Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is in Britain and "no longer willing" to work for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's regime, the Foreign Office says.

He flew into an airport near the capital earlier on Wednesday.

He has subsequently spent hours talking to British officials.

His apparent defection comes as rebels in Libya are retreating from former strongholds along the eastern coast as Colonel Gaddafi's forces advance.

The rebels have now lost the key oil port of Ras Lanuf and the nearby town of Bin Jawad, and are also in full retreat from Brega. In the west, the rebel-held town of Misrata is still reportedly coming under attack from pro-Gaddafi troops, reports say.

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The rebel forces retreat in disarray down the Libyan coastal road east of Ras Lanuf which they gleefully advanced up only a few days ago

Libyan rebel forces retreated in disarray yesterday as the battle in the east swung dramatically in favour of Colonel Gaddafi.  The oil town of Brega changed hands for the sixth time in six weeks, as regime troops backed by heavy artillery won back most of the ground they had lost in recent days.

Last night Gaddafi loyalists were once again closing in on the key town of Ajdabiya, which they had abandoned on Saturday in the face of devastating coalition airstrikes.  Ras Lanuf and Bin Jawad had already fallen again.

As civilians began to flee there were reports that fresh Nato air raids were being carried out against the regime advance.

How things change: The rebels stream up the road on Monday towards Ras Lanuf after international air strikes forced Gaddafi's forces to retreat
Family affair: A large group of children and women sit on the back of a pick-up as they flee towards Benghazi
Rebels had earlier complained that they were not getting the air support they needed.
Their headlong retreat took place as foreign powers debated the legality and practicalities of supplying them with weapons. 
U.S. President Barack Obama said he was ‘not ruling it out’ while David Cameron said that the UN Security Council resolution might allow for the arming of Libyan civilians to protect themselves against Gaddafi.
However Russia warned the West against taking such a step, accusing allies of already overstepping their remit.
Any decision on the supply of weapons would be too late to affect the current crisis in the rebels’ seesaw fortunes  Once again, it seems only heavy Nato airstrikes can redress the balance on the ground. By Monday the rebels had advanced to within 75 miles of Gaddafi’s home town of Sirte, following a blitz of Gaddafi armour and artillery by the RAF and allied air forces.
Spirits not so high An injured Libyan rebel fighter is helped by comrades while a rebel driver wears goggles on the high-speed retreat from Ras Lanuf
Mad Max-style: Rebel fighters look out from their vehicle on the road between Ajdabiyah and Brega
They even claimed to have taken Sirte itself. There was giddy talk of Tripoli within days.
But since then the rebel volunteers’ lack of heavy weapons, battlefield tactics and communications, or even basic training has seen them routed.
During the last 36 hours the oil towns of Bin Jawad, Ras Lanuf and Agheila were all  abandoned. More than 100 miles of ground was lost by the rag tag rebels to the well-armed Gaddafi loyalists.
I witnessed the fragility of the recent rebel advance on Monday evening at Nowfaliyah, some 20 miles west of Bin Jawad.
A mortar shell landed a couple of hundred yards away. This prompted the driver of the pick-up truck next to our own car to immediately drive off at great speed.
Taking what they can: Rebels load a missile into a launcher close to Ras Lanuf yesterday as they make their speedy retreat
Riding east: Two rebel fighters, one sporting a clip of ammunition as a makeshift hat, ride a vehicle on the road between Ras Lanus and Brega as they made their hasty retreat from Gaddafi's forces
His companion, who had been sitting on the truck’s open back, described a neat somersault off the vehicle, landed on his head and was abandoned to his fate.
Within minutes scores of other vehicles full of rebel fighters were also streaming eastwards in panic. They have hardly stopped since then. What was hopefully described by a senior rebel officer as a ‘tactical withdrawal’ looked anything but planned.

Nothing demonstrates the amateur charm of the rebels more than the teams of women in Benghazi making tuna sandwiches in their thousands to be wrapped in tinfoil and sent up the road to where the fighting is. One will never go hungry on the coast road.

But the supply of ammunition and a unifying battlefield command is an entirely different matter.

Scores of pick-ups carrying heavy machine guns or anti-aircraft cannon have cruised up and down the coast road for days, their positioning at the whim of their crew.

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If there's an ammunition shortage, no one has told Khalif Saed. He was firing off a large machine gun welded to the back of a pick up truck, sending the contents of the heavy belt of bullets darting through the weapon and in to an empty sky.

If there's an ammunition shortage, no one has told Khalif Saed. He was firing off a large machine gun welded to the back of a pick up truck, sending the contents of the heavy belt of bullets darting through the weapon and in to an empty sky.

It's a regular enough occurrence on the open desert road along which Libya's conflict has swung back and forth through this month. Sometimes the stream of fire is celebratory, as earlier this week when it was falsely claimed that Muammar Gaddafi's hometown of Sirte had fallen.

In recent days it seems to be more out of frustration as the rebels were forced back in the face of Gaddafi's attack. What it was not was aimed at was the enemy.

Asked why he was shooting when the revolution's military leadership has appealed for discipline and its fighters not to waste ammunition, Saed said simply: "It's my gun."

It isn't. He concedes that he seized it from a military base in Benghazi as Gaddafi's forces fled at the beginning of the revolution. But it says much about the state of the loosely organised rebel militia which foreign governments are now considering arming.

The revolutionary leadership is pleading for the west to send heavier weapons so that it can compete with Gaddafi's better armed forces amid reports that both sides in the conflict are running short of ammunition.

On the ground, rebels appeal for bigger rocket launchers, artillery and more air strikes. They are less concerned about claims of an ammunition shortage, which they do not necessarily see after seizing piles of rockets and shells from Gaddafi's army when it was retreating earlier this week. "We need what Gaddafi has," said Ghanem Barsi at a rebel checkpoint. Like many revolutionaries, he blamed their difficulties on weaponry rather than training and tactics. "We need Grads [rockets] like Gaddafi has. We need tanks like Gaddafi has. We need weapons that can kill his rockets and tanks."

The rebels' military spokesman, Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani, has claimed that "countries across the world" have offered weapons. He declined to reveal which governments and what kind of arms although he did say there was a desperate need for anti-tank weapons and radios because of chronic communications problems.

However, Bani did admit that no arms or ammunition have arrived as yet, including from neighbouring Egypt, which the rebels initially looked to as a source of practical support in part because of geography but also because there was a sense of revolutionary solidarity.

The Egyptians' reluctance may be shared by other governments as the rebel leadership faces some difficult issues that are likely to cause even the most sympathetic countries to pause.

The revolution lacks an organised military structure in spite of several attempts to stamp its authority on the volunteer army. Discipline is bad. Few of the fighters have proper military experience and they would need training in the use of weapons such as artillery. But the revolutionaries have made a strong point of saying they do not want foreign troops on Libyan soil.

The revolution's de facto finance minister, Ali Tarhouni, claims that there are 1,000 trained fighters among the rebels but there is little evidence of it on the battlefield where the anti-Gaddafi forces appear capable of advancing only when the way is cleared by foreign air strikes.

The problem is not solely the rebels' lack of more powerful weapons. In the past two days their disorganisation has shown as they have been badly outmanoeuvred by better-trained forces that have outflanked them with sweeps through the desert. The revolutionaries lack any cohesive defensive plan. Instead they fire wildly at the enemy and argue among themselves about what to do next and who should be giving orders before turning and fleeing.

Indeed, the rebels have seized a significant number of large weapons abandoned by retreating Gadaffi forces including a handful or more tanks this week after air strikes around Ajdabiya sent the government's army fleeing. But the tanks have yet to be put to use on the battlefield in part because of a lack of expertise in fighting with them.

The lack of control over Libya's rebel army also raises questions about how it might behave as an occupying force were it to take over a town such as Sirte which has not risen up in support of the revolution and where the Libyan leader is believed to retain some support.

Killings of alleged mercenaries in Benghazi, the rebels' de facto capital, as well as the large numbers of young men who have assumed an authority over ordinary citizens apparently only granted by their guns, will raise questions about how an ill disciplined and unaccountable force will behave on taking control of a potentially less welcoming city.

It would be embarrassing, to say the least, if even some of the rebels armed by Britain or the US were to carry out the kind of atrocities the west says it is intervening in Libya to prevent.

There must be an additional concern that any weapons sent to the revolutionaries could end up arming Gaddafi.

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Libya's foreign minister has arrived in the UK after defecting from Colonel Gaddafi's regime, according to reports.

Questions were earlier raised about the whereabouts of Moussa Koussa, after he was reported by a Tunisian news agency to have headed to London on a flight from the country.
A Libyan government spokesman later said he had not defected and was on a "diplomatic mission", but declined to say where he was going.
Another report said he had already arrived in Britain seeking refuge.
But the British Foreign Office has declined to say whether it was aware of the development.
Meanwhile, there are reports CIA agents were authorised to carry out covert missions to help rebel forces keen to oust Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi.
President Barack Obama is said to have signed an order - known as a "finding" - for the secret operations in the past two or three weeks.
It came to light after US officials spoke to reporters following a briefing with senior members of the Obama administration, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The CIA and the White House have declined to comment.
However, it emerged after Libya's rebel forces were forced out of the key oil town of Ras Lanuf by a barrage of tank and artillery fire from troops loyal to Colonel Gaddafi.
Anti-government fighters retreated by 100 miles in just a few hours as Nato planes bombarded Col Gaddafi's forces.
In the latest blow to morale for the outgunned insurgents, they have have been driven back from positions they had occupied in the past few days, including Bin Jawad.
Some fighters, mostly armed with light weapons and riding on 4x4 pick-ups, said they had been overwhelmed by the superior firepower and range of Gaddafi's weaponry.

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Libya's foreign minister Moussa Koussa is making a surprise visit to London from Tunisia, according to Tunisia's official TAP news agency.

A Libyan government spokesman said Mr Koussa - in his post for two years - had not defected, but was travelling abroad on a diplomatic mission.

Mr Koussa flew out of Djerba airport bound for the UK on Wednesday afternoon, the Tunisian report says.

It comes as the UK takes steps to expel five Libyan diplomats.

Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs the five, who include the military attache, "could pose a threat" to UK security.

The Foreign Office has said it is unaware of Mr Koussa's visit.

The development comes as rebels fighting Libyan government forces are continuing to lose ground and are retreating from their former strongholds along the eastern coast of Libya.

Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron said the UK was not ruling out providing arms to rebels in "certain circumstances" but no decision had been taken.

The UK has been involved in more than 160 aerial missions, as well as missile strikes, over Libya since coalition operations began on 19 March following a UN resolution.

The coalition military action is aimed at enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya and protecting civilians from attacks by forces loyal to its leader Col Muammar Gaddafi. It has denied air strikes are meant to provide cover for a rebel advance.

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British Tornado jets have flown "deep into the desert" to strike at ammunition bunkers in Libya,

British Tornado jets have flown "deep into the desert" to strike at ammunition bunkers in Libya, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.
In a Commons statement on 28 March 2011 on last week's EU summit, Mr Cameron told MPs that the RAF had flown more than 120 sorties since military action began, praising the "extremely skilful and courageous" work of British pilots.
Mr Cameron, who will host an international conference on Libya tomorrow, said it was vital to have "political and diplomatic unity" to put pressure on Muammar Gaddafi.
The PM said: "The no-fly zone is now fully operational and effective. When it has been challenged, Gaddafi's planes have been shot down.
"He can no longer terrorise the Libyan people from the air."
But Conservative MP and chairman of the foreign affairs committee Richard Ottaway warned Mr Cameron over the bombing of ammunition bunkers.
He said critics regarded this as a "fairly broad interpretation of the UN resolution" providing the legal basis for the coalition's military action in Libya, suggesting that such actions could leave the political consensus on Libya "cluttered up with acrimony".
"Can I ask you to use tomorrow's summit to clarify the rules of engagement?" he asked.
Mr Cameron said he would "disagree with anyone who says that destroying a Gaddafi arms dump is not in the terms of the resolution".
"We can see very clearly what Gaddafi's regime is doing in Misratah, is doing in Zintan and other places - he's using munitions to kill people, to murder his own citizens.

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French warplanes struck a command centre on Sunday night belonging to troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a French armed forces spokesman said on Monday.

French warplanes struck a command centre on Sunday night belonging to troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a French armed forces spokesman said on Monday.

"(There were) strikes on a command centre 10 kM (six miles) south of the Tripoli suburbs on the night of the 27th and 28th," spokesman Thierry Burkhard said. He added that there were no new French strikes on Monday.

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Fighter jets of coalition forces launched air strikes to Sirte,

Fighter jets of coalition forces launched air strikes to Sirte,

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British warplanes destroyed five Libyan armoured vehicles in air strikes against Moamer Kadhafi's forces

British warplanes destroyed five Libyan armoured vehicles in air strikes against Moamer Kadhafi's forces in two towns where rebels were battling the regime, the defence ministry said Saturday.
Tornado jets enforcing a UN Security Council resolution fired missiles on Friday at pro-Kadhafi troops in Ajdabiya, which opposition forces retook Saturday, and in Misrata where heavy fighting is still ongoing, it said.
Major General John Lorimer, spokesman for the Chief of Defence Staff, said the Tornado GR4 planes took part in a "co-ordinated missile strike against units of Colonel Gaddafi's Libyan Military."
"The Tornado aircraft launched a number of guided Brimstone missiles, destroying three armoured vehicles in Misrata and two further armoured vehicles in Ajdabiya," Lorimer said.
He described the Brimstone missiles as a "high precision, low collateral damage weapon optimised against demanding and mobile targets."
A coalition led by the United States, Britain and France began air strikes one week ago to enforce the UN resolution which authorises "all necessary means" to set up a no-fly zone and protect civilians from Kadhafi's forces.

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Tornado jets destroyed four of Colonel Gaddafi's main battle tanks.

RAF fighter jets have carried out a devastating raid on Colonel Gaddafi’s forces outside the key Libyan town of Ajdabiya.

In their most dramatic mission of the seven-day war, Tornado GR4 warplanes fired missiles at four tanks, turning them all into fireballs.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the armoured vehicles had been threatening the civilian population.
Tornado jets destroyed four of Colonel Gaddafi's main battle tanks. Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the heavy armour had been threatening civilians in Ajdabiya

Gaddafi loyalists, who retook most of the town from rebels last week, are accused of trying to starve locals and of carrying out beatings, kidnappings and rapes.

The RAF strikes have encouraged pro-democracy fighters around Ajdabiya. Last night a strong force of trucks fixed with multiple rocket-launchers and heavy machineguns was massing in an attempt to liberate the town.

‘This will weaken their forces and more importantly their morale,’ said rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani. ‘We feel safe under their [the jets’] protection.’

A rebel fighter inside Ajdabiya said: ‘The air strikes are for humanitarian reasons – Gaddafi’s brigades are killing people, torturing people.’

The RAF’s intervention late on Thursday halted the movement of government reinforcements to the town, which controls the coastal highway to the rebel-held city of Benghazi.

The Tornados were on a reconnaissance mission in the UN  no-fly zone when they spotted 12 armoured vehicles, including Russian-made T-72 tanks. At around 30,000ft, the jets fired precision-guided 110lb Brimstone missiles at their targets.


Fierce fighting: The body of a man in civilian clothes lies at the main gate of Ajdabiya after clashes between rebels and government forces

In two sorties, separated by refuelling, they blew up four tanks, while coalition planes took out three armoured vehicles.

Wing Commander Andy Turk, who navigated one of the Tornados during the raid, said: ‘To see the direct effect you’ve had by clearing away the tanks from the anti-regime forces was very rewarding. You get the feeling, “I’ve done something which has saved someone’s life”.’

French jets weighed in by destroying an artillery battery near the town. Gaddafi’s troops control most of Ajdabiya and have established a cordon in its outskirts. There is still fighting in the centre however.

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Libyan government followed up claims that close to 100 civilians had died in the allied air strikes by taking journalists to see signs of damage to civilian properties

Once again, though, as with previous government tours, what officials showed journalists seemed to prove the opposite of what they said.
On the road east of Tripoli, site of a string of military bases in and around the town of Tajoura, high guarded walls hid what had clearly been several nights of allied bombardment. Residential areas nearby seemed unaffected, with some shops open.
A radar base had a plume of smoke rising from it. Visible by the sea was a large administrative building – perhaps a command facility – totally shattered, its concrete beams and roof sunk to the ground.
Further along the road was the most striking sign of the fearsome accuracy of the allied air strikes. The blackened skeleton of a radar dish, about 30 feet high, stood burned out on a hillside surrounded by trees.
The leaves on the trees, even those hanging over the dish, were not even singed.

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Warplanes roared through the skies over the Libya capital, Tripoli, early Friday, dropping bombs on the outskirts of the city where military bases are located.

Warplanes roared through the skies over the Libya capital, Tripoli, early Friday, dropping bombs on the outskirts of the city where military bases are located.
Anti-aircraft fire quickly punctuated the darkness, and then fell silent again.
In Ajdabiya, about 430 miles (700 km) south-southeast of the capital, the British Ministry of Defense on Friday reported airstrikes on "Libyan armoured vehicles which were threatening the civilian population."
The latest military action marks a sixth consecutive night of pounding by coalition jets and came after NATO members agreed to take over enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya.
The attack "is an indication ... of how the coalition feels that it now dominates the skies here," CNN's Nic Robertson reported from Tripoli.
Under the agreement, NATO forces will be able to close air space to all flights except for humanitarian ones and will be able to use force in self-defense. That mandate is not being interpreted as a license to attack Libyan government troops who may be threatening unarmed civilians.

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Nato has agreed to take command of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya from the US.

Nato has agreed to take command of enforcing the no-fly zone over Libya from the US.

But Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen made clear that other aspects of the operation would remain in the hands of the current coalition for now.

Nato has been locked in dispute about whether to take charge of the mission to enforce a UN resolution.

It is believed there are differences of opinion whether attacks on ground troops should form part of the action.

Coalition raids on Libya are meanwhile continuing for a sixth consecutive night.

Mr Rasmussen has insisted there is no split on the military handover, saying Nato is still considering whether to take on the "broader responsibility".

The handover of the no-fly mission could come as early as this weekend.

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British forces have again been heavily involved in a fifth night of military action in Libya.

The Ministry of Defence said guided Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) were launched from a Trafalgar Class submarine at specific targets.

Chief of Defence Staff's strategic communication officer Major General John Lorimer said: "British Armed Forces have again participated in a co-ordinated strike against Libyan air defence systems in support of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973."

He said the TLAMs targeted "air defence targets as part of the coalition plan to enforce the resolution"

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Squatters seize Saif Qaddafi's luxury London home

Until a few weeks ago, the eight-bedroom mansion in one of London's most exclusive districts stood as an anonymous monument to the far-reaching family wealth of the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Today, with its neo-Georgian roof draped in a banner demanding freedom for Libya, it serves as a reminder of that country's division and chaos.

Earlier this month, after media reports that the house belonged to Saif Qaddafi, the dictator's second son, squatters moved in.

They were still there yesterday in Hampstead Garden Suburb, an affluent district in north London, enjoying the extensive facilities of the £11 million (DH66m) house, including the Jacuzzi, swimming pool and home cinema with suede walls.

Saif bought the house two years ago, via an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands. The purchase came after the completion of his doctoral thesis, currently under investigation for plagiarism, at the London School of Economics.

There is little evidence that he has used the house much since and, certainly, it had been unoccupied for some time and available for rent, at a jaw-dropping £10,000 a week, until the British government froze all Qaddafi assets after the start of the Libyan rebellion.

Today, the dozen or so squatters like to portray their occupation as an act of solidarity with their brothers and sisters battling for freedom in Libya.

"We are here to protest, we are not here to have a party," said Belkazem Alghiryani, 34, an exile from Benghazi, speaking for the squatters. "There are six million people in Libya and this is their house. We will not leave until we give this house back to the Libyan people."


The original squatters, however, were not Libyans determined to take action against the Qaddafi regime but a hippy-esque group of English, French and Australian nationals calling themselves Topple the Tyrants.

Montgomery Jones, a spokesman for the organisation, said: "We didn't trust the British government to properly seize the Qaddafi regime's corrupt assets, so we took matters into our own hands.

"Our aim is to make sure that the assets stolen by Qaddafi are returned to the Libyan people and don't disappear into the pockets of governments or corporations. We stand in solidarity with the Libyan people."

The group subsequently invited Libyan exiles and "those fleeing tyranny and oppression across the world" to join them in Saif's house.

Since the occupation on March 8, several Libyans have done so, along with Iraqis and people of other nationalities.

The occupiers say they are taking care of the luxurious fittings in the house, which is devoid of personal possessions barring a collection of photographs found in one room.

Under English law police could not evict the squatters even if they wanted to. The matter is a civil one and, to get the occupiers ejected, the owners or their agents would have to go to a county court to get an eviction order.

Trevor Abrahmsohn, the head of Glentree Estates, which was handling attempts to rent out the house, said the company has not heard from the principals.

According to the squatters, the only effort to get them out came from an unknown man who showed up unannounced at 4am, more than a week ago, and offered them £40,000 to leave. They rejected the offer outright.

All of which leaves the squatters free to enjoy a small slice of Libya in one of London's most opulent areas. The electricity is still on in the house, though the occupiers use it sparingly, mainly to watch Al Jazeera reports on the Libyan situation on the large, flat-screen TVs that adorn the walls of most rooms, and they say the interior is being kept in good order.

Most neighbours, in an area ranked among the 10 most expensive in Britain, do not seem to mind the new arrivals.

"I approve of it," said Dr Saul Zadka. "I think they are good people, not just homeless people looking for somewhere free to live."

Another neighbour, Geoffrey Bernstein, added: "I don't support breaking into people's houses, but in this case I'm prepared to make an exception."

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Libyan opposition forces and government troops, unable to achieve substantive strategic gains, are locked in a string of battles across Libya

Libyan opposition forces and government troops, unable to achieve substantive strategic gains, are locked in a string of battles across Libya amid growing uncertainty about the scale and direction of air power that Western forces are likely to deploy in the country in the coming hours.

With the threat of a takeover of Benghazi by government forces removed after Western air strikes earlier blew up the regime's tanks and heavy weapons near the city, Ajdabiyah, a strategically located city 160 km from Benghazi, has become the new frontline.

There have been air-strikes on regime targets in Ajdabiyah by Western aircraft on Tuesday but it is unlikely that their impact has been decisive. Despite the bombardment, on Tuesday forces loyal to Libyan strongman Muammar Qadhafi fired their heavy weapons, including the devastating truck mounted multi-barrel rockets, with intensity in the direction of opposition forces, stalling their advance.

Both sides have high stakes over control of Ajdabiyah. For the opposition, a permanent loss of Ajdabiyah would open the door for the regime's rapid advance towards two vital locations — Benghazi and Tobruk. Benghazi is only a 90-minute drive from Ajdabiyah, while another road from the city opens directly into Tobruk, only around 150 km from the Egyptian border. Control by the government forces over Tobruk, a famous battlefield of the World War II era, will cut-off Benghazi, the epicentre of the revolt, from Egypt, a vital opposition supply base.

The pro-Qadhafi forces, prizing their country's oil, are also equally desperate to cement their hold over Ajdabiyah. Once entrenched, the city could well become the regime's springboard for an advance over Libya's oil heartland, with oil cities of Brega and Ras Lanuf not far away.

On Tuesday, the opposition forces appear to have recorded a significant success in the city of Zintan, 106 km south of Tripoli. Al Jazeera is reporting that anti-Qadhafi forces have succeeded in breaking the regime's siege around the city. Heavy fighting has also been reported from Misrata, Libya's third largest city, only 200 km east of Tripoli. However, in a possible setback to the anti-Qadhafi forces, there has been growing opposition across the globe against the possible use of air power that can cause “regime change”, especially after Baab Aziziya, Mr. Qadhafi's residential compound was attacked on Sunday night. There are also fears that “regime change” can be accomplished if Western powers provide coordinated fire power from the air to anti-Qadhafi combatants.

Faced with the mounting protests, the United States has signalled that air attacks in Libya were likely to become less intense. “My sense is that — that unless something unusual or unexpected happens, we may see a decline in the frequency of attacks,” said General Carter Ham during an interaction with the media in Washington.

However, the Baab Aziziya compound in Tripoli appeared to have been attacked for a second time overnight. Western forces also targeted two naval installations just outside the city, apparently to degrade the regime's ability to launch sea-borne attacks, similar to the ones it had undertaken earlier to attack the refinery town of Ras Lanuf.

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Britain's contribution to efforts by coalition forces to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya is being stepped up.

The operation to move British aircraft to a base in southern Italy ready for missions is nearly complete, after the arrival of about a dozen planes.

RAF Typhoon fighters have taken part in their first mission to patrol the zone.

Meanwhile, amid a third night of missile strikes, a government motion to support action in Libya won a majority of 544 votes in the House of Commons.

The debate focused on Resolution 1973, which passed by the United Nations Security Council last week.

This authorises "all necessary measures", short of bringing in an occupying force, to protect Libyan citizens from the Gaddafi regime, which has been fighting rebel forces.

The Commons motion - which was backed by 557 MPs and opposed by 13 - followed continued US-led action in Libya, with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's sprawling Bab al-Aziziya complex, in the capital Tripoli, among the locations hit.

Libya's government has said more civilians have been killed in a third night of air and missile strikes by coalition forces.

Libyan government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told a news conference Monday's air and missile strikes had caused "numerous" civilian casualties, especially at the "civilian airport" in Sirte.

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disputed claims that Gaddafi’s sixth son Khamis was killed when a Libyan pilot deliberately crashed his jet into a barracks on Saturday.

disputed claims that Gaddafi’s sixth son Khamis was killed when a Libyan pilot deliberately crashed his jet into a barracks on Saturday.


Pledge: David Cameron told Parliament what we 'can't stand by as a dictator kills his own people'

Meanwhle, Britain abandoned a further raid by Tornado bombers when SAS soldiers on the ground warned that civilians and journalists were being used as human shields.

And Russian premier Vladimir Putin provocatively likened the UN-backed mission to the medieval crusades.

However, it was General Richards who caused consternation in Whitehall when he appeared before TV cameras yesterday to insist Gaddafi was not a target.

‘Absolutely not,’ he said. ‘It is not allowed under the UN resolution and it is not something I want to discuss any further.’

Downing Street and Foreign Office officials were quick to dispute that – saying assassinating Gaddafi would be legal because it would preserve civilian lives in Libya.

Foreign Secretary William Hague had refused to rule out targeting Gaddafi, echoing comments made by Defence Secretary Liam Fox on Sunday.

The Government also came under fire from U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who described the calls for Gaddafi’s killing ‘unwise’. 

He warned that it could undermine the cohesion of the international coalition supporting the no-fly zone.

‘If we start adding additional objectives then I think we create a problem in that respect,’ he said.  ‘I also think it is unwise to set as specific goals things that you may or may not be able to achieve.’

One senior government source said: ‘There has not been some major falling out, but General Richards did say the wrong thing.

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UK's Ministry of Defence said late on Sunday that one of its submarines had again fired guided Tomahawk missiles as part of a second wave of attacks on Libyan air defence systems

 halting his march on the rebel stronghold of Benghazi and creating a coalition-led no-fly-zone over the country.
The UK's Ministry of Defence said late on Sunday that one of its submarines had again fired guided Tomahawk missiles as part of a second wave of attacks on Libyan air defence systems. There were reports of air strikes and heavy anti-aircraft gunfire over Tripoli and Libyan officials said a building in Col Gaddafi's compound had been hit.
A witness to the blast on the compound said no one was killed in the attack. "It was amazing. There were people who were right next to the building when it was hit. We thought they were dead but they were just covered with dust," said Mohammed, an interpreter who said he had spent all night in the compound as a volunteer, saying he wished to share the fate of the Libyan leader.

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Libya's government says more civilians have been killed in a third night of air and missile strikes by coalition forces enforcing a no-fly zone.

Libya's government says more civilians have been killed in a third night of air and missile strikes by coalition forces enforcing a no-fly zone.

Explosions and anti-aircraft fire have been heard near Col Muammar Gaddafi's compound in the capital, Tripoli.

Fighting between the forces loyal to the Libyan leader and the rebels has also continued, despite the declaration of a ceasefire by the government.

In the east, troops beat back a rebel advance outside the town of Ajdabiya.

And rebels in Libya's third city, Misrata, told the BBC that they had come under attack from Col Gaddafi's forces during the day.

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U.S. AV-8B Harrier fighter planes backed by Growler jamming aircraft carried out air strikes on Gaddafi's ground troops and air defenses.

Three U.S. Air Force B2 stealth bombers, and 12 F-15 and F-16 fighter jets took part in the airstrikes as well.

* Britain launched Stormshadow missiles from a number of Tornado GR4 jets flown from a Royal Air Force base in England.

The operation was supported by VC10 and Tristar air-to-air refueling aircraft and E3D Sentry and Sentinel surveillance aircraft. Typhoon jets were also standing by to provide support.

British RAF Typhoon fighters have taken part in their first mission to help patrol the no-fly zone in Libya.

The air-to-air combat jets were seen in video footage taking off in wet conditions from the Italian base of Gioia del Colle on Monday.

The aircraft had arrived in Italy on Sunday and been put on standby.

The action is in support of a UN resolution imposing a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace, excluding aid flights, to "protect civilians".

The UK is part of an international coalition, also including the US and France, trying to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to the Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

UN resolution 1973, which was passed last week, authorised member states to "take all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack".

On Sunday, UK forces took part in a second night of missile strikes against Libya.

Tomahawk missiles were launched from a British submarine in the Mediterranean, but RAF Tornado bombers aborted their mission because civilians were in the area of their target.

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how financially sustainable is the mission?

As Britain flexes its military muscle at Col Muammar Gaddafi alongside international partners, it's the human not economic cost that is foremost in people's minds.

But with the government intent on saving billions of pounds and with no clear exit strategy in Libya, just how financially sustainable is the mission?

Prof Malcolm Charmers, from defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute, says the cost will fluctuate dramatically depending on which direction the mission takes.

"If the war goes on for a relatively limited time - weeks rather than months - then we're talking about relatively small sums - at least compared to Afghanistan, which costs £4bn a year," he said.

"If this goes on for less than a month and is primarily air-powered, then hundreds of millions at most. The cost could start rising sharply if you had significant ground operations."

He said the war could be lengthened if there was a stalemate on the ground between the rebels and Libyan government which the coalition could only break with ground action.

The big cost in Afghanistan and Iraq was not the fighting at the beginning but the occupation that followed”

Prof Charmers
Prof Charmers pointed out that in the 1999 air war against Serbia in Kosovo, Nato became frustrated with its ineffective military strikes and increasingly began to target infrastructure.

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British jets and a submarine have fired missiles at Libyan military sites

British jets and a submarine have fired missiles at Libyan military sites as part of a UN-backed international operation to enforce a no-fly zone.

Prime Minister David Cameron called the action "legal, necessary and right".

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Cruise missiles hit at least 20 air-defence sites in the capital, Tripoli, and the western city of Misrata

Cruise missiles hit at least 20 air-defence sites in the capital, Tripoli, and the western city of Misrata, they said.
Military officials are said to be assessing the damage after at least

After an attack by French planes, some 14 bodies were lying near destroyed military vehicles outside the rebel-held city of Benghazi, Reuters says.

The raids were "successful", US military chief Adm Mike Mullen said.

The strikes "took out" Libya's air-defence systems, he told NBC's Meet the Press programme, saying a no-fly zone was now effectively in place.

US fighter planes and B-2 stealth bombers were also involved in the overnight raids early on Sunday, Pentagon officials said.
Libyan TV has broadcast footage it says showed some of the 150 people wounded in the attacks. It said 48 people had been killed.

Tripoli
The capital this morning is relatively calm, with traffic moving around as normal, although the atmosphere is quite tense.

At 0230 there was a loud barrage of anti-aircraft fire, but I could hear no sounds of incoming ordnance, and apart from that there's been no audible sign of the war here in Tripoli.

That is not to say targets on the periphery of the city have not been hit. State TV says 48 civilians have been killed and more than 100 wounded. Last night the speaker of the parliament said hospitals were filling up and that there had been a bombardment of a civilian part of the city, but there's been no independent confirmation of that.

We're reporting under restricted circumstances and can't go out independently. It's easy to find people swearing undying loyalty to Col Gaddafi - and there's no doubting their sincerity - but you wonder what's in the heads of the many millions who do not take part in these angry demonstrations of support for the leader.

There was no independent confirmation of the deaths and UK Finance Minister George Osborne told the BBC that such claims should be treated with caution as the military was striving to avoid civilian casualties.

Adm Mullen also said he had not received any reports of civilian deaths or injuries.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says coalition military planners will be urgently studying satellite and other reconnaissance imagery to determine how much damage has been done to Col Gaddafi's air defences and to see if some targets may have to be hit again.

He says they will also be monitoring the activities of Libyan government ground forces near key populated areas like Benghazi and Misrata, with any offensive action on their part bringing down urgent air strikes.

A rebel spokesman in Misrata told the BBC that pro-Gaddafi forces had launched fresh attacks on Sunday with heavy shelling in the city.

Inch by inch
"We promise you a long, drawn-out war with no limits," Col Gaddafi said in a phone call to Libyan state TV on Sunday morning.

He said Western forces had no right to attack Libya, which had done nothing to them.

"We will fight inch by inch," he said while a sculpture of a golden fist crushing a US jet was being shown.

He earlier said he would open arms depots to the people to defend Libya and described the attacks as "crusader aggression".

The UN Security Council has approved the use of force to protect civilians.

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Al Jazeera television reported on Sunday that forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi had bombarded areas of Libya's rebel-held city of Benghazi.

Al Jazeera television reported on Sunday that forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi had bombarded areas of Libya's rebel-held city of Benghazi.

Citing unnamed sources, it said Gaddafi's forces fired from tanks and used rockets to strike the city. It said some residents had fled to mosques for safety.

The report could not immediately be confirmed.

The city was bombarded by Gaddafi's forces on Saturday.

The Libyan government has said it was respecting a ceasefire it announced on Friday and said rebels were raiding villages and towns to draw in the West.

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US and British forces have fired at least 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya ,

US and British forces have fired at least 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya , a top US military officer said on Saturday. Admiral William Gortney told reporters that "earlier this afternoon over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from both US and British ships and submarines struck more than 20 integrated air defence systems and other air defence facilities ashore".

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British submarine fired Tomahawk cruise missiles on Libyan air defence targets

British submarine fired Tomahawk cruise missiles on Libyan air defence targets as Prime Minister sent UK armed forces into action against dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The launch of UK operations was announced by Mr Cameron outside 10 Downing Street after he chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency committee.

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The French are the first in the front line - they have air bases from which they could just about make it to Libya and back - with the British behind them.

The French are the first in the front line - they have air bases from which they could just about make it to Libya and back - with the British behind them.
However, the Americans will be the ones to take out Gaddafi's air defences with Cruise missiles before allowing the Europeans to take it on from there.
The initial stages of the operation will see radar and air bases targeted, possibly with the bombing of runways to leave them unusable.
The allied forces will watch to see Col Gaddafi's response, and only if he is continuing to use violence on his own people will his tanks and troops come into the firing line.
Even Nicolas Sarkozy, the most hawkish of the Western leaders besides David Cameron, has indicated that the dictator can "avoid the worst" if he starts to toe the line with the UN's demands.

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Islamists hurled stones and shoes at Mohamed ElBaradei,

Islamists hurled stones and shoes at Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace laureate and a secular contender for Egypt's presidency, as he tried to vote Saturday in a referendum on constitutional amendments.
ElBaradei was hit in the back by a stone thrown from the crowd of hundreds but managed to escape unhurt and slammed as "irresponsible" the holding of a referendum without adequate law and order.
"We don't want you," the mob shouted, throwing stones, shoes and water at the former UN nuclear watchdog chief as he turned up at a Cairo polling station, five weeks after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted by mass protests.
"He lives in the United States and wants to rule us. It's out of the question," one of them said.
"We don't want an American agent," said another.

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The call came as a fourth protester died of wounds sustained when troops and police moved on Wednesday to end weeks of unrest t

The call came as a fourth protester died of wounds sustained when troops and police moved on Wednesday to end weeks of unrest that prompted the king to declare martial law and call in troops from Bahrain's Sunni-ruled neighbor, Saudi Arabia.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Bahrain had the sovereign right to summon security help from its Gulf neighbors but stressed that the solution to the country's crisis could only come through political dialogue.

"We have made clear that security alone cannot resolve the challenges facing Bahrain," Clinton told reporters in Paris after meeting several Arab ministers. "Violence is not the answer, a political process is.

Bahrain's largest Shi'ite Muslim group, Wefaq, said the latest death brought the number of protesters killed since the start of the unrest last month to 11. Four police have also been killed this week, some of them mown down by protesters in cars.

Sunni-ruled Bahrain has since arrested at least nine opposition activists, including two doctors from Manama's largest public hospital, which remains surrounded by troops who check identities and carry out regular searches.

The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has stunned Bahrain's Shi'ites and angered the region's non-Arab Shi'ite Muslim power, Iran.

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The Stop the War Coalition has condemned Britain and its allies for launching a "new war" in the Middle East

The Stop the War Coalition has condemned Britain and its allies for launching a "new war" in the Middle East after the "bloody and failing" occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan.

A spokesman for the campaign said: "Air attacks on Libya will not help end the civil war but will escalate it and could be the prelude to a much wider war. They will not help bring the downfall of Gaddafi. He is already portraying the UN's decision as an act of western colonisation and himself as the defender of Libyan sovereignty. Air strikes by the US and Britain will strengthen, not weaken, his position."

"History shows us that the consequences of western intervention are almost always disastrous and not in the interests of those it claims to support."

Andrew Murray, national chair of the coalition, wrote that the decision to "attack Libya and impose regime change" was "instigated by the despots of the Arab League, desperate to secure deeper western involvement in the region to save them from their own peoples".

But the coalition could name just four MPs who were supporting its stance: Labour's Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Paul Flynn and the Green party's only MP, Caroline Lucas.

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Marches are planned in several cities to push calls for urgent reforms and limits on the king's power, echoing protests for democracy under way across the Arab world.

Marches are planned in several cities to push calls for urgent reforms and limits on the king's power, echoing protests for democracy under way across the Arab world.
"Thousands are expected to take to the streets across the country to demand political and human rights reform but there are fears the authorities may resort to heavy-handed tactics to quell protests," Amnesty said.

Security forces broke up a protest in the country's biggest city, Casablanca, on Sunday last week.

Scores of people were injured and at least 120 briefly detained when they used "unjustified force", the world human rights watchdog said in a statement that cited people wounded in beatings by security officers.

"The unnecessary acts of violence witnessed last weekend are a disturbing regression and make a mockery of the Moroccan king’s promise a few days earlier to undertake fundamental reform and uphold human rights," said Amnesty regional deputy director Philip Luther.

King Mohammed VI last month announced sweeping democratic reforms including an elected prime minister and broader personal freedoms in his first speech to the nation since the first demonstrations on February 20.

"The Moroccan authorities must uphold the right of protestors to express their views and demands in a peaceful manner and to instruct security forces not to resort to unjustified or unnecessary force to disperse demonstrations in line with Morocco’s international human rights obligations and the king’s promises," Luther said.

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Rajib Karim had come to Britain from Bangladesh in order to carry out attacks but hidden his life as a terrorist.

Rajib Karim had come to Britain from Bangladesh in order to carry out attacks but hidden his life as a terrorist.
He told Karim: “Your motive in finding a job was as much to carry out attacks as to make a living.”
Karim was on the verge of gaining a British passport which would have allowed him to travel abroad and launch attacks in an “act of treason,” the judge added.
Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said it was “highly appropriate” that Karim should be deported at the end of his sentence.
He said Karim’s plans to attack an aircraft, discovered in encrypted messages stored on his computer, were of the “utmost gravity.”

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French aircraft have destroyed four Libyan tanks in air strikes to the south-west of Benghazi, Al-Jazeera television has reported

French aircraft have destroyed four Libyan tanks in air strikes to the south-west of Benghazi, Al-Jazeera television has reported

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French, British and Canadian aircraft were expected to launch sorties as night falls over the country,

French warplane fired on a Libyan military vehicle in eastern Libya today in the first show of force by an international coalition mobilizing to stop Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's attacks on opposition strongholds and enforce a U.N.-backed no-fly zone.

As pro-Gadhafi forces battled towards the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, 20 French fighter jets flew over the region in an operation largely intended to be a show of force, the French Defense Ministry said.

Earlier today, a fighter jet resembling a Libyan MiG 27 was shot down over the city, according to news reports from inside Libya.

Meanwhile, world leaders met in Paris to discuss the nature and scope of the international military intervention to make Gadhafi respect a U.N. Security Council resolution that authorized "all necessary measures" to protect Libyan civilians.

"Our planes are blocking the air attacks on the city" of Benghazi, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said following the meeting.


French, British and Canadian aircraft were expected to launch sorties as night falls over the country, ahead of a larger coalition deployment that could happen later in the day. Spain and Denmark have also contributed fighter planes to the international force.

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Libyan government forces stormed into the rebel capital of Benghazi, apparently ignoring a proclaimed ceasefire and potentially complicating any allied military action.

Libyan government forces stormed into the rebel capital of Benghazi, apparently ignoring a proclaimed ceasefire and potentially complicating any allied military action.


Crashing shells shook buildings and the sounds of battle drew closer to the centre of Benghazi, where a doctor said 27 bodies were brought to the hospital by midday. By late in the day, warplanes could be heard overhead.

Sarkozy said French jets were already targeting Gaddafi’s forces. The 22 participants in today’s summit “agreed to put in place all the means necessary, in particular military” to make Gaddafi respect a UN Security Council resolution passed on Thursday demanding a ceasefire, he said.

“Our planes are blocking the air attacks on the city” of Benghazi, he said.

In an open letter, Gaddafi warned: “You will regret it if you dare to intervene in our country.”

Earlier today, a plane was shot down over the outskirts of Benghazi, sending up a massive black cloud of smoke. Before the plane went down, journalists heard what appeared to be airstrikes from it.

Rebels cheered and celebrated at the crash, though the government denied a plane had gone down or that any towns were shelled.

The fighting galvanised the people of Benghazi, with young men collecting bottles to make petrol bombs. Some residents dragged bed frames and metal scraps into the streets to make roadblocks.

Abdel-Hafez, a 49-year-old Benghazi resident, said rebels and government soldiers were fighting on a university campus on the south side of the city, with government tanks moving in, followed by ground troops. In the city centre, tank fire drew closer and rebel shouts rang out.

At a news conference in the capital, Tripoli, the government spokesman read letters from Gaddafi to President Barack Obama and others involved in the international effort.

“Libya is not yours. Libya is for the Libyans. The Security Council resolution is invalid,” he said in the letter to Sarkozy, Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

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A first target was engaged and destroyed." An armed forces spokesman told the same briefing the operation to halt Colonel Gaddafi's advance on rebel forces involved around 20 planes and an area 100 km by 150 km (60 by 100 miles) around the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghaz

Talking about the first shot by a French aircraft on a Libyan military vehicle, French defence ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire told reporters: "A first target was engaged and destroyed." An armed forces spokesman told the same briefing the operation to halt Colonel Gaddafi's advance on rebel forces involved around 20 planes and an area 100 km by 150 km (60 by 100 miles) around the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi. France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will leave France for Libya on Sunday, the spokesman added. A central command centre for the operation was still being set up.

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