TRIPOLI, Libya - The Libyan government spokesman said Monday that representatives of Moammar Gadhafi's embattled government held face-to-face talks with US officials on repairing ties between the nations.

A US State Department official confirmed the meeting took place but said it was only to deliver the message that Gadhafi must step down and no future meetings were planned.

The meeting came after Friday's decision by the United States and more than 30 other nations meeting in Istanbul to recognize the eastern-based rebels fighting Gadhafi's government as the country's legitimate representatives, added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.

Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli that the talks were held Saturday but he refused to say where or which officials took part.

"This is a first step and we want to take further steps," he said. "We don't want to be stuck in the past; we want to move forward all the time," he told reporters in the corridors of the hotel where foreign journalists are required to reside.

He described it as a "a first-step dialogue" to see about repairing relations between the two countries, which he said had been damaged by misinformation.

The US was an active participant in NATO airstrikes against Libyan forces starting March 19 that were authorized under a UN mandate to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi's advancing forces.

The US later turned over command of the air campaign to NATO and now plays a largely logistical role in the continuing airstrikes.

The State Department official said the purpose of the meeting was to deliver a clear and firm message that the only way forward in Libya is for Gadhafi to step down. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly.

Fighting continued Monday around the eastern oil port of Brega. An Associated Press reporter on the scene witnessed rocket duels between the opposing sides and the thick black smoke of burning oil terminals blanketing the sky.

In Tripoli, Ibrahim claimed that more than 500 rebels had been killed in five days of failed assaults against the strategic town. Rebels, however, have only reported a handful of casualties and maintain fighting continues in their attempt to take the oil terminal on the front lines of the civil war.

The government spokesman said the rebels attacked by sea using boats and along a desert highway and the main coastal road, but were bloodily repelled in every case.

"In these waves of attacks, unfortunately, 520 of the rebel forces have been killed in these five days," he said. "This huge number came because of the lack of experience on the rebels' part."

Rebels have reported not more than two dozen dead in the last several days and scores wounded, but nowhere near the amount claimed by Ibrahim. They also maintain they have partial control of the city.

"Do not believe the rumors, lies and misinformation spread widely by the rebels; we have complete control," said Ibrahim.

NATO forces destroyed a radar tower at the Tripoli International Airport in the early hours of the morning Monday because it was being used to target its planes, the alliance said.

Libyan officials countered that the radar system was not used for military purposes.