led air campaign or risk more civilian casualties in the fighting between Qaddafi and forces seeking to end his four-decade rule.

The appeal by the spokesman, Mahmoud Shammam, appeared to set the urgent tone for the rebels’ meetings with the UN’s secretary-general and other top envoys.

While peace efforts remain the top objective, there also appears to be a shift toward trying to boost the rebels’ firepower to protect their territory from government offensives. One proposal noted by Italy — Libya’s former colonial ruler — calls for allies providing defensive weapons.