Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Fear stalks Tripoli, celebrations in Libya’s east
Thousands of Libyans celebrated the liberation of the eastern city of Benghazi from the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, who was reported to have sent a plane to bomb them yesterday as he clung to power.
The crew bailed out of the aircraft after it took off from the capital Tripoli. It then came down southwest of Benghazi, Libya’s Quryna newspaper cited a military source as saying, averting a fresh bloodshed in almost a week of violence.
Tripoli, along with western Libya, is still under Gaddafi’s control and people there said they were too afraid of pro-government militia to go out after Gaddafi threatened violence against protesters in a speech on Tuesday night.
As many as 1,000 people have been killed in since the revolt began around a week ago, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said as world leaders scrambled to evacuate their citizens and disagreed on how to end the turmoil.
Also abandoning Gaddafi’s realm have been officials and diplomats previously loyal to the veteran leader. A small Libyan airliner turned away from Malta yesterday was carrying a daughter of Gaddafi, Al Jazeera said from the European island.
Oil prices climbed above US$110 a barrel amid fears chaos could spread to other oil-producing nations and choke supplies, which could dash hopes of any quick global economic recovery.
Trade sources said at least oil cargoes did make it out of Libyan ports over the 24 hours to mid-yesterday, however.
An air force officer, Major Rajib Faytouni, said in Benghazi, the cradle of the revolt, that he had witnessed up to 4,000 mercenaries arrive on Libyan transport planes over three days starting from February 14, London’s Guardian newspaper said.
“That’s why we turned against the government. That and the fact there was an order to use planes to attack the people,” he told the newspaper in Benghazi.
Hossam Ibrahim Sherif, director of the Benghazi health centre, told Reuters about 320 people had been killed in the city.
With much of the oil-producing east said to be under control of the protesters, an empty jail burnt in Benghazi and people let off firecrackers and honked their horns to mark the end of days of bloodshed there.
Britain’s Sky News showed footage of anti-aircraft missiles at what it said was an abandoned military base near Tobruk, also in the east.
Countries with strong business ties to Africa’s third largest oil producer scrambled to evacuate thousands of citizens and a Turkish worker was shot dead at a building site near the capital, Turkish officials said.
A British oil worker said he was stranded with 300 other people at a camp in the east of Libya, where he said local people had looted oil installations.
“We are living every day in fear of our lives as the local people are armed,” James Coyle told the BBC.
“They’ve looted ... the German camp next door, they’ve taken all their vehicles, all our vehicles ... everything. So we are here desperate for the British government to come and get us.”
Britain said it was pressing the Libyan authorities to reopen a military airport to help with evacuations and calling for a UN Security Council resolution to condemn the violence.
President Barack Obama was very concerned for US citizens in Libya, the White House said, and would look at UN sanctions among other responses to the government’s violence there.
France became the first country to call outright for sanctions. “I would like the suspension of economic, commercial and financial relations with Libya until further notice,” President Nicolas Sarkozy said.
But in the latest sign of international division over how to deal with Gaddafi, the prime minister of Qatar said he did not want to isolate Libya, where several senior officials have declared their backing for protests that began about a week ago.
Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi and a senior aide to Gaddafi’s influential son Saif were the latest to change sides.
“I resigned from the Gaddafi Foundation on Sunday to express dismay against violence,” Youssef Sawani, executive director of the foundation, said in a text message sent to Reuters.
There was no immediate confirmation in Malta of the report that a daughter of Gaddafi was aboard a plane which officials said tried to land on the island but was turned back to Libya.
Gaddafi has deployed troops to the west of the capital to try to stop the revolt that started in the east from spreading. In the east, many soldiers have withdrawn from active service.
General Soliman Mahmoud al-Obeidy told Reuters in Tobruk the Libyan leader was no longer trustworthy. “I am sure he will fall in the coming days,” he said.
Gaddafi, once respected by many Libyans despite his repressive rule, called for a mass show of support yesterday, but only around 150 people gathered in Tripoli’s central Green Square, carrying the Libyan flag and Gaddafi’s portrait.
Most streets were almost deserted and a handful of cafes appeared to be the only businesses open despite government appeals for a return to work sent to subscribers of Libya’s two state-controlled mobile phone companies.
“Lots of people are afraid to leave their homes in Tripoli and pro-Gaddafi gunmen are roaming around threatening any people who gather in groups,” Marwan Mohammed, a Tunisian, said as he crossed Libya’s western border into Tunisia.
An estimated 1.5 million foreign nationals are working or travelling in Libya and a third of the population of seven million are immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people tried to leave. “It’s a Biblical exodus,” said Italy’s Frattini, predicting several hundred thousand would seek refuge in Italy.
The UN Security Council condemned the use of violence and called for those responsible for attacks on civilians to be held to account and British Prime Minister David Cameron called for a formal resolution.
“The Libyan regime is using appalling levels of force and violence against its own people including using aeroplanes that are shooting at people,” he said.
Protests in Libya’s neighbours Egypt and Tunisia have ousted entrenched leaders, but Gaddafi, who took power in a military coup in 1969 and has ruled the mainly desert country with a mixture of populism and tight control, is still fighting back.
On Tuesday, he declared he was ready to die “a martyr” in Libya. “I shall remain here defiant,” he said on state television, dismissing protesters as “rats and mercenaries”.
Up to a quarter of Libya’s oil production has been closed, based on calculations from firms in the country, which stretches from the Mediterranean into the Sahara and pumps nearly 2 per cent of world oil output.
The White House said global powers must speak with one voice in response to the “appalling violence” in Libya.
But Washington has little leverage over Libya, which was a US adversary for most of Gaddafi’s rule until it agreed in 2003 to abandon a weapons-of-mass-destruction programme and moved to settle claims from the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Gaddafi said he would call on people to “cleanse Libya house by house” unless protesters surrendered. “Chase them, arrest them, hand them over,” he said.
New Zealand quake death toll rises to 92
The death toll from the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand’s second biggest city, stands at about 92 and could rise substantially, Prime Minister John Key told Sky News television today.
“The indications we’re getting from the police ... is that the loss of life could be more substantial than anyone of us had ever dreamed of,” Key said.
“They’ve been in touch with a couple of hundred families who have clearly indicated that they have a loved one missing and police have every reason to believe those people may be fatalities.”
Wrecked buses are seen in rubble on Colombo Street, the main street of Christchurch, today, February 24, 2011
“The indications we’re getting from the police ... is that the loss of life could be more substantial than anyone of us had ever dreamed of,” Key said.
“They’ve been in touch with a couple of hundred families who have clearly indicated that they have a loved one missing and police have every reason to believe those people may be fatalities.”
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Iran naval ships enter Suez Canal, says official
Two Iranian ships entered the Suez Canal today and were heading towards the Mediterranean, a canal official said.
“They entered the canal at 5.45am,” the official said. No other details were immediately available.
Israel had said it takes a “grave view” of the passage of the ships – the first Iranian naval vessels to go through the canal since Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Egypt’s ruling military council, facing its first diplomatic headache since taking power on February 11, has approved the vessels’ passage through the canal, a vital global trading route and major source of revenues for the Egyptian authorities.
The vessels include a frigate and a supply ship.
The decision was a difficult one for Egypt’s interim government. Cairo is an ally of the United States, has a peace treaty with Israel, and its relations with Iran have been strained for more than three decades.
Last week, the prospect of the Suez crossing was described by Israel’s far-right foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, as a provocation by Iran.
Four Americans 'killed by Somali pirates'
Four Americans taken from their yacht in the Indian Ocean by Somali pirates have been shot dead, the US military has said. US naval forces on the way to try to rescue the Americans heard gunshots and on arrival found the four hostages had been killed.
'I'll die here as a martyr': Defiant Gaddafi still in Libra.
EVACUATIONS: THE COUNTRIES PULLING OUT OF LIBYA
GERMANY
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said all Germans remaining in Libya should leave the country. The Foreign Ministry would assist their repatriation where necessary.
GREECE
Greece is watching the developments in Libya and is ready to repatriate Greeks who will officially request it, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
ITALY
Italy plans to send a flight to Tripoli on Tuesday to bring back Italians who want to leave Libya, a Foreign Ministry source said.
NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is planning to evacuate its citizens from Libya on Tuesday with a military plane, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Uri Rosenthal said on Dutch television.
TURKEY
Nearly 600 Turks were evacuated at the weekend from Benghazi where many Turkish firms are active. Anatolian news agency reported another 250 Turks were being taken by bus from eastern Libya to the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
UNITED STATES
The United States has ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Libya. The U.S. State Department, also warning embassy family members to leave the country, said protests, violence and looting were possible during the next several days.
YEMEN
Yemeni Television said on Monday President Ali Abdullah Saleh had instructed the national airline to send flights to Libya to bring home Yemenis and Yemeni students.
'WE'LL MEET YOUR SLAVES WITH GUNS': PROTESTERS DEFIANT IN EASTERN LIBYA
An anti-government protester who crossed into Egypt to escape the media blackout told how demonstrators had taken control of eastern Libya.
Suleiman al-Zugeilil said 'everything is calm' in the east and claimed protesters stood firm in the face of attacks by the Khamis Brigade, a special forces unit named after one of Gaddadfi's sons.
Mr al-Zugeilil provided The Times with video footage of protesters in al-Baida hanging the almost naked body of one of the Khamis Brigade from a bridge and said Tobruk had meet taken with little resistance by anti-regime demonstrators.
'After the massacres in Benghazi, the armoured brigade, which has tanks, joined the protesters in sypathy with the people,' he claimed.
'We want freedom, democracy and a peaceful transition of power. And we want a constitution. Every state has a constitution except Libya.'
In Tobruk, locals burnt the regime's HQ and chanted: 'Gaddafi you are a coward, send your slaves, we'll meet them with guns', in reference to the dictator's use of foreign mercenaries to quell unrest.
SUNNI CLERIC: ARMY SHOULD KILL GADDAFI
Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa on Monday that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Gaddafi should do so 'to rid Libya of him'.
'Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so,' Mr Qaradawi told Al-Jazeera television.
He also told Libyan soldiers 'not to obey orders to strike at your own people', and urged Libyan ambassadors around the world to dissociate themselves from Kadhafi's regime.
Famous in the Middle East for his at times controversial fatwas, or religious edicts, the octogenarian Qaradawi has celebrity status in the Arab world thanks to his religious broadcasts on Al-Jazeera.
GERMANY
Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said all Germans remaining in Libya should leave the country. The Foreign Ministry would assist their repatriation where necessary.
GREECE
Greece is watching the developments in Libya and is ready to repatriate Greeks who will officially request it, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
ITALY
Italy plans to send a flight to Tripoli on Tuesday to bring back Italians who want to leave Libya, a Foreign Ministry source said.
NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands is planning to evacuate its citizens from Libya on Tuesday with a military plane, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Uri Rosenthal said on Dutch television.
TURKEY
Nearly 600 Turks were evacuated at the weekend from Benghazi where many Turkish firms are active. Anatolian news agency reported another 250 Turks were being taken by bus from eastern Libya to the Egyptian city of Alexandria.
UNITED STATES
The United States has ordered all non-emergency personnel to leave Libya. The U.S. State Department, also warning embassy family members to leave the country, said protests, violence and looting were possible during the next several days.
YEMEN
Yemeni Television said on Monday President Ali Abdullah Saleh had instructed the national airline to send flights to Libya to bring home Yemenis and Yemeni students.
'WE'LL MEET YOUR SLAVES WITH GUNS': PROTESTERS DEFIANT IN EASTERN LIBYA
An anti-government protester who crossed into Egypt to escape the media blackout told how demonstrators had taken control of eastern Libya.
Suleiman al-Zugeilil said 'everything is calm' in the east and claimed protesters stood firm in the face of attacks by the Khamis Brigade, a special forces unit named after one of Gaddadfi's sons.
Mr al-Zugeilil provided The Times with video footage of protesters in al-Baida hanging the almost naked body of one of the Khamis Brigade from a bridge and said Tobruk had meet taken with little resistance by anti-regime demonstrators.
'After the massacres in Benghazi, the armoured brigade, which has tanks, joined the protesters in sypathy with the people,' he claimed.
'We want freedom, democracy and a peaceful transition of power. And we want a constitution. Every state has a constitution except Libya.'
In Tobruk, locals burnt the regime's HQ and chanted: 'Gaddafi you are a coward, send your slaves, we'll meet them with guns', in reference to the dictator's use of foreign mercenaries to quell unrest.
SUNNI CLERIC: ARMY SHOULD KILL GADDAFI
Influential Muslim cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi issued a fatwa on Monday that any Libyan soldier who can shoot dead embattled leader Gaddafi should do so 'to rid Libya of him'.
'Whoever in the Libyan army is able to shoot a bullet at Mr Gaddafi should do so,' Mr Qaradawi told Al-Jazeera television.
He also told Libyan soldiers 'not to obey orders to strike at your own people', and urged Libyan ambassadors around the world to dissociate themselves from Kadhafi's regime.
Famous in the Middle East for his at times controversial fatwas, or religious edicts, the octogenarian Qaradawi has celebrity status in the Arab world thanks to his religious broadcasts on Al-Jazeera.
Defiant Gaddafi blames world leaders for violence in rambling TV address
* Gaddafi appears on state TV as violence continues
* Reports had said Libyan dictator was planning devolve power
* Streets of Tripoli 'littered with bodies' as Gaddafi forces shoot protesters
* Libyan ambassador to U.S. says he no longer works for the leader
* Around 450 dead after 'massacre' in Tripoli
* Benghazi airport destroyed, says Egypt's foreign minister
* Muslim cleric urges army to shoot Gaddafi to 'rid Libya of him'
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has attacked the international community and said he has no plans to step down after hundreds were killed when his supporters opened fire on anti-government protesters in Tripoli.
Less than a day after a bizarre appearance in which he insisted he had remained in the Libyan capital, after reports he had fled, Gaddafi addressed a crowd in Green Square and said other nations were trying to 'disfigure' the image of Libya.
The head of state had launched a brutal crackdown as his 41-year reign came under threat as thousands of Libyans took to the streets to call for change, with foreign mercenaries brought in to indiscriminately attack demonstrators and reports of war planes strafing cities.
Anti-regime revolutionaries seized control of the second city Benghazi and other communities in eastern Libya yesterday and Tripoli woke today to find bodies littering the streets after security forces loyal to embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi opened fire on protesters.
Scores of corpses had not been cleared away because residents have been warned anyone seen out will be shot, said Mohammed Ali of the Libyan Salvation Front.
He said eyewitnesses saw forces loyal to Gaddafi shot at ambulances and some protesters were left bleeding to death.
The colonel had appeared on Libyan TV last night to insist he is still in the country, while Tripoli blazed and his troops were allegedly shooting, bombing and strafing civilian demonstrators.
But after widespread international criticism of Gaddafi's violent crackdown on the protests and the resignations of several of the country's ambassadors, the 68-year-old leader delivered a rambling speech today in which he praised the revolutionaries before railing against the international community and Libya's enemies.
He claimed his own home had been bombed by 'superpowers' and said said 'rats' had been paid to disfigure the reputation of Libya.
As Gaddafi spoke, it emerged a 'Libyan naval asset' had been spotted of the Maltese coast, a day after two fighter jets landed on the island after defecting from the Libyan military.
Gaddafi's appearance in Green Square followed reports that mercenaries from Russia and former Soviet nations were fighting Libyan protesters on behalf of Gaddafi.
Eastern European gunmen have been spotted with black African mercenaries from French-speaking African nations such as Chad and were believed to have received up to £18,000 each to prop up the regime.
The Libyan side of the Egyptian border was controlled on Tuesday by anti-Gaddafi rebels armed with clubs and Kalashnikov rifles who welcomed visitors from Egypt, a Reuters correspondent who crossed into Libya reported.
One held up a picture of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, upside down, and defaced with the words 'the butcher tyrant, murderer of Libyans', the correspondent said when passing through the town of Musaid, just inside the Libyan side of the border. The men were welcoming and waved cars through.
It has been reported that Iran has stopped its oil activities in Libya with the intention of evacuating staff in the next 48 hours while Opec is considering an extraordinary meeting to discuss raising its oil output, according to Italian government sources.
As the fighting intensified Libya, cracks appeared among Gaddafi supporters, with some ambassadors resigning and calling for his removal.
Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the U.S. today said he was resigning 'from serving the current dictatorship regime'
'But I will never resign from serving our people until their voices reach the whole world, until their goals are achieved,' he said on ABC television's Good Morning America. 'I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone.'
But amid reports that he had fled to Venezuela, Gaddafi appeared on state TV earlier to insist: 'I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs.
'I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing.'
He gave the brief statement in a bizarre 22-second TV interview while holding an umbrella and sitting in the front seat of a van, which appeared to be outside his residence in Tripoli.
Gaddafi spoke out after reports suggested a massacre had taken place in the city’s Green Square and left more than 60 dead, taking the death toll across the country to more than 450.
One protester told Al Jazeera: 'What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead.
'Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth,' he said. 'Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you.'
Security forces appeared to be preparing a major assault in the capital last night, as state TV said troops had 'stormed the hideouts of the saboteurs'. Snipers took up positions on rooftops and jets swooped low over rooftops, apparently trying to stop more opposition activists joining those who are already overwhelming the city.
Protesters called for another demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gaddafi's residence, but witnesses described a scene of intimidation, with helicopters hovering above the main seaside boulevard and pro-Gaddafi gunmen firing from moving cars and even shooting at the facades of homes to terrify the population.
Youths trying to gather in the streets were forced to scatter and run for cover by the gunfire, according to several witnesses who said people wept over the bodies of the dead left in the street.
A statement from Libyan state TV claimed reports of widespread bloodshed were 'baseless lies' by foreign media outlets.
'You should know that this is part of the psychological warfare, lies and rumours which you should resist because they are aimed at demolishing your morale, stability and blessings for which they envy you,' it read.
'Rumours are a poison which you should not drink. False news peddled by satellite TVs are arrows which you should deflect towards their throats.'
Runways at Benghazi airport have been destroyed in the violence and passenger planes cannot land there, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said today.
'Regarding east of Libya, the Benghazi airport runways have been destroyed. It is not possible for Egyptair flights or any other flights to land in that airport,' he told a news conference.
Witness statements from the ground have reported foreign mercenaries, many of whom are from Chad and Darfur, patrolling the streets and attacking demonstrators.
A Libyan man who gave his name as Ali and lives in a Tripoli suiburb, told 972 magazine: 'Gaddafi obviously does not have any limits. We knew he was crazy, but it's still a terrible shock to see him turning mercenaries on his own people and just mowing down unarmed demonstrators.
'So yeah, we knew he was crazy. But maybe we did not realize he was that crazy. It's a scary and devastating feeling to be here now.'
There were reports that the Libyan ambassador to London and his staff had resigned and joined protesters as one activist raised a flag of the pre-Gaddafi Libya at the country's British embassy yesterday.
Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gaddafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for 'the mass killings in Libya'.
'Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people,' Mr al-Houni said in a statement.
Libya's ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, said he resigned because he could not tolerate the authorities 'killing peaceful people'.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera: 'I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler'.
And the Libyan Embassy in Malaysia distanced itself from the regime, issuing a statement strongly condemning 'the barbaric, criminal massacre' of civilians. However, none of the embassy's diplomats quit.
About 250 protesters stormed into the Libyan Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, chanting and calling for Gadhafi to step down, a counselor at the embassy told CNN. Osama Ahmed said the majority of the protesters were Libyan students studying in Malaysia. The protests were relatively peaceful, and embassy security let the protesters in for two hours.
And a top Libyan diplomat stationed in China said Tuesday he had resigned to protest his government's violent crackdown on protesters and called on Gadhafi to step down and leave the country.
Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, who was the second secretary in the Libyan mission to Beijing before he stepped down four days ago, joined about 20 students and protesters in front of the Libyan Embassy in Beijing Tuesday. Demonstrators held signs that read: 'The game is over. Get out ... you're finished'.
Senior clerics within Libya issued a fatwa against the Gaddafi regime. And two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta, where their crew sought political asylum.
Gaddafi himself was earlier said to have left for his home town in the south of the country – or even the rogue South American state of Venezuela, according to British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The chaos engulfing the country prompted many foreigners to flee.
The Italian government has since confirmed it will send an air force jet to Benghazi to evacuate its expatriates in the second city.
Oil companies, including Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and U.K.-based BP have also begun evacuating their expat workers or their families or both.
The impact of the violent events was felt outside the Middle East, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also saying it was 'time to stop the unacceptable bloodshed in Libya'.
UN Security General Ban Ki-moon said the regime's response to the uprising was a 'serious violation of international humanitarian law' and it has been confirmed the Security Council will consult on Libya today.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay added widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population 'may amount to crimes against humanity'.
In a statement Tuesday she condemned the 'callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protesters.'
David Cameron also condemned the brutal suppression, describing it as ‘completely appalling and unacceptable’.
Speaking as he became the first foreign leader to visit neighbouring Egypt since the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, the Prime Minister said: ‘I call on them even at this late stage to stop.
'People’s aspirations for greater democracy, for greater freedom, for greater rights should be met with reform not repression.’
But Mr Cameron was accused of hypocrisy after it emerged that he had taken representatives of eight defence firms with him on his Middle East tour.
Critics pointed out that Gaddafi may well have been using British-made weapons to attack his fellow countrymen.
Anti-government protests have also broken out in the central town of Ras Lanuf, the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex, Libya’s Quryna newspaper reported on its internet site.
In signs of disagreement inside Libya’s ruling elite, the justice minister resigned in protest at the ‘excessive use of violence’ against protesters.
A coalition of Libyan Muslim leaders told all Muslims it was their duty to rebel against the Libyan leadership because of its ‘bloody crimes against humanity’.
* Reports had said Libyan dictator was planning devolve power
* Streets of Tripoli 'littered with bodies' as Gaddafi forces shoot protesters
* Libyan ambassador to U.S. says he no longer works for the leader
* Around 450 dead after 'massacre' in Tripoli
* Benghazi airport destroyed, says Egypt's foreign minister
* Muslim cleric urges army to shoot Gaddafi to 'rid Libya of him'
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has attacked the international community and said he has no plans to step down after hundreds were killed when his supporters opened fire on anti-government protesters in Tripoli.
Less than a day after a bizarre appearance in which he insisted he had remained in the Libyan capital, after reports he had fled, Gaddafi addressed a crowd in Green Square and said other nations were trying to 'disfigure' the image of Libya.
The head of state had launched a brutal crackdown as his 41-year reign came under threat as thousands of Libyans took to the streets to call for change, with foreign mercenaries brought in to indiscriminately attack demonstrators and reports of war planes strafing cities.
'I'm staying': Colonel Gaddafi was interviewed sitting in the front seat of van. He insisted he was still in Tripoli
Anti-regime revolutionaries seized control of the second city Benghazi and other communities in eastern Libya yesterday and Tripoli woke today to find bodies littering the streets after security forces loyal to embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi opened fire on protesters.
Scores of corpses had not been cleared away because residents have been warned anyone seen out will be shot, said Mohammed Ali of the Libyan Salvation Front.
He said eyewitnesses saw forces loyal to Gaddafi shot at ambulances and some protesters were left bleeding to death.
The colonel had appeared on Libyan TV last night to insist he is still in the country, while Tripoli blazed and his troops were allegedly shooting, bombing and strafing civilian demonstrators.
But after widespread international criticism of Gaddafi's violent crackdown on the protests and the resignations of several of the country's ambassadors, the 68-year-old leader delivered a rambling speech today in which he praised the revolutionaries before railing against the international community and Libya's enemies.
He claimed his own home had been bombed by 'superpowers' and said said 'rats' had been paid to disfigure the reputation of Libya.
As Gaddafi spoke, it emerged a 'Libyan naval asset' had been spotted of the Maltese coast, a day after two fighter jets landed on the island after defecting from the Libyan military.
Gaddafi's appearance in Green Square followed reports that mercenaries from Russia and former Soviet nations were fighting Libyan protesters on behalf of Gaddafi.
Eastern European gunmen have been spotted with black African mercenaries from French-speaking African nations such as Chad and were believed to have received up to £18,000 each to prop up the regime.
The Libyan side of the Egyptian border was controlled on Tuesday by anti-Gaddafi rebels armed with clubs and Kalashnikov rifles who welcomed visitors from Egypt, a Reuters correspondent who crossed into Libya reported.
One held up a picture of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, upside down, and defaced with the words 'the butcher tyrant, murderer of Libyans', the correspondent said when passing through the town of Musaid, just inside the Libyan side of the border. The men were welcoming and waved cars through.
It has been reported that Iran has stopped its oil activities in Libya with the intention of evacuating staff in the next 48 hours while Opec is considering an extraordinary meeting to discuss raising its oil output, according to Italian government sources.
As the fighting intensified Libya, cracks appeared among Gaddafi supporters, with some ambassadors resigning and calling for his removal.
Ali Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the U.S. today said he was resigning 'from serving the current dictatorship regime'
'But I will never resign from serving our people until their voices reach the whole world, until their goals are achieved,' he said on ABC television's Good Morning America. 'I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone.'
But amid reports that he had fled to Venezuela, Gaddafi appeared on state TV earlier to insist: 'I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs.
'I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing.'
He gave the brief statement in a bizarre 22-second TV interview while holding an umbrella and sitting in the front seat of a van, which appeared to be outside his residence in Tripoli.
Gaddafi spoke out after reports suggested a massacre had taken place in the city’s Green Square and left more than 60 dead, taking the death toll across the country to more than 450.
One protester told Al Jazeera: 'What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead.
'Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth,' he said. 'Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you.'
Security forces appeared to be preparing a major assault in the capital last night, as state TV said troops had 'stormed the hideouts of the saboteurs'. Snipers took up positions on rooftops and jets swooped low over rooftops, apparently trying to stop more opposition activists joining those who are already overwhelming the city.
Protesters called for another demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gaddafi's residence, but witnesses described a scene of intimidation, with helicopters hovering above the main seaside boulevard and pro-Gaddafi gunmen firing from moving cars and even shooting at the facades of homes to terrify the population.
Youths trying to gather in the streets were forced to scatter and run for cover by the gunfire, according to several witnesses who said people wept over the bodies of the dead left in the street.
A statement from Libyan state TV claimed reports of widespread bloodshed were 'baseless lies' by foreign media outlets.
'You should know that this is part of the psychological warfare, lies and rumours which you should resist because they are aimed at demolishing your morale, stability and blessings for which they envy you,' it read.
'Rumours are a poison which you should not drink. False news peddled by satellite TVs are arrows which you should deflect towards their throats.'
Runways at Benghazi airport have been destroyed in the violence and passenger planes cannot land there, Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said today.
'Regarding east of Libya, the Benghazi airport runways have been destroyed. It is not possible for Egyptair flights or any other flights to land in that airport,' he told a news conference.
Witness statements from the ground have reported foreign mercenaries, many of whom are from Chad and Darfur, patrolling the streets and attacking demonstrators.
A Libyan man who gave his name as Ali and lives in a Tripoli suiburb, told 972 magazine: 'Gaddafi obviously does not have any limits. We knew he was crazy, but it's still a terrible shock to see him turning mercenaries on his own people and just mowing down unarmed demonstrators.
'So yeah, we knew he was crazy. But maybe we did not realize he was that crazy. It's a scary and devastating feeling to be here now.'
There were reports that the Libyan ambassador to London and his staff had resigned and joined protesters as one activist raised a flag of the pre-Gaddafi Libya at the country's British embassy yesterday.
Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gaddafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for 'the mass killings in Libya'.
'Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people,' Mr al-Houni said in a statement.
Libya's ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, said he resigned because he could not tolerate the authorities 'killing peaceful people'.
A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera: 'I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler'.
And the Libyan Embassy in Malaysia distanced itself from the regime, issuing a statement strongly condemning 'the barbaric, criminal massacre' of civilians. However, none of the embassy's diplomats quit.
About 250 protesters stormed into the Libyan Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Tuesday, chanting and calling for Gadhafi to step down, a counselor at the embassy told CNN. Osama Ahmed said the majority of the protesters were Libyan students studying in Malaysia. The protests were relatively peaceful, and embassy security let the protesters in for two hours.
And a top Libyan diplomat stationed in China said Tuesday he had resigned to protest his government's violent crackdown on protesters and called on Gadhafi to step down and leave the country.
Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, who was the second secretary in the Libyan mission to Beijing before he stepped down four days ago, joined about 20 students and protesters in front of the Libyan Embassy in Beijing Tuesday. Demonstrators held signs that read: 'The game is over. Get out ... you're finished'.
Senior clerics within Libya issued a fatwa against the Gaddafi regime. And two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta, where their crew sought political asylum.
Gaddafi himself was earlier said to have left for his home town in the south of the country – or even the rogue South American state of Venezuela, according to British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The chaos engulfing the country prompted many foreigners to flee.
The Italian government has since confirmed it will send an air force jet to Benghazi to evacuate its expatriates in the second city.
Oil companies, including Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and U.K.-based BP have also begun evacuating their expat workers or their families or both.
The impact of the violent events was felt outside the Middle East, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also saying it was 'time to stop the unacceptable bloodshed in Libya'.
UN Security General Ban Ki-moon said the regime's response to the uprising was a 'serious violation of international humanitarian law' and it has been confirmed the Security Council will consult on Libya today.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay added widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population 'may amount to crimes against humanity'.
In a statement Tuesday she condemned the 'callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protesters.'
David Cameron also condemned the brutal suppression, describing it as ‘completely appalling and unacceptable’.
Speaking as he became the first foreign leader to visit neighbouring Egypt since the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak, the Prime Minister said: ‘I call on them even at this late stage to stop.
'People’s aspirations for greater democracy, for greater freedom, for greater rights should be met with reform not repression.’
But Mr Cameron was accused of hypocrisy after it emerged that he had taken representatives of eight defence firms with him on his Middle East tour.
Critics pointed out that Gaddafi may well have been using British-made weapons to attack his fellow countrymen.
Anti-government protests have also broken out in the central town of Ras Lanuf, the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex, Libya’s Quryna newspaper reported on its internet site.
In signs of disagreement inside Libya’s ruling elite, the justice minister resigned in protest at the ‘excessive use of violence’ against protesters.
A coalition of Libyan Muslim leaders told all Muslims it was their duty to rebel against the Libyan leadership because of its ‘bloody crimes against humanity’.
Burned out: Libyans walk past a government building in Tripoli today after it was attacked by protesters
Changing face of Libya: Libyan protesters tear down a poster put up by Muammar Gaddaf on a building in Tobruk
On the move: A truck loaded with household belongings drives past a traffic policeman in Benghaz
Brothers in arms: An army soldier and anti-Gaddafi protesters pose in front of a tank in the early hours of this morning in Benghazi
Taking risks: Anti-government protesters demonstrate in the street in Tripoli in the early hours before coming under attack
Mean streets: Men loyal to Colonel Gaddafi are the shown on TV to be the only ones left roaming Tripoli last night after protesters were fired on by security force
Terror in New Zealand as huge earthquake kills at least 65 with fears that toll may hit 300
* PM John Key: 'It's heartbreaking'
* Up to 100 feared trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings
* Second quake in five months struck closer to the surface - and during busy lunchtime period
* Famous Christchurch Cathedral destroyed
* The Queen sends message of support
Rescuers are continuing their desperate search for survivors throughout the night amid the ruins of the New Zealand city of Christchurch after a massive earthquake that killed at least 65 people.
It was the second major shock to hit the city of 350,000 in five months, although it caused far more destruction than the first.
More than 100 people are thought to still be trapped in the rubble today.
'It is just a scene of utter devastation,' said Prime Minister John Key, who arrived in the city within hours of the quake.
He said the death toll may rise, and added: 'We may well be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day.'
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre.
'Make no mistake — this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,' he said when asked about possible deaths.
The Queen today said she was 'utterly shocked' by the disaster in a message of support sent to New Zealand prime minister Key.
'Please convey my deep sympathy to the families and friends of those who have been killed; my thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this dreadful event,' said the statement.
'My thoughts are also with the emergency services and everyone who is assisting in the rescue efforts.'
David Cameron also sent Britain's 'deepest sympathies and condolences'.
The shock hit around lunchtime - 12.51pm - on a busy working day, causing the spire of the city's historic stone Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street to fall into a central square, while multi-storey buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete.
Pavements and roads were cracked and split, while thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens and car alarms blared.
Ambulance services were quickly overwhelmed, and people helped victims to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris.
Buildings continued to collapse for hours after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck because of aftershocks and witnesses said the ground 'moved like wave'. Horrified, they saw buildings full of people collapse.
'Everything started shaking and it became more and more violent — it was like someone had got hold of the building and was shaking it and swinging it back and forwards,' said Barnaby Luck, a Briton.
Another UK citizen, Alec Allen, was playing tennis when the quake struck.
'There was a deep rumble like thunder then everything was shaking and people were screaming,' said the 53-year-old IT consultant from Ruislip.
'I looked at the court and all of this mud just seeped up through the ground.
'The court started breaking up and flooding with water and mud coming through the earth.'
Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. He said it was impossible to say how many people were trapped in the rubble, but that it was estimated to be more than 100.
'The government is willing to throw everything it can in the rescue effort,' said Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.
'Time is going to be of essence.'
Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the area, and residents throughout the city were urged to stay home or with neighbours and conserve water and food.
The airport was closed, and Christchurch Hospital was briefly evacuated before reopening. Power and phone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water.
Police said among the dead were people in two buses that had been crushed by falling buildings.
During hours of chaos in the city, people dug through rubble with their hands to free those trapped.
Firefighters climbed extension ladders to pluck people stranded on roofs to safety.
A crane lifted a team of rescuers on a platform to one group of survivors in a high-rise. Plumes of gray smoke drifted into the air at several points around the city from fires burning in the rubble.
'When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto
Christchurch, and there was just dust,' said city councillor Barry Corbett, who was on one of the top floors of the city council building when the quake struck.
'It was evident straight away that a lot of buildings had gone.'
Mr Parker said rescue teams including sniffer dogs were fanning out across the city and would work through the night.
Relief centres were set up in schools and community halls, where food was being served to thousands of sheltering people and donated blankets were being handed out.
In at least one park people - many of them tourists who had abandoned their hotels - huddled in hastily pitched tents and under plastic sheeting.
Mr Key said eight or nine buildings had collapsed, and others were badly damaged.
One woman said she phoned her family as she lay trapped, fearing she was about to die.
'I rang my kids to say goodbye,' said Ann Voss, in an interview with TV3 from underneath her desk where she was trapped in a collapsed office building.
'It was absolutely horrible.
'My daughter was crying and I was crying because I honestly thought that was it.
'You know, you want to tell them you love them don't you?'
She said she could hear other people still alive in the building, and had called out to them and communicated by knocking on rubble.
'I'm not going to give up,' she said.
'I'm going to stay awake now. They better come and get me.'
Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake.
'We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls,' he said.
'Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window.
'There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us.'
The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, collapsed and an unknown number of people were trapped inside.
Rescuers, many of them office workers, dragged severely injured people from the rubble. Many had blood streaming down their faces. Screams could be heard from those still trapped.
Witness Gavin Blowman said he ran into the street when the earthquake struck.
'It felt like I was running on jelly,' he said.
'We saw a giant rock tumble to the ground from a cliff - a rock that had been there for millennia.
'It fell on the RSA (Returned Services Association, a veterans' association) building - it was terrifying.'
The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor was centred three miles from the city at a relatively shallow and therefore more dangerous depth of 2.5 miles.
Two large aftershocks - one magnitude 5.6 and another 5.5 - hit the city within two hours. It was felt across a large part of the South Island, and caused damage in nearby towns.
The USGS said the latest quake was part of the 'aftershock sequence' following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on September 4 last year. That quake wrecked hundreds of buildings, inflicted an estimated 4 billion New Zealand dollars (£1.85 billion) in damage, but caused no deaths.
A strong aftershock in December caused further damage to buildings. The city, considered a tourist centre, was still rebuilding from those quakes when today's shock hit.
'The critical issue with this earthquake was that the epicentre was at shallow depth under
Christchurch, so many people were within 10 to 20 kilometres (6 to 12 miles) of the fault rupture,' said Gary Gibson, a seismologist at Australia's Melbourne University.
New Zealand's worst earthquake was one that struck in 1931 at Hawke's Bay on the country's North Island, which killed at least 256 people.
* Up to 100 feared trapped under rubble of collapsed buildings
* Second quake in five months struck closer to the surface - and during busy lunchtime period
* Famous Christchurch Cathedral destroyed
* The Queen sends message of support
Rescuers are continuing their desperate search for survivors throughout the night amid the ruins of the New Zealand city of Christchurch after a massive earthquake that killed at least 65 people.
It was the second major shock to hit the city of 350,000 in five months, although it caused far more destruction than the first.
More than 100 people are thought to still be trapped in the rubble today.
'It is just a scene of utter devastation,' said Prime Minister John Key, who arrived in the city within hours of the quake.
He said the death toll may rise, and added: 'We may well be witnessing New Zealand's darkest day.'
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre.
'Make no mistake — this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,' he said when asked about possible deaths.
The Queen today said she was 'utterly shocked' by the disaster in a message of support sent to New Zealand prime minister Key.
'Please convey my deep sympathy to the families and friends of those who have been killed; my thoughts are with all those who have been affected by this dreadful event,' said the statement.
'My thoughts are also with the emergency services and everyone who is assisting in the rescue efforts.'
David Cameron also sent Britain's 'deepest sympathies and condolences'.
The shock hit around lunchtime - 12.51pm - on a busy working day, causing the spire of the city's historic stone Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on Barbadoes Street to fall into a central square, while multi-storey buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete.
Pavements and roads were cracked and split, while thousands of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens and car alarms blared.
Ambulance services were quickly overwhelmed, and people helped victims to private vehicles in makeshift stretchers fashioned from rugs or bits of debris.
Buildings continued to collapse for hours after the 6.3 magnitude quake struck because of aftershocks and witnesses said the ground 'moved like wave'. Horrified, they saw buildings full of people collapse.
'Everything started shaking and it became more and more violent — it was like someone had got hold of the building and was shaking it and swinging it back and forwards,' said Barnaby Luck, a Briton.
Another UK citizen, Alec Allen, was playing tennis when the quake struck.
'There was a deep rumble like thunder then everything was shaking and people were screaming,' said the 53-year-old IT consultant from Ruislip.
'I looked at the court and all of this mud just seeped up through the ground.
'The court started breaking up and flooding with water and mud coming through the earth.'
Mayor Bob Parker declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. He said it was impossible to say how many people were trapped in the rubble, but that it was estimated to be more than 100.
'The government is willing to throw everything it can in the rescue effort,' said Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.
'Time is going to be of essence.'
Troops were deployed to help people get out and to throw up a security cordon around the area, and residents throughout the city were urged to stay home or with neighbours and conserve water and food.
The airport was closed, and Christchurch Hospital was briefly evacuated before reopening. Power and phone lines were knocked out, and pipes burst, flooding the streets with water.
Police said among the dead were people in two buses that had been crushed by falling buildings.
During hours of chaos in the city, people dug through rubble with their hands to free those trapped.
Firefighters climbed extension ladders to pluck people stranded on roofs to safety.
A crane lifted a team of rescuers on a platform to one group of survivors in a high-rise. Plumes of gray smoke drifted into the air at several points around the city from fires burning in the rubble.
'When the shaking had stopped I looked out of the window, which gives a great view onto
Christchurch, and there was just dust,' said city councillor Barry Corbett, who was on one of the top floors of the city council building when the quake struck.
'It was evident straight away that a lot of buildings had gone.'
Mr Parker said rescue teams including sniffer dogs were fanning out across the city and would work through the night.
Relief centres were set up in schools and community halls, where food was being served to thousands of sheltering people and donated blankets were being handed out.
In at least one park people - many of them tourists who had abandoned their hotels - huddled in hastily pitched tents and under plastic sheeting.
Mr Key said eight or nine buildings had collapsed, and others were badly damaged.
One woman said she phoned her family as she lay trapped, fearing she was about to die.
'I rang my kids to say goodbye,' said Ann Voss, in an interview with TV3 from underneath her desk where she was trapped in a collapsed office building.
'It was absolutely horrible.
'My daughter was crying and I was crying because I honestly thought that was it.
'You know, you want to tell them you love them don't you?'
She said she could hear other people still alive in the building, and had called out to them and communicated by knocking on rubble.
'I'm not going to give up,' she said.
'I'm going to stay awake now. They better come and get me.'
Gary Moore said he and 19 other colleagues were trapped in their twelfth floor office after the stairwell collapsed in the quake.
'We watched the cathedral collapse out our window while we were holding onto the walls,' he said.
'Every aftershock sends us rushing under the desks. It's very unnerving but we can clearly see there are other priorities out the window.
'There has been a lot of damage and I guess people are attending to that before they come and get us.'
The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, collapsed and an unknown number of people were trapped inside.
Rescuers, many of them office workers, dragged severely injured people from the rubble. Many had blood streaming down their faces. Screams could be heard from those still trapped.
Witness Gavin Blowman said he ran into the street when the earthquake struck.
'It felt like I was running on jelly,' he said.
'We saw a giant rock tumble to the ground from a cliff - a rock that had been there for millennia.
'It fell on the RSA (Returned Services Association, a veterans' association) building - it was terrifying.'
The U.S. Geological Survey said the tremor was centred three miles from the city at a relatively shallow and therefore more dangerous depth of 2.5 miles.
Two large aftershocks - one magnitude 5.6 and another 5.5 - hit the city within two hours. It was felt across a large part of the South Island, and caused damage in nearby towns.
The USGS said the latest quake was part of the 'aftershock sequence' following the 7.1 magnitude earthquake on September 4 last year. That quake wrecked hundreds of buildings, inflicted an estimated 4 billion New Zealand dollars (£1.85 billion) in damage, but caused no deaths.
A strong aftershock in December caused further damage to buildings. The city, considered a tourist centre, was still rebuilding from those quakes when today's shock hit.
'The critical issue with this earthquake was that the epicentre was at shallow depth under
Christchurch, so many people were within 10 to 20 kilometres (6 to 12 miles) of the fault rupture,' said Gary Gibson, a seismologist at Australia's Melbourne University.
New Zealand's worst earthquake was one that struck in 1931 at Hawke's Bay on the country's North Island, which killed at least 256 people.
Gaddafi defies revolt with tanks, warplanes
A Libyan Airforce pilot (5th R) walks next to his Mirage F1 fighter jet after landing at Malta International Airport outside Valletta February 21, 2011. Two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots defected on Monday and flew their jets to Malta where they told authorities they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said.
Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi used tanks, helicopters and warplanes to fight a growing revolt, witnesses said today, as the veteran leader scoffed at reports he was fleeing after four decades in power.
Warplanes bombed portions of the capital Tripoli today in new attacks in the Mediterranean coastal city, and mercenaries fired on civilians, Al Jazeera reported.
In the eastern town of Al Bayda, resident Marai Al Mahry said by telephone that 26 people including his brother Ahmed had been shot dead overnight by Gaddafi loyalists.
“They shoot you just for walking on the street,” he said, sobbing uncontrollably as he appealed for help.
Protesters were being attacked with tanks and warplanes, he said.
“The only thing we can do now is not give up, no surrender, no going back. We will die anyways, whether we like it or not. It is clear that they don’t care whether we live or not. This is genocide,” said Mahry, 42.
Hundred of refugees streamed into Egypt today, piled onto tractors and trucks, describing a wave of killing and banditry unleashed by the revolt.
“Five people died on the street where I live,” Mohamed Jalaly, 40, said at Salum on his way to Cairo from Benghazi. “You leave Benghazi and then you have ... nothing but gangs and youths with weapons,” he added. “The way from Benghazi is extremely dangerous,” he said.
Security forces have cracked down fiercely on demonstrators across the country, with fighting now spreading to Tripoli after erupting in Libya’s oil-producing east last week, in a reaction to decades of repression and following uprisings that have toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.
Human Rights Watch says at least 233 people have been killed and opposition groups put the figure much higher but independent verification is impossible.
The revolt in OPEC member Libya has driven oil prices sharply higher, with US crude for April delivery rising at one stage to almost US$99, around a two-and-a-half-year high.
As the fighting has intensified across the country, cracks appeared among Gaddafi supporters. Some ambassadors resigning and calling for his removal, the justice minister resigned in protest and a group of army officers urged soldiers to “join the people”. Two pilots flew their warplanes to nearby Malta.
Gaddafi’s son Saif on Sunday vowed his father would keep fighting “until the last man standing” and the Libyan leader appeared on television after days of seclusion to dismiss reports he had fled to Venezuela, ruled by his friend President Hugo Chavez.
“I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs,” said Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya with a mixture of populism and tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969.
World powers have condemned the use of force against protesters, with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accusing Libya of firing on civilians from warplanes and helicopters.
“This must stop immediately,” said Ban, adding he had spoken to Gaddafi and urged him to halt attacks on protesters. The Security Council was to discuss Libya at 1400 GMT, diplomats said.
Arab League ambassadors were to meet in emergency session in Cairo today to discuss Libya, and the United States and Europe have demanded a halt to the killing of protesters.
The violence has triggered a revolt by Libya’s diplomats, its ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, resigning over the crackdown and saying that African mercenaries had been recruited to help put down protests.
“The fall of Gaddafi is the imperative of the people in streets,” he said.
Demonstrations have spread to Tripoli from the second city Benghazi, cradle of the revolt that has engulfed a number of towns and which residents say is now in the hands of protestors.
Residents said anxious shoppers were queuing outside stores to try to stock up on food and drink. Some shops were closed.
In Tripoli, one resident said locals were patrolling their neighbourhood at night to protect it from roaming mercenaries, reporting sniper fire and the use of military transport helicopters to ferry security forces about.
“Gaddafi obviously does not have any limits. We knew he was crazy, but it’s still a terrible shock to see him turning mercenaries on his own people and just mowing down unarmed demonstrators,” one resident told Lisa Goldman, a Canadian-Israeli journalist based in Tel Aviv.
Cairo said Libyan guards had withdrawn from their side of the border. Egypt’s new military rulers – who took power following the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on February 11 – said the main crossing would be kept open round-the-clock to allow the sick and wounded to enter.
Trade sources reported operations at Libyan oil ports had been disrupted due to the unrest and others said gas supplies from Libya to Italy had slowed since late yesterday. An Italian minister said supplies had not yet been interrupted.
Shell said it was pulling out its expatriate staff from Libya temporarily because of the unrest.
The upheavals which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.
A flamboyant figure with his flowing robes and bevy of female bodyguards, Gaddafi was famously branded a “mad dog” by one US president and has long been accused by the West of links to terrorism and revolutionary movements.
But this changed when Libya renounced its weapons of mass destruction to secure an end to its international isolation and a rapprochement with western governments, keen to tap its oil and gas wealth and lucrative trade and investment deals.
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