International political pressure is hitting the regime of Col. Moammar Gadhafi's Libya where it hurts--fuel imports that could be critical to sustain its war effort against the rebels.

In recent weeks, sanctions blocked a Libya-bound gasoline cargo while Tunisian activists forced fuel trucks to return empty to their North African neighbor.

While the sanctions have stymied access to cash reserves abroad and crude-sale revenue, they--along with political pressure from Gadhafi's opponents-- are also cutting into one of its lifelines.

Like many oil-producing countries, Libya has constrained refining capacity and has long relied on outside supplies for its fuel. It bought 80,000 barrels a day of refined products abroad in 2010, according to the International Energy Agency.

The civil war has worsened the situation, leaving many domestic refineries out of order or in rebel hands, triggering fuel shortages and forcing the country to search for more fuel abroad.

But late March, the "Breeze A", a tanker transporting products from Greece , was stopped in Malta on its way to Libya , according to an official at the ship's owner, Athens-based Ancora Investment Trust Inc. The Ancora official said the cargo "couldn't go because of the sanctions" against Libyan state-oil companies.

In Tunisia , activists who had helped topple Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January, also stopped three large fuel trucks that had come from Libya to refill, official agency Tunisie Afrique Presse reported March 31. The activists were concerned the fuel could be used by Gadhafi's forces against opponents.

Oil products are a well-known vulnerability for countries under sanctions. Last year, the U.S. enforced measures specifically targeting Iran 's gasoline imports. That forced the Islamic Republic to curtail its consumption and to forego lucrative petrochemicals exports for a boost in domestic fuel production.

But while Iran has long been helped by its nationals abroad, opponents to Gadhafi are actively scrutinizing shipments they suspect could be heading for Libya .

On March 17, a Libyan resident in Malta , acting on behalf of opponents, filed for a precautionary warrant of arrest for a tanker, his lawyer Louise Anne Pulis said. The opponents feared it was bound to Libya after rebels in Benghazi intercepted a fuel vessel destined for the regime a few days earlier, she said.

A local court acceded to the request, based on sanctions and humanitarian grounds, and the tanker was only allowed to leave empty, the lawyer added. However, Oiltanking Malta , which operates the terminal where the ship was stationed, denied in a statement that Libya was the vessel's next port of call.

Unlike Iran , Libya 's fuel snags also come amid a military effort--where gasoline is known to play a key role.

According to "the Prize," Daniel Yergin's epic saga on oil politics, the British feared they could be defeated in World War I because of fuel shortages. The Germans lost the subsequent international conflict in part because they failed to access huge oil fields in Azerbaijan and the Middle East , the book says.

Yet Libya 's fuel situation doesn't appear to have reached breaking point. The government imported 19,000 metric tons of gasoline on a Libyan ship, Agence France Presse reported last week, citing an unnamed official close to National Oil Corp.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires Sunday, NOC's chairman, Shokri Ghanem, said the Zawiya refinery was also still supplying the fuel needed for power stations.

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