Military action against Libya will come within "hours" and France will participate in the strikes, government spokesman Francois Baroin said this morning.

The strikes will come "rapidly... within a few hours," he told RTL radio after the UN Security Council last night cleared the way for air strikes by approving "all necessary measures" to impose a no-fly zone on Libya.

Baroin said the goal of the military action would be to "protect the Libyan people and to allow them to go all the way in their drive for freedom, which means bringing down the Gaddafi regime."

Diplomats have indicated that air strikes from a coalition led by Britain, France and the United States could be imminent. However, the resolution rules out sending in foreign ground troops.

Norway also said this morning that will take part in military action against Libya , Defence Minister Grete Faremo told the Verdens Gang newspaper. Denmark said it would await parliamentary approval to deploy F-16 fighter aircraft. Qatar and the United Arab Emirates said yesterday they would participate in the no-fly zone.

Despite the ceasefire calls, Gaddafi forces were this morning pounding the rebel-held city of Misrata, east of the capital Tripoli, after a night of heavy gunfire, a rebel spokesman said.