Libya: as it happened April 7

The Telegraph's rolling coverage of events in Libya from April 7, 2011, as behind-the-scenes moves against Col Moammar Gaddafi continued to intensify, with updates from around the Middle East.

By Andy Bloxham, Jonny Cooper and Barney Henderson10:05PM BST 07 Apr 2011

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• Nato airstrike claimed to have hit rebel positions, killing two
• US General Carter Ham says situation now a 'stalemate'
• British jets accused of destroying oilfield and killing civilians
• Former energy minister defects to Malta by trawler
• US refuses to pay heed to rambling letter from Gaddafi

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For the latest updates, visit the Telegraph's Libya: live blog.

22.05 That's it from us tonight. You can follow all the latest updates here from 6am tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

21.32 Two American journalists and a Spanish and a South African reporter have been reported missing in east Libya as the Gaddafi regime expelled 26 foreign journalists from Tripoli, the media watchdog Reporteurs Sans Frontieres has claimed.

21.01 The head of rebel forces in eastern Libya has claimed an air strike on a rebel position appeared to be a case of "friendly fire" by NATO forces but said it did not create tension between the two.

Wounded rebels being brought to a hospital in Ajdabiyah said they were hit by a NATO strike on trucks and tanks outside Brega. Abdel Fattah Younes, head of the rebel forces, said:

We are not questioning the intention of NATO, because they should be here to help us and the civilians, but we would like to receive some answers regarding what happened today...We would assume it was NATO by mistake, friendly fire.

20.38 Italian journalist Francesca Cicardi tweets:

2 versions of today's incident in Brega:NATO bombed rebels by mistake/Gadafi did it without NATO realizing...both shameful for NATO

20.09 A Libyan rebel spokesman, responding to a Turkish effort to negotiate a ceasefire, has said the rebels rejected talks with Gaddafi and demanded he leave power. Colonel Ahmad Bani told Al Arabiya television:

We respect the ... Turkish people's position but Erdogan's position does not express the opinion of the Turkish people.

We have established our position and previously said there are no talks before Gaddafi and his family step down or leave. I think (Erdogan) is not speaking in the interests of the Libyan or Turkish people but only in his personal interest.

19.46 Eman al-Obeidi, the Libyan woman who burst into a hotel full of journalists almost two weeks ago claiming she had been raped by men loyal to Gaddafi, has spoken to CNN about her ordeal.

The interview was facilitated by Saadi Gaddafi, the leader's son, and was subject to a government review, the network reports. Al-Obeidi said:

Everything they said about me is a lie...I am well-educated unlike the way the Libyan TV portrayed me. I come from a good family, regardless of what they said, I am also not mentally challenged like they said. Just because I raised my voice and talked to the media they blamed me and questioned my sanity. Nonetheless, I want my rights, even without the media.

18.57 Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the measures would be discussed at a meeting by a group set up to guide the international intervention in Libya in Qatar next week.

Erdogan also assured the Libyan opposition that Turkey supports their demands, following recent protests in Libya against Turkey by some opposition members.

Turkey initially balked at the idea of military action in Libya, but is now taking part in the enforcement of a no-fly zone to shield civilians and has volunteered to lead humanitarian aid efforts.

18.44 Turkey's Prime Minister says his country is holding talks with two sides in Libya, with the aim of establishing a 'roadmap' to achieve real ceasefire.

18.17 The US Treasury has now frozen $34 billion of Gaddafi's assets. David Cohen, the Treasury's top financial intelligence officer, said:

That money is frozen, Colonel Gaddafi and his government cannot get access to it, and we are holding it for the Libyan people. One thing that is clear is that we are not going to return these assets to Colonel Gaddafi and the people that are in power in Tripoli

17.41 Journalist Karl Stagno-Navarra tweets the following:

WORLD ALERT: Reports #Libya Oil Minister #Ghanem has had an #Italy diplomatic passport confiscated from him by #Ghaddafi

17:08 More detail is coming though on the rescue mission off the coast of Sicily after a boat carrying refugees Libyan refugees capsized yesterday.

58 survivors have been rescued thus far, but another 150 are feared dead.

The ongoing operation, conducted by Italian and Maltese coastguards, is being made difficult by a storm and rough seas. The weather is predicted to calm this evening, but night-time sea searches are notoriously inefficient.

Italy's Interior Minister Roberto Maroni earlier told parliament:

Yesterday's tragedy shows departures from Libya's coast are intensifying. These are all people from sub-Saharan Africa fleeing from places where there are wars and where humanitarian conditions are terrible

16:30 US General Carter Ham has been answering more questions at a Senate hearing (see 15:10).

When asked about the chances of Libyan rebels fighting their way to Tripoli and replacing Gaddafi, he said he "would assess that as a low likelihood".

General Ham also claimed recent bad weather and the constant threat of Gaddafi's mobile surface-to-air missile system had hampered America's combat aircraft.

Asked whether he thought the United States should arm the rebels, Ham said: "Not without a better understanding of who the opposition force is."

^{Primary school pupils hold posters of Col Gaddafi during a protest against Nato and coalition forces in front of the UN office in Tripoli.}

15:55 Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders reports 26 journalists were today expelled by the Libyan government 'on the grounds that their visas had expired'.

The watchdog also expressed its concern over one Spanish, and one South African, and 2 US journalists, who have not been seen since Monday.

Around 100 foreign reporters are currently covering the conflict from within Libya. Among them are The Telegraph's Ben Farmer, Damien McElroy, and Nick Meo.

15:45 Libyan blogger Ghazi Gheblawi (@Gheblawi) tweets:

Revolutionaries say #Nato not protecting civilians in #Misurata and #Nafousa, and it made mistakes targeting free fighters #Libya

15:21 More on the NATO airstrikes: Ben Farmer, the Telegraph correspondent, says Abdel Fatah Younis, the rebels' military leader, has recently complained that the alliance's command structure means that it can take up to eight hours for information to filter through the various levels to stop friendly fire incidents. The latest bombing appears to suggest that miscommunication could have created just such an incident.

15:10 General Carter Ham, the commander of US Africa Command, is currently being answering questions in the Senate.

Asked by Senator John McCain whether he believed the situation on the ground could be described as a stalemate, or at least an emerging stalemate, Ham said: "I would agree with that at present on the ground."

14:56 Intervention in Libya should make repressive leaders in the region rethink their suppression of street protests, according to Bernard-Henri Levy, the philosopher who nudged France into spearheading the action, who said:

The coalition bombs falling on Libyan military sites are also Swords of Damocles over the heads of other dictators.

14:41 Aid from Norway for humanitarian relief will be boosted to 10.2million euros, according to the country's Prime Minister, Jens Stoltenberg:

The situation in Libya is still critical especially in Misrata and other areas in northwestern Libya, where fighting is ongoing.

14:20 NATO has dismissed Libyan claims that Britain struck the oilfield, blaming Gaddafi's forces for the attacks that halted production. The eastern Sarir and Messla fields came under fire just as the rebels had sold their first oil cargo in weeks.

14:02 Both rebel fighters and civilians are reportedly fleeing Ajdabiya for Benghazi in their thousands as rumours spread that Gaddafi's forces are mounting a charge on the town.

^{Libyan rebel fighters load a missile launcher on a truck from the front line on the west gate of Ajdabiya (EPA)}

13:57 A Reuters reporter saw bloodstained stretchers being brought out of the hospital in Ajdabiya, where those wounded in the rocket attacks were being treated. Medical staff could be seen fighting to save the life of a wounded doctor.

13:24 Ben Farmer, the Telegraph's man on the ground close to thefront line, says "the rebels are furious" about the airstrikes, which he has been told have killed seven people.

The rebels had captured some armour from the early days of the war and were trying to move it towards the front when the airstrike hit them. The rebels are furious, especially after what happened last week. I've been told that seven people are dead.

13:19 NATO says it is trying to confirm reports that one of its warplanesstruck rebel tanks. Spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said:

We are trying to get more information through our channels. Details are hard to confirm because we have no boots on the ground. Our focus is on protecting civilians against the threat of attack.

NATO jets killed nine rebels and four civilians in the same area last Friday after celebratory gunfire from insurgents prompted pilots to fire in self-defence.

13:01 Rebels report five killed by pro-Gaddafi forces' bombardment ofMisrata.

12:33 Italian coastguards say hope is fading of finding survivors from the 150 refugees whose boat capsized off the Sicily coast yesterday.

^{Medics treat an injured rebel fighter at the hospital in Ajdabiya (REUTERS)}

12:15 Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has called for more to be done to help the rebels:

Gaddafi has clearly lost all legitimacy, his camp is disintegrating and we are seeing new defections every day. On the other hand his force and rebel forces continue to fight each other without any side winning. In this very indecisive context, it is more necessary than ever to look for a political solution and that is what we are working on today.

11:49 Rebels have now accused NATO forces of attacking their forces near Brega, killing two rebels and wounding 10, although some estimates put the dead at at least five. Rebel fighter Ali Sahli, 41, said:

It was the planes of NATO. They fired twice at our tank and blew up the tank's position.

11:24 Abdeljalil Mayuf, of the Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO), said forces loyal to Gaddafi attacked the al-Sarir oilfield, denying a Libyan government charge that it was hit by a British air strike.

11:05 Two blasts have been heard in Tripoli, shortly after warplanes flew overhead.

10:49 An oil industry source in Dubai has told the Associated Press that a Liberian-flagged tanker has left the eastern port of Tobruk, headed either to Singapore or China.

10:04 The Foreign Office says a contact group set up to guide the international intervention in Libya will meet in Qatar on April 15.

^{A rebel fighter uses a sighting device during a battle on a road east of Brega (REUTERS)}

09:41 Adrian Hamilton, the Independent's comment editor, writes that the CIA is increasing its operations on the ground in Libya while reducing its air defence role:

The CIA is coming back into its own, as is the State Department. What else is General Khalefa Heftar, brought over from US exile to put some discipline into the rebel fighters, but Washington's man? Who is wielding the greatest influence (to the fury of the French) over the Tunisian and Egyptian armies currently in charge of their countries but the Pentagon and the US intelligence? Even more so in the Yemen, where Washington is trying to effect an acceptable takeover from President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

We're back to the old days of the Cold War. Whether the inhabitants of the countries will be quite so pleased is another question.

09:26 Two footballers in Bahrain have been arrested and more than 200 sportsmen suspended for taking part in anti-government protests, according to a report in The Times.

09:19 Mr Shatwan, the former Libyan energy minister, has spoken of his reasons for defecting, claiming Gaddafi has no future, adding that none of his ministers now support him but some are too "frightened" to abandon the regime. The ex-minister also disclosed that the dictator has hidden billions of dollars in oil money in secret accounts yet to be found by investigators. He said:

Gaddafi has no future now. None of the ministers are with the regime. I will help the opposition in any way I can.

In an interview with The Times, he accused his former boss of ordering massacres in which up to 20,000 people could have been killed. He said:

Nobody wants to see this regime. There is no democracy at all. Now he is killing his people with tanks and bombs. His son Saif al-Islam used to be a reformer, but not any more. He is saying the same as his father, and they are all just playing games.

09:04 The Royal Navy amphibious assault ship HMS Albion has sailed for the Mediterranean from her Devonport base in Plymouth but the MoD has denied the move is linked to the Libyan crisis, instead pointing out a long-standing plan to take part in Exercise Operation Cougar. Tomorrow, the warship HMS Sutherland and Royal Marines from 40 Commando will sail as part of the same deployment.

HMS Albion - the ninth Navy ship of that name - can carry 600 troops and the deck can hold 31 large trucks and 36 smaller vehicles. It can operate two helicopters, carry Challenger tanks and can travel at 18 knots. (MOD)

08:53 Still no response from the Ministry of Defence about the allegations from Gaddafi's people that RAF bombs killed civilians at Al-Sarir oilfield in the southeast of the country.

08:39 Yesterday, I noted that the rebels had restricted access to the front line and suggested it might be due to increasing professionalism among their soldiers. However another explanation has now emerged: that they are concerned their positions are being reported by spies of the regime. One such incident apparently took place near Benghazi. Abdelhadi Omar, 50, a truck driver turned opposition militant, said:

Yesterday, everywhere we went, as soon as we stopped, they shelled us. (The rebels) figured out it was a spy and took him back to Benghazi.

Ayman Mohammed, a 22-year-old student also fighting at the front, said he saw fellow rebels wrestle the alleged spy to the ground and confiscate his satellite phone and two pistols.

Other rebels describe less sneaky methods used by spies to give away their position. Mohammed al-Jahri, another rebel fighter, said:

There are people who dress like revolutionaries and act like revolutionaries, but they aren't with us. They work for Gaddafi. They go out to the field with us and then they fire their rocket-propelled grenades into the air to give away our location.

Khaled al-Sayeh, a member of the rebels' Military Council, says authorities in Benghazi are currently holding around a dozen suspected spies.

08:03 The former Libyan energy minister, Omar Fathi bin Shatwan, escaped to Malta from Misrata last Friday by smuggling himself out on a small trawler, the Maltese Foreign Ministry has confirmed.

07:49 Nearly two months into their struggle to overthrow Gaddafi, the rebels lack a charismatic political or military leader who can articulate their cause and act as a flag-bearer for the people, Reuters reports.

^{A Libyan rebel soldier rides with a rocket launcher on the road to Brega (GETTY IMAGES)}

07:27 Arab states are being urged to train and lead Libya's rebels,with former British soldiers in line to play a central role, reports the Telegraph's political correspondent, James Kirkup:

It is understood that Qatar and the United Arab Emirateswill be asked to put military trainers into Libya to transform the disparate rebels into a coherent fighting force. Both Gulf states have already backed international action in Libya.

The training operation could either see troops from the Gulf states’ armies working with the rebels inside Libya. Alternatively the Arab nations could pay for private military contractors to do the same work.

07:20 The Libyan crisis has raised doubts about the Coalition’s defence review and could force ministers to reverse cuts including the scrapping of Britain’s Harrier jump jets, a senior military adviser has said, the Telegraph's James Kirkup writes:

Andrew Dorman, of the Ministry of Defence’s Joint Services Command and Staff College said ministers should be “brave” and revisit some defence cuts.

Dr Dorman, who lectures military officers who are about to take up senior posts, said ministers could restore the Royal Navy's Harriers and reverse “embarrassing” cuts to the RAF’s Tornado fleet.

The SDSR’s “unprecedented” cuts were based on an “assumption of conflict avoidance” that would keep Britain out of fresh military operations for a decade, Dr Dorman wrote in a magazine article. By committing British forces to action in Libya, the Government has gone against its own thinking on defence, he said.

07:16 The director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, has warned the US that Libyan agents could be preparing retaliatory attacks on American soil.

We want to make certain that we've identified these individuals to ensure no harm comes from them, knowing they may well have been associated with the Gaddafi regime.

07:10 If unrest in Syria turns into outright rebellion, analysts believe it could be the bloodiest of the recent changes in the Middle East because the country's armed forces will remain loyal to President Bashar Assad.

07:08 It turns out that the letter Col Gaddafi sent to US President Barack Obama yesterday was to appeal for him to end "an unjust war" - then wish him good luck in his bid for re-election next year....! He wrote:

You are a man who has enough courage to annul a wrong and mistaken action. I am sure that you are able to shoulder the responsibility for that.

Libya: Col Gaddafi's letter to Barack Obama in full

07:06 British war jets bombed a major Libyan oilfield overnight, killing three civilian guards and injuring a number of other workers, according to Tripoli's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim. He offered no proof.

07.00BST (08:00 in Libya) Hello and welcome back to the Libya live blog for April 7, which takes in other developments across the Middle East. We've been covering the conflict in this way most days for over a month. Feel free to get in touch with feedback.