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.

Posted in: Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa is in Britain