2335We're wrapping up our live coverage for the day. Thanks for following events with the BBC, and remember that we'll keep on updating the news website with all the latest developments from Libya, the rest of the Arab world, and beyond. 2330Libyan rebel radio is reporting an acute shortage of fuel in Tripoli, according to BBC Monitoring. There are long queues for fuel and one petrol station operator has put up a banner saying: "No petrol after today".
2319The former leader of the UK Liberal Democrats, Sir Menzies Campbell, on Moussa Koussa: "If he did know something valuable about Lockerbie which pointed to his own guilt he could of course be subject to an arrest warrant." 2309US senators including John Kerry and John McCain say they are drafting legislation that would authorise the use of force in Libya. The 1973 War Powers Act says US armed forces must start to withdraw after 60 days unless explicitly authorised to fight by Congress. In the case of Libya, that mark would fall on 20 May, Mr Kerry said. 2259And Gulf News has a article on how rich Middle Eastern families seeking shelter from unrest at home are choosing London ahead of Switzerland, where there's been an erosion of the country's fabled banking secrecy. 2252The New York Times has a fresh news story taking in the swirling rumours of defections in Tripoli, and including the following wry comment from government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim on Moussa Koussa: "I don't think his sick leave included London." 2242The US travel warning for Syria (see 2207) points out that the Syrian government's attempts to dismiss the civil unrest as the work of external forces - a charge repeated in President Assad's speech to parliament on Wednesday - could lead to an increase in anti-foreigner sentiment. 2234Human Rights Watch has published an appeal for Saudi women to be given the right to vote and run for office, in light of the government's decision to bar them from doing so in local elections announced for September. HRW quote an election official as promising that women will be allowed to vote in the future. 2225More from Adm Mike Mullen: "We have not been able to see through the weather or get through the weather to be able to do this kind of identification" of targets, he says. "And that has more than anything else reduced the impact... reduced the effectiveness, and has allowed the regime forces to move back to the east." 2224US Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the weather has been hampering international air strikes over the past "three or four days", AFP reports. 2216Libya's most senior oil official, Shukri Ghanim, who is among those rumoured to have defected, has told Reuters he is still in place. "I am in my office and I will be on TV in a few minutes," he told the news agency by phone. 2207The US has issued a travel warning for Syria , urging citizens to avoid non-essential travel because of continuingpolitical and social unrest. 2157Libyan state television has broadcast footage showing a pro-Gaddafi protestor in London yanking open his jacket and vowing to turn himself an "explosive bomb", a video on YouTube shows. The incident is said to have occurred at the protest near the Foreign Office in Whitehall on 29 March. In the clip, which has been circulated widely on social media, the man refers to anti-Gaddafi protestors as "traitors and rats", and exhorts Libyans to "return to the Koran". 2149London Mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative, has weighed in on Libya: "I am worried that what we may be doing inadvertently is entrenching support for the mad colonel," he says. "I do worry that if we get into a stalemate, if the rebels don't seem to be making the progress we hope they would make, then we should be brave enough to say to ourselves our policy isn't working." 2144A medical student from Benghazi writes: "Living here as a 5th year medical student I can summarize what was happening at the hospitals during the times of intense fighting as a brutal massacre."
2131 A BBC contact in Misrata, Mohamed, says the shelling and killing goes on in the rebel-held city. "Misrata is still under fire. We are still being shelled. Tanks and snipers are continuing to wreak havoc. The whole city is in flames. I have sick children and they are terrified." 2115Omar, from Tripoli, Libya, writes: "Gadaffi is the same person who is tainting the Christian faith by calling what is a war of liberation for the Libyan people, a 'crusader invasion'."
2107 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee: "I am preoccupied with avoiding mission creep and avoiding having an open-ended, very large-scale American commitment in this respect. We know about Afghanistan; we know about Iraq." 2100 LibyaFeb17.com tweets: "BREAKING: 20 military trucks & Grad missile launchers stationed in Teejee district west Nalut right now - #Libya"
2058 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says he wants to avoid "mission creep" in Libya that might lead to an open-ended, large scale commitment, Reuters reports. 2051 More now from US Defence Secretary Robert Gates: He tells a Senate hearing that the US should not pursue nation building or try to direct the future of a post-Gaddafi Libya. "I think there are other countries both in the region and our allies in Europe who can participate in the effort," he says. 2047 Norway says arming Libyan rebels would violate the UN resolution authorising limited action against Col Gaddafi. "We will not contribute to arming the rebels," said Minister of Defence Grete Faremo. Norway has sent six F-16 fighter jets to help enforce the no-fly zone 2040 Al Jazeera correspondent Ali Hashem tweets: "While on the way from Ajdabiya to Benghazi i saw several trucks with Katyush launchers heading to the front Line #libya #feb17"
2038Kuwait's emir has accepted the resignation of the Gulf Arab state's cabinet, state news agency Kuna reported. As we reported yesterday, the resignation came after MPs asked to question three ministers - all members of the ruling al-Sabah family. 2031 Mark Knoller of CBS News tweets: "So long Operation Odyssey Dawn. Nato has renamed the Libya operation "Unified Protector."
2025 Jordanian journalists and rights activists staged a silent protest in Amman on Thursday over the detention in Syria of Reuters correspondent Suleiman al-Khalidi, who was arrested while covering Syrian protests. 2019 Tripolitanian tweets: "For the past 2 days - coalition has not aided rebels with air-strikes, #Gaddafi forces now heading towards #Ajdabiya"
2015Reuters has compiled a list of Libyan officials who have resigned or voiced opposition to the Gaddafi regime in recent weeks: Factbox - Diplomats desert Libya's Gaddafi 2010The crisis facing Libya's rebels is the subject of a new Time magazine article Kalashnikovs vs. Tanks: What Libyan Rebels Need to Win. 2001Libya's deputy UN ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who now supports the rebels, has told the Associated Press: "We know that most of the high Libyan officials are trying to defect, but most of them are under tight security measures and they cannot leave the country."
1937Libyan rebel TV reports that Ali Abdussalm Treki, who it says has followed Moussa Koussa in defecting (see 1824), had been a prominent figure in the regime since 1969. It mentions various past roles - foreign minister, minister for the African Union, and UN General Assembly Chairman - before Mr Treki was appointed as envoy to the UN. 1928Full quote from US Adm Mike Mullen on the impact of the international air campaign on Col Gaddafi's forces: "We have actually fairly seriously degraded his military capabilities, his air defence capabilities, his command and control capabilities. We've attrited his overall forces at about the 20 to 25% level. That does not mean he's about to break from a military standpoint." 1922The BBC has been publishing regular articles from a resident of Tripoli who we're not able to name because of safety concerns. With journalists restricted in their movements, the pieces give a rare insight into life in the Libyan capital as the conflict continues. Here's the latest instalment, which shows how humour endures amid fear. 1913More on the foreign office warning for Yemen. It points out that there are likely to be protests on Friday - which has become the main day for large demonstrations around the Middle East - and these could result in violence. The British government has been advising its citizens to leave Yemen since 12 March. 1905Yemen: The UK foreign office is urging all British nationals to leave Yemen while commercial airlines are still flying, "in light of the rapid deterioration in the security situation". 1902The head of the UN refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, has appealed for immediate humanitarian access to Libya. He said during a visit to Cairo that while some 400,000 people have fled the conflict in Libya "a lot of displaced people are inside the country and many people are trapped in areas of conflict in a desperate situation". 1852Here's a full version of the Libyan Transitional Council's statement in which it rejects extremism (see 1722).
1824AP is reporting that a statement by former foreign minister Ali Abdussalm Treki saying that he's resigning after being named as UN ambassador, has been posted on several opposition websites. (see 1420, 1422) 1807 Russia's permanent representative at Nato has warned the alliance against trying to decide the fate of Libya by itself, bypassing the UN Security Council, Interfax news agency reports. "I think that they still do not have a real plan concerning Libya's future," Dmitriy Rogozin said. 1802 The BBC World Service Newshour programme has an interview with the Vatican official who says 40 civilians have been killed in Western air strikes on Tripoli. Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli says he hasn't seen evidence of casualties but adds: "I received the news from a person I trust who has friends there." Listen to the full broadcast on Newshour tonight at 1900 GMT and 2000 GMT. 1752 CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli tweets: "Govt spksmn said #Musa Kusa left Libya on sick leave. We askd if any other officials currently on "sick leave"? He said no. We'll see."
1742 A former member of the Libyan embassy in London has told the BBC that the Libyan diplomat who defected on Thursday in London is believed to be Tarek Khalid Ibrahim Awad, who was first counsellor and deputy head of the mission. 1728 UK Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander tells the BBC the defection of Moussa Koussa "is an important sign of division and disunity [in the Gaddafi regime] at what is still a critical time in Libya". 1722 The Libyan Transitional National Council tweets: "TNC affirms the Islamic identity of the Libyan people, its commitment to the moderate Islamic values & rejection to the extremist ideas #libya"
1710 More senior Libyan officials are defecting, Libyan opposition TV says. BBC Monitoring says the broadcast lists several officials who it claims are "all at Tunisia's Jerba airport waiting to join Moussa Koussa and to announce their breakaway from the Libyan regime". The information cannot be verified.
1657 Dutch armed forces are to help maintain the no-fly zone over Libya, the government has announced. The Netherlands will send a mine hunter, a KDC-10 tanker aircraft and six F-16 fighter jets, the NRC Handelsblad website reported, citing a government statement.
1640The defection of former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is a "thundering blow" to Col Gaddafi's standing and the morale of his regime, Vivienne Walt writes in this article for Time. 1633 CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli tweets: "Whatever spin put on it, Musa Kusa's defection is huge blow which caught Libyan govt off guard."
1627 A fishing trawler packed with food and medical equipment has docked in rebel-held Misrata, bringing one of the first aid shipments to the besieged Libyan city since it came under attack by Col Gaddafi's forces 10 days ago, AFP reports. 1620 Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in London that he does not support the idea of arming Libyan rebels. "Doing that would create a different situation in Libya and we do not find it appropriate," he said at a press conference with UK Prime Minister David Cameron. 1610 UK Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Col Gaddafi's "henchmen" to follow the example of his former foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, and defect. "It tells a compelling story of the desperation and the fear right at the very top of the crumbling and rotten Gaddafi regime," he said. 1606 Here's a direct quote from Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim on Moussa Koussa's defection: "Mr Moussa Koussa asked for sick leave, because he was exhausted physically and he has diabetes and high blood pressure. The government, or the authorities gave him the permission to leave the country to look after himself, because he was in bad need of intensive medical care, and since he arrived in Tunisia, a day after, we didn't have any communications with him. We understand now that he resigned from his position. That's his personal decision." 1602 Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has told Congress that Col Gaddafi is not close to a military breaking point although coalition strikes have "seriously degraded his military capabilities". 1558 CNN's Nic Robertson tweets from Tripoli news conference: "Spokesman refuses to be drawn on rumoured defections of other Libyan officials - and there are MANY alleged defections."
1549 The Libyan government spokesman says of Moussa Koussa - who has fled to Britain: "We are his family. If he is feeling better we would welcome him with open arms."
1540 A UK government source has told the BBC: "Moussa Koussa is in a very fragile state of mind and very vulnerable." 1535 The Libyan government spokesman says Moussa Koussa asked to leave Libya to seek medical attention in Tunisia. "He did not choose to notify us of his resignation," the spokesman said.
1530 Libyan government spokesman says resignation of Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is his "personal decision". "Other people will step into the job," he said. 1528 Former US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley tweets: "Note to #Assad: borrowing pages from the #Mubarak and #Qaddafi playbooks is not likely to work. The #Syrian people are no longer afraid."
1514The Crown Office in Scotland has notified the UK Foreign Office that prosecutors want to interview Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa over the Lockerbie bombing. 1514 Al-Arabiya TV is reporting that chief of Libyan [external] intelligence Abu-Zayd Durdah has fled to Tunisia. There is no independent confirmation of the report. 1509More now on US Defence Secretary Robert Gates' address to Congress: He said other countries should be the ones to provide training and assistance to rebels in Libya. It is "not a unique capability for the US," he said. 1506 Col Gaddafi is warning that the West has started something in Libya that it cannot control, state news agency Jana has reported.
1459 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates tells Congress that President Obama has no additional military moves in mind beyond those already authorised. 1455A human rights lawyer who spent a year in jail in Syria, Haitham Maleh, has told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme that President Assad's speech on Wednesday was short on substance: "He did not give us what we ask him to do. He did not release the prisoners. I left my cell [ three weeks ago]. I left 11 persons like me in Adra jail. He did not release them. We have thousands and thousands and thousands of prisoners, political and for their background, in jail. Nothing happened. None of them released. It does not need to take a long time. How he arrest me, how he release me in a couple of minutes, the same thing must happen.".
1448 Defence Secretary Robert Gates's exact quote to the US Congress was: "I can't speak to any CIA activities but I will tell you that the president has been quite clear that in terms of the United States military there will be no boots on the ground." 1444 US Defence Secretary Robert Gates assures Congress that there are no US military "boots on the ground" in Libya but says he can't speak for CIA activities. 1438 Former US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley tweets: "#Assad says the unrest in #Syria is the result of an outside conspiracy. My people were tricked! Next he'll say they were drugged."
1429 In Syria, the authorities have said they are launching an immediate probe into the deaths of "civilians and troops" in Deraa and Latakia, two cities that have emerged as the focal points of protests, state media has reported. 1425In case you missed it, here is BBC Newsnight's full interview with senior Libyan rebel leader Maj Gen Suleiman Mahmoud on the state of his forces and the help they need. 1422 Mr Treki said in a statement: "I have decided not to continue work or to accept any duty. I pray to God to help me participate in saving this precious nation." He called for a national dialogue to discuss Libyan aspirations. 1420 A former Libyan foreign minister whom Col Gaddafi had appointed as his UN ambassador, Ali Abdussalm Treki, has refused to take up any official position and condemned the "spilling of blood", Reuters reports. Mr Treki made the remarks in a statement sent to Reuters by his nephew, Soufian Treki, a Libyan diplomat at the Arab League in Cairo. He said his uncle was in Cairo now. 1415Col Gaddafi is likely to be removed from power over time by his own people, as a result of political and economic measures, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said, in prepared remarks to Congress; Mr Gates has stressed removing Col Gaddafi was "not part of the military mission" by coalition forces, Reuters reports.
1405 CNN's Nic Robertson in Tripoli tweets: "Gunfire from Gadhafi palace complex, sounds like celebration, over gains in East, honking horns, squealing tires"
1403 A spokesman for the Libyan government, Moussa Ibrahim, has shrugged off Moussa Koussa's departure: "We are not relying on individuals to lead this struggle. This is the struggle of a whole nation. It's not dependent on individuals or officials. It doesn't matter how high-ranking they are. We have millions of people leading this struggle. And this is a fact. So if anyone feels tired, feels sick or exhausted and they want to take a rest, it just happens." 1358Rebel spokesman Saddoun al-Misrati has confirmed Misrata has been subjected to heavy shelling: "The city of Misrata has been subjected to heavy shelling and heavy artillery fire by Gaddafi forces throughout the night and in the early hours of this morning. The shelling stopped for an hour or two earlier this morning, but continued all the way through the afternoon, and including up till the last few minutes," he told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme. 1345 A Nato commander in Naples, Italy, says Nato is taking reports of civilian casualties seriously, but is acting within the UN mandate, Reuters reports. He also said "those acting against civilian populations in civilian centres" in Libya must stop. 1340 Coalition forces have bombed pro-Gaddafi forces near Brega, and they have been pushed back to the village of Bishr, west of the city, BBC Monitoring reports, quoting privately-owned online newspaper Libya al-Yawm. "Brega: Alliance forces bomb the hardware of Gaddafi's brigades near the village of al-Urqub to the south of Brega... Brega: Gaddafi brigades driven back to the area of the village of Bishr west of Brega," the paper said.
1333 The Libyan authorities must end their campaign to discredit Eman al-Obeidi, says Amnesty International, after the government said she was being sued by the security officials who she says raped her: "It is simply outrageous that Eman al-Obeidi is now being targeted by the very officials whom she has accused, with the apparent approval of the Libyan authorities. This looks to be nothing but an attempt at face-saving by the government. Instead of carrying out this smear campaign, they should release her and independently investigate her allegations. Eman al-Obeidi has effectively disappeared. We fear that she is being detained and put under pressure to withdraw her allegations."
1321 Mr Koussa flew to the UK aboard a private chartered executive jet which landed at Farnborough airport, Hampshire, from Tunisia, the BBC has learned. The aircraft left Djerba Zarzis international airport in Tunisia shortly after midday and landed at 1507 (1407 GMT) on Wednesday. The Swiss-registered Gulfstream G200 aircraft was operated by TAG Aviation. 1318Police investigating the Lockerbie bombing have told the BBC they would very much like to speak to Moussa Koussa. The chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway police, Patrick Shearer, says it would be unusual if they did not seek the opportunity to speak to a senior and longstanding member of the government in Libya. Earlier, a Downing Street spokesman said the government would respond to any requests from the Scottish authorities to speak to Mr Koussa, who is believed to have been a member of the Libyan intelligence services at the time of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. 1316 "Artillery bombardment resumed this morning and is still going on. The [pro-Gaddafi] brigades could not enter the town but they are surrounding it," the spokesman, called Sami, told Reuters by telephone. About the shelling on Wednesday, he said: "Many people were wounded. Massacres are taking place in Misrata." 1310 More from the rebel spokesman about the situation in Misrata, who says 20 civilians were killed in the city on Wednesday when shelling hit houses. 1305 Pro-Gaddafi forces are using artillery to bombard rebel-held Misrata, a rebel spokesman tells Reuters. 1257The Scottish prosecution service, the Crown Office, has released a short statement re Lockerbie. It reads: "We continue to liaise closely with other justice authorities in relation to the ongoing investigation into the involvement of others with [Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali] al-Megrahi in the Lockerbie bombing and will make no further comment on the nature of the investigation."
1244 A Libyan government spokesman has said Col Gaddafi and his sons are still in Libya and will "remain here until the end," Reuters reports.
1240 The BBC's John Simpson in Tripoli says Moussa Koussa would be far from the first person to leave Col Gaddafi's regime, but that the leader's inner circle remains, all of whom are related to him in some way. Mr Koussa was once part of that inner circle before falling out with one of Col Gaddafi's sons, says our correspondent.
1223 Our global media tracking service BBC Monitoring reports that Libyan state TV has apparently made no mention of Moussa Koussa's departure so far.
1220 In our latest news story, British Foreign Secretary William Hague says Mr Koussa - who is now in the UK - will not be given immunity from prosecution. 1219 Welcome to our live coverage of the continuing conflict in Libya. The rebels appear to be losing ground militarily, but the anti-Gaddafi movement has been boosted by the apparent defection of Moussa Koussa, a senior regime figure and long-time ally of Col Gaddafi. Stay with us for the latest news and analysis. You can contact us via email, text or twitter. We'll publish what we can. 1214 The news of Moussa Koussa's apparent defection has clearly delighted the rebels, says our correspondent. "I suspect what the rebels privately know now is that they can not win this on their own, they can not topple Gaddafi militarily. Their best hope is a collapse of the regime from within." 1212 The BBC's Ben Brown in Ajdabiya says the rebels are still coming under ferocious fire from tanks and artillery. They appear to be losing ground quickly, he says, as the regime troops slowly but surely move eastwards.
1204 Reports are coming in that the government of Kuwait has resigned. They had been expected to do so, to avoid parliament questioning three key ministers. We'll bring you more on this as we get it. 1200 Christopher Dickie, Middle East editor for Newsweek and theDailyBeast says: "Moussa Koussa has been in very, very close touch with western intelligence for a very long time" on behalf of Col Gaddafi. "If anybody knows where the bodies are buried, literally and figuratively, and where the money is hidden and all kinds of vital information like that, it's almost certainly going to be Moussa Koussa. He's the guy who can lead the west to the overthrow of Gaddafi, if anybody can."
1154 The BBC's World Have Your Say programme would like to hear your views on whether Moussa Koussa should be offered asylum in the UK after saying he was "no longer willing" to work for Col Gaddafi. 1150 Mr McCrum said the Islamist side of the rebel movement would be "just one interest in the wider political melting pot" in the post-Gaddafi era. He said they probably do have links to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, but added: "I don't think that they have anywhere near the amount of power they would need to try and take over the state and establish an Islamic state." 1148 Philip McCrum, associate director at the Economist Intelligence Unit, has said the rebels' political command "most likely" includes some Islamists. "Their stated aim for a long time has been to get rid of the Gaddafi regime, and so they have a common cause with the rebels at this moment," he told the BBC World Service. 1145 "I have collected several witness accounts from reliable people. In particular, in the Buslim neighbourhood, due to the bombardments, a civilian building collapsed, causing the death of 40 people," he said. 1144 Here's more from the Vatican on those reports. Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, the Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, told Fides, the news agency of the Church's missionary arm, that the "so-called humanitarian raids have killed dozens of civilian victims in some neighbourhoods of Tripoli". 1143 Nato has said it is investigating reports of civilian casualties during coalition strikes on Tripoli (see 1036). "We are making inquiries to the chain of command to see if there is any substance, but don't have information to corroborate [them]," an official was quoted by Reuters as saying. "We will do everything we can to determine if anything did happen." 1138 Relatives of some of the 270 people who died in the bombing of the Pan Am jet have said the apparent defection of Mr Koussa is this is "a fantastic day for those who seek the truth about Lockerbie." Jim Swire, whose daughter died, said Mr Koussa "could tell us everything". 1137 The office of British PM David Cameron has said it will be up to the authorities in Scotland and Libya to decide whether to pursue Moussa Koussa as part of their investigations into the 1998 Lockerbie bombing. 1132 The French defence minister has said France is not planning to arm the rebels as it would be incompatible with the terms of the UN resolution, AFP reports. 1130 UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said it is difficult to speculate on whether any other members of the Gaddafi regime are getting ready to follow Moussa Koussa if he has, as appears, defected. But he said: "I imagine there are many other people who would like to get out and are deeply dissatisfied with the regime." However, the worst thing he could do if he did know of plans to defect, said Mr Hague, would be to advertise it. 1126United Arab Emirates jets are at an air base in Sardinia, a French armed forces spokesman has said, without giving any detail on the actual deployment, Reuters reports. 1124More from Mr Hague who is still giving a briefing in London; he has said Moussa Koussa is in a safe place in the UK, and that talks with him are ongoing.
1120 The BBC's Ben Brown, who is near the town of Ajdabiya, says even with the help of coalition air strikes, the rebels are not making any progress; he says the rebels need the regime to collapse from within. "This is a country divided at the moment, between Gaddafi broadly who has the west and the rebels who still broadly have the east, but it is a stalemate, and there is not a lot that is going to change militarily. It is a country that is effectively partitioned at the moment."
1109 Mr Benotman adds Mr Moussa has been a key figure in the efforts to rehabilitate Libya as a member of the international community, and that his contacts with Western governments over the last few years had "really transformed his thinking about international relations and how Libya should act and behave". 1105 Noman Benotman from the counter-extremism think-tank the Quilliam Foundation does not believe Moussa Koussa worked for the British MI6 intelligence agency before he defected. Mr Benotman, who knows Mr Koussa, has told the BBC World Service Mr Koussa resigned because he disagreed with "how the [Gaddafi] government handled the situation, especially when the government turned on and started to kill its own people and mobilised the whole world against Libya. He does not want to end his career as someone attached to a government killing its own people on a large scale, using dirty force". 1056 Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said he is opposed to the idea of arming Libyan rebels, stressing Nato is in the country to protect and not to arm Libyans, AFP reports. 1052 Mr Hague has also said Mr Koussa's resignation as foreign minister shows Mr Gaddafi's regime is "fragmented, under pressure and crumbling from within". 1047 UK Foreign Secretary William Hague, at a briefing in London, has said Moussa Koussa has not been offered any immunity from prosecution by the UK. British officials are continuing discussions with him about his future, he said. He said Mr Moussa had been his channel of communication to the Libyan regime in recent weeks. Mr Hague reiterated previous calls for Col Gaddafi to go, and again encouraged those around Col Gaddafi to abandon him. 1037The French defence minister says the United Arab Emirates' participation in the Libya operation is confirmed, Reuters reports. 1036 A top Vatican official in Tripoli cites witnesses as saying at least 40 civilians have been killed in air strikes on the city, Reuters reports in Rome. 1035 In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has ordered the formation of a legal committee to look into lifting the decades-old emergency law, the Syrian news agency has said, Reuters reports.
1027More from the BBC's Nick Springate in the Libyan desert: "What looked like being a careful opposition plan with troops stopping, going ahead to check that the road was clear, is purely now simply a trap - and the same tactic used the other day when the rebels moved in to Bin Jawad, and then were mortared and had heavy artillery and they retreated all the way back to Ajdabiya. It looked again like there are no true tactics here, and that the rebel forces are now stuck in the desert, and will not be moving any further forward towards Brega." 1017 The BBC's Nick Springate, who is in the Libyan desert between Ajdabiya and Brega, says: "In the last few minutes, opposition forces who were travelling down the coastal road towards Brega have been hit by artillery. One round landed on their lead vehicle, destroying the vehicle, and without doubt killing those inside. The vehicles on the road have now retreated by a number of kilometres and are now parked up in the desert. There is heavy firing in the distance." 1012 Mr Straw said Moussa Koussa had had contacts with intelligence and security officials inside the UK Foreign Office during negotiations in 2003 and 2004. He said Mr Koussa was "certainly a man with whom one can do business". 1008 Former UK foreign secretary Jack Straw says it is important to ensure that members of the Gaddafi regime feel they can defect without facing immediate criminal charges: "You can either go on condemning people for their past work, in which case they won't come in from the cold and they may continue that work, or you accept certain political realities in the interests of a wider benefit - which is, in the Libyan case, the prospect of earlier stability in that country and fewer killings - and you start to embrace these individuals," he told the BBC World Service's World Today programme. 1002 Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reports 105 people, including nationals from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have been evacuated from Libya by the Russian ministry for emergencies.
0950 A petition hosted by activism site Change.Org is calling on Nilesat satellites to stop broadcasting Libyan state TV channels, with close to 57,000 signatures so far. 0944 Mr Tarhuni adds: "The port city of Misrata is suffering, and although three regime patrol boats were blown up by the international coalition, the coast is totally controlled by Col Gaddafi. The situation seems to be from a book or a movie. We sneak in under the watchful eyes of both the allies and Gaddafi's navy... The stock we take in is limited as large vessels won't even dare to dream about approaching the war zone. Misrata is cut off from the rest of the world and the only supply line is by sea from Malta." 0941 Taruk Tarhuni, a member of a team which provides aid from Malta to the rebels in Misrata - the only supply line to the besieged city - describes the situation there as "nightmarish". Mr Tarhuni says his crew has tried to smuggle in supplies several times, but managed to dock in Misrata only twice in the past weeks: "We approach the troubled waters very cautiously and then dash towards the dock, dodging the regime's patrol boats," he told the Times of Malta. 0930 The UK Chief of the Defence Staff, Gen Sir David Richards, has been asked about Moussa Koussa and whether his apparent defection is helpful: "I think that's a positive, don't you?" he told the BBC. Asked whether it was helpful for the operation in Libya, he said: "I think so psychologically. It's all about psychology. It can't be helpful to Gaddafi." 0925 The head of the Human Rights Watch mission in Libya, Peter Bouckaert, says the gains made by the rebels in the past week seem to have been lost: "It's been a remarkable reversal of fortune for the rebels in the last 72 hours. I was with them just three days ago as they approached the city of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown - we reached to about 75km (46 miles) away from Sirte, and suddenly came under heavy counter-attack, and since then, the rebels have basically been in full-on retreat. They don't have the weapons or the experience to stand up against the much-better organised Gaddafi forces, which are using heavy artillery and Grad missiles to push them back," he told the BBC World Service's World Today programme.
0915 In a statement, Nato's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has confirmed the alliance has taken over international air operations over Libya: "On Thursday morning at 0600 GMT, Nato took sole command of international air operations over Libya. The Alliance has the assets in place to conduct its tasks under Operation Unified Protector - the arms embargo, no-fly zone and actions to protect civilians and civilian centres. In line with the mandate of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, Nato's focus is on protecting civilians and civilian-populated areas against the threat of attack." 0912 Rebels have massed outside Brega and say their forces are still fighting Col Gaddafi's troops for control of the east Libyan oil town, Reuters reports. 0909 Mr Mattar adds "anybody who loves justice" would agree that Mr Koussa should stand trial before the International Criminal Court; "this is a man who knows a lot of what Gaddafi and his henchman did. He's called the foreign minister, but he might as well be called 'the foreign henchman'. If he is given asylum here, it would shake any Libyan's faith in Britain's commitment to justice. And many Libyans now see Britain as a partner in the future of Libya. So I think how Britain treats Moussa Koussa will be very important in that regard." 0906 For Libyan author Hisham Mattar, Moussa Koussa is not somebody who should be feted by the UK Foreign Office (FCO): "Moussa Koussa has been called many things; the most colourful are 'the envoy of death' and 'the father of Lockerbie'," he told the BBC World Service. "Very few of Col Gaddafi's men are associated more strongly or more directly with macabre violence than the man who now enjoys the hospitality of the FCO." 0904 Washington has refused to comment on reports that CIA operatives are in Libya providing covert support for the rebels. The New York Times newspaper says they're gathering information to assist coalition air strikes and making contact with rebel fighters. US media have pointed to President Obama signing what's known as a presidential finding as an indication that he's given approval for the CIA to help the rebels. 0857 Sir Richard Dalton, former UK ambassador to Libya for three years, met Moussa Koussa several times. He says he is a "complex, many-sided individual", who had been part of Libya's efforts to resolve problems with the international community: "He is an efficient and effective long-service security policeman, who has also had major roles in the course of the last decade, in Libya's international relations, particularly in helping to resolve many of the outstanding issues which were of the greatest important to the UK... like efforts to obtain access for the investigation of the killing of WPC Fletcher, and also efforts to conclude the issue... of getting the Lockerbie bombers to trial," he told BBC Radio 5 live. 0849 The international community is "united" on Libya, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has told AFP in Nairobi. 0842 And defected Libyan Immigration Minister Ali Errishi says the departure of Moussa Koussa means the Gaddafi regime's "days are numbered", he tells France 24 television. 0838 More reaction to the reported Koussa defection, this time from the former British ambassador in Tripoli, Oliver Miles, who says the news has real political significance: "It seems to me that the situation we've reached in Libya - or are shortly going to reach in Libya - is a military standoff between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces and it's going to become a test of commitment, morale, persistence and therefore the more that can be done politically to undermine the position of those who remain loyal to Gaddafi, the quicker we'll have a solution," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
0828Aside from the reported Koussa defection, the BBC's Kevin Connolly in Benghazi says the allied partners backing Libya's revolution against the rule of Col Gaddafi have seen little to encourage them on the desert battlefields in the last 24 hours, where headlong advance has given way to rapid retreat. 0824Nato assumed command of all operations in Libya from 0600 GMT on Thursday, taking over from an international coalition in charge since 19 March, a diplomat has told AFP. 0820 More From Jack Straw on the apparent Koussa defection and what it means for the situation in Libya: "It does depend on which side psychologically collapses. Now I don't think the rebels are going to and nobody wants them to, so it's about boring away inside the kind of brain and heart of the regime, and there is a tipping point, with all of these regimes, and I think Moussa Koussa's apparent defection, certainly his unscheduled visit here, will be a very important factor in just adding to the weight against the Gaddafi regime, tipping the balance against him." 0815 The former UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, says Moussa Koussa has played an important part in the negotiations which led to Col Gaddafi giving up his weapons programme: "I'm in no doubt that he has occupied a key position at the heart of the intelligence and security apparatus of the Gaddafi regime, and I am in absolutely no doubt that that he played a fundamentally important role in getting Gaddafi to agree to give up his nuclear weapons and his chemical weapons programme," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 0807 Gamal Moussa Koussa, the son of the Libyan foreign minister, has confirmed in a statement he read on the phone to BBC Arabic that his father, Moussa Koussa, has resigned from his position. 0758 LaGioconda78 tweets: "I #honestly don't believe someone can change. #Mousa Kossa was a killer and will always be. #Gaddafi & him should sink together.#Freelibya"
0754On the subject of Mr Koussa's apparent defection, the BBC's Kevin Connolly, who is in Benghazi, says: "The assumption in Libya is that Gaddafi will shrug off this defection because the loyalties that really matter to Gaddafi are his sons and the other members of the family circle, they're the people on whom he relies. A defection from that inner core would be disastrous for Gaddafi. But other defections he seems to be able to survive." 0742 Nato is expected to formally announce later on Thursday that it has taken over command of Libyan air bombing operations from the US-led coalition. 0738 Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa has been questioned intensively by government officials in the UK, after arriving unexpectedly in the country on Wednesday. He flew from Tunisia to an airport near London, saying he was no longer willing to represent Col Muammar Gaddafi's government. The UK Foreign Office is trying to determine whether Mr Moussa wants to defect, and whether his deep knowledge of the Libyan regime can be used to help bring about its early end. 0730 Good morning from London and welcome to the BBC's live coverage of events in Libya and unrest across the Middle East and North Africa. Stay with us for the latest updates - reports from our correspondents on the ground, expert analysis, and your reaction from around the world. You can contact us via email, text or twitter. We'll publish what we can. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mar 31, 2011
Libya and Mid-East crisis as it happened: Thursday
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