The first major challenge that the Government’s “military liaison team” will face when it arrives in Benghazi to provide assistance to Libya’s opposition forces will be to decide which of the many factions it can work with

.It is a measure of the disarray currently afflicting the rebels in their quest to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi that they cannot even agree on who is responsible for leading the offensive. At present, there are two generals – both previously Gaddafi loyalists – who claim leadership, and have their own devoted bands of followers. General Abdul Fattah Younes, who until a few weeks ago served as Gaddafi’s interior minister, claims to have been given command of the ragtag force battling to keep the dictator’s forces at bay along the eastern coast. But his position is being challenged by General Khalifa Heftir, who fled into exile in the 1980s and became a close confidant of the CIA. Heftir’s faction claims that Younes is responsible for the rebels’ disastrous performance in the recent fighting at...

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NATO allies Britain, France and Italy are offering military advisers to help train Libyan rebels,

NATO allies Britain, France and Italy are offering military advisers to help train Libyan rebels, as the military stalemate continues on the ground.  Elsewhere, in Yemen and Syria, state crackdowns continue against anti-government protesters.Rebel fighters continued to battle Libyan government forces Wednesday at the besieged port city of Misrata in western Libya. International efforts to evacuate residents also intensified, with several ferries transporting evacuees to Tobruk in eastern Libya.Forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi also lobbed shells and fired rockets at rebel positions defending the strategic eastern town of Ajdabiya. Neither side appeared to gain ground. Britain, France and Italy, meanwhile, prepared to send military advisers to help the rebels.Diplomatic efforts...

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Gaddafi minister says move to supply 'non-lethal' items such as vehicles, radios and medicines will prolong conflict

The US plans to send $25m worth of non-lethal equipment to the rebel opposition in eastern Libya, in a move likely to further entangle the west in the two-month-old civil war.The proposal to send surplus Pentagon equipment, including vehicles, medical supplies, protective vests, binoculars and radios, follows Italy's decision to join Britain and France in sending military advisers to the Libyan opposition and a French pledge to intensify air strikes.The Libyan government has warned that such moves will further prolong the conflict and "encourage the other side to be more defiant".The US plan, which must be approved by President Barack Obama, is to send "non-lethal assistance" to the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, the de facto opposition government which has not been recognised...

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Award-winning war photographer Tim Hetherington was reportedly killed in today in a mortar attack

Award-winning war photographer Tim Hetherington was reportedly killed in today in a mortar attack on the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, colleagues told ABC News.It was unclear whether a second photographer Chris Hondros also died in the attack.News of the death first surfaced on Twitter and on the Facebook page of Andre Liohn, a French photographer who was apparently with Hetherington and Hondros at a Libyan hospital.Hetherington, one of the best known photojournalists and winner of the prestigious Dupont Award, produced powerful pieces for ABC News' "Nightline" from the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, and directed the documentary "Restrepo,"...

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Nato is running short of precision bombs and other munitions in its Libyan operation

Nato is running short of precision bombs and other munitions in its Libyan operation against the forces of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, The Washington Post reported late on Friday. Citing unnamed senior Nato and US officials, the newspaper said the shortage highlights the limitations of Britain, France and other European countries in sustaining even a relatively small military action.The scope of the problem was not mentioned.The shortage of European munitions, along with the limited number of aircraft available, has raised doubts among some officials about whether the United States can continue to avoid returning to the air campaign, the report said.So far, the Nato commander has not requested their deployment, The Post noted.But several US military officials said they anticipated being...

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Libya's most high-profile defector flew from Britain to Qatar Tuesday for talks on how to break the deadly impasse in his country

Libya's most high-profile defector flew from Britain to Qatar Tuesday for talks on how to break the deadly impasse in his country even as France and Britain called on NATO to beef up air attacks on Moammar Gadhafi's military might.Former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa flew to the Qatari capital, Doha, to meet with government officials and Libyan opposition leaders ahead of the first meeting Wednesday of the Libyan Contact Group, formed in London last month and charged with implementing United Nations resolutions.In an earlier interview with the BBC, Koussa had expressed concern that the situation in Libya was spiraling downward into a grinding war in the vein of the conflict in Somalia.Koussa, who fled Libya last month and sought safe haven in Britain after resigning his post in Gadhafi's...

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Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has agreed in principle to stop all hostilities in his North African nation and let in outside forces to help keep the peace, his government and African Union mediators said Monday in a joint statement.

Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has agreed in principle to stop all hostilities in his North African nation and let in outside forces to help keep the peace, his government and African Union mediators said Monday in a joint statement.Ramtane Lamara, the African group's commissioner for peace and security, read off the agreement early Monday, flanked by Libyan government spokesman Musa Ibrahim.The African Union team plans to travel to Benghazi to meet with leaders of the movement dedicated to ousting Gadhafi, who has ruled Libya for 42 years.Gadhafi's government previously has announced unilateral cease-fires -- only to continue to attack the opposition. Those fighting to oust Libya's longtime ruler have voiced opposition to proposals, saying their main goal is to assure the departure...

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Embattled Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, in negotiations with the African Union, has accepted terms of an agreement aimed at ending the conflict in the nation,

 South African President Jacob Zuma told reporters Sunday.Negotiations remained under way Sunday night between Gadhafi and the African Union delegation. Details of the agreement were not immediately available.As Gadhafi left an earlier meeting at his compound in Tripoli, he made a rare public appearance for international media before riding off in a car as he waved to supporters near his tent. The leader then entered a second meeting with the delegation.The African Union's visit is the latest diplomatic effort to stop the bloodshed in Libya. After meeting with government officials, members of the delegation planned to connect with opposition members in the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi.Gadhafi visits school in Tripoli New NATO airstrikes in Libya Seesaw war in Libya NATO: No apology...

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Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a surprise attack on Libyan rebels in Ajdabiya

Pro-Gaddafi forces have launched a surprise attack on Libyan rebels in Ajdabiya, shelling the town and deploying soldiers on the streets.The rebels said they had managed to repulse the attack after several hours of fighting.Doctors said eight rebels were killed in the violence.In the western city of Misrata, Nato forces have intensified their air strikes and destroyed 15 tanks after an upsurge of violence.Rebel leaders have been critical of Nato's attempts to enforce a UN-mandated no-fly zone, particularly since an air strike hit a rebel convoy earlier this week.But rebel commanders now say they are heartened by the intensification of strikes on pro-Gaddafi forces on Friday and Saturd...

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RAF Tornados have destroyed seven tanks in Libya as air strikes there continue, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

The jets hit two tanks in Ajdabiyah and five in Misratah on Friday - areas which have seen fighting between rebels and Col Muammar Gaddafi's troops.RAF Typhoons have also been involved in policing the UN-backed no-fly zone.The MoD also said HMS Cumberland would return to the UK after HMS Liverpool took over its surveillance and embargo operations alongside HMS Brockelsby.A spokesman said the Tornado GR4 planes used Brimstone missiles and Paveway IV bombs.He said: "The weapons were discharged as part of armed air reconnaissance and overwatch patrols conducted over Misratah, Brega and Ajdabiy...

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two British businessmen held in brutal Libyan prison

Two British businessmen have been held in Libya's notoriously brutal prison system for more than three weeks, the family of one of the men said on Thursday.Amnesty International has documented 30 disappearances in Libya since the uprising began Photo: REUTERSBy Damien McElroy, Valletta 12:16AM BST 08 Apr 2011Asma Ghoneim, the wife of Zeyad Ramadan, 39, said he and his brother Ghazi, 40, were seized in a Tripoli flat where they stayed on business trips to Tripoli."Its very important that every knows they were not political. They were business on a regular trip to Libya," she said. "I appeal to the Libyan government to look into this. My husband was a diabetic and needs daily medicine. I am very worried about him." The Leeds-born brothers provided software to Libya's mobile phone companies.Witnesses...

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MORE British warplanes are being diverted to ground attack operations in Libya,

MORE British warplanes are being diverted to ground attack operations in Libya, the Ministry of Defence announced last night, as rebel leaders complained Nato was not doing enough to help them.Four Typhoons, based at Gioia del Colle in southern Italy, have been policing the no-fly zone while the RAF Tornados have carried out attacks on Colonel Gaddafi’s ground forces.However, with the Libyan air force apparently unwilling to risk a confrontation with the alliance, the MoD said the four jets would now be used to bolster Nato’s ground attack.Abdel-Fattah Younis, the rebel military’s chief of staff, has claimed Nato’s bureaucratic procedures mean it can take eight hours for the alliance to respond to a request for air support.He insisted Nato could have lifted the siege of the western city of...

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REBEL military leader has lashed out at NATO for falling short in its mission to protect Libyan civilians.

Abdel-Fattah Younis, chief of staff for the rebel military and Gaddafi's former interior minister, said yesterday Muammar Gaddafi's forces have positioned weapons in populated areas to prevent airstrikes.He urged the opposition's leadership council to take their grievances to the UN Security Council, which authorised force in Libya to stop government troops from wiping out the anti-Gaddafi uprising that began on February 15.NATO forces "don't do anything" even though the UN had given them the right to act, Mr Younis said. He said bureaucracy meant NATO strikes sometimes come eight hours after rebels had communicated targets."The people will die and this crime will be on the face of the international community forever. What is NATO doin...

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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are using human shields in the war-torn town of Misrata.

Nato says forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are using human shields in the war-torn town of Misrata.The coalition says Col Gaddafi's troops are using civilian vehicles and hiding their heavy armour in civilian areas.Nato spokeswoman Oana Lungescu told the BBC: "Misrata remains our number one priority... but [Gaddafi's troops] are using human shields to protect themselves."Earlier a rebel urged Nato must do more to help the besieged western town.Gen Abdul Fattah Younis of the anti-Gaddafi forces complained that bureaucracy was causing Nato to take hours to respond to calls for air strikes."[Nato] is letting the people of Misrata die every day," he said.In a separate development, a former US Republican congressman is now in Tripoli to hold talks with Col Gaddafi.Curt Weldon said...

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Bad weather and mounting concern over civilian casualties curbed NATO operations in Libya

Bad weather and mounting concern over civilian casualties curbed NATO operations in Libya in the first day since it assumed command of the Western campaign against Muammar Gaddafi, NATO officials said on Friday.NATO took over air strikes targeting Gaddafi's military infrastructure as well as enforcement of a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone and arms embargo on Thursday, replacing a coalition led by the United States, France and Britain.Since then, military analysts say there have been few signs of the intense air strikes that dominated the beginning of the nearly two-week, Western-led campaign.NATO officials said sandstorms had an impact on initial operations, limiting the alliance's ability to identify air strike targets, although the weather was improving on Friday."Yesterday, we were somewhat...

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THE Gaddafi regime has sent one of its most trusted envoys to London for confidential talks with British officials.

Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Colonel Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, visited London in recent days, British government sources have confirmed. The contacts with Mr Ismail are believed to have been one of a number between Libyan officials and the West in the past fortnight, amid signs the regime may be looking for an exit strategy. Disclosure of Mr Ismail's visit follows the defection of Moussa Koussa, Libya's Foreign Minister and the country's former external intelligence head, who has been Britain's main conduit to the Gaddafi regime since the early 1990s. A team led by the British ambassador to Libya, Richard Northern, and MI6 officers...

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British special forces were said to be operating beside the CIA on the ground in Libya despite official denials that land troops were in action.There was even specualtion that Saif himself may have already left Libya in Mr Koussa’s convoy

. There was even specualtion that Saif himself may have already left Libya in Mr Koussa’s convoy but such a suggestion was dismissed. The Foreign Office did not comment on the report which asserted that British officials met with Mohammed Ismail. The meeting was one of a number conducted between the two nations in the last two weeks, according to the Guardian and is believed to have addressed the possibility of an exit strategy for Gaddafi. Despite a low profile in Libya and internationally, Mr Ismail is a key aide to Saif al-Islam and represented the nation in arms purchase negotiations, cables leaked on the WikiLeaks website have disclosed. The...

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