Libya - Protesters take to the streets again after Col Gaddafi appears on television to deny that he has left for Venezuela. Follow The Telegraph's live coverage of events in the country, and across the rest of the Middle East, here.
Libyans express their contempt for Gaddafi in Cairo, left, as a police station in Tripoli burns, right Photo: AP
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2011-02-22 15:15:57.0
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• Col Gaddafi makes TV appearance to deny rumours he has fled the country
• Diplomats from Libyan embassies across the world defect
• State television denies massacre claims as protesters take to the streets again
Latest
1505 US Senator John Kerry has said the Obama admininstration should consider re-imposing sanctions on Libya, according to a Reuters snap.
The latest pictures from protests around the Middle East and Africa. 1450 At least 62 people have been killed in the Libyan capital in clashes between demonstrators and security forces since Sunday, Human Rights Watch.
1440 Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi will announce "major reforms" in a speech shortly, Al Arabiya television said in a newsflash, citing Libyan state television
1430 Employees of Libya's consulate in the Egyptian city of Alexandria have lowered the national flag, Reuters reports.
1420 Jordan becomes latest country to call on the Libyan authorities to stop the "bloodshed" in the north African country.
1410 Violence that has rocked Libya in the last few days is the work of gangs of delinquent youths manipulated by foreign forces including al Qaeda, Libya's defence ministry said.
Protests against the government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli and other cities have left hundreds dead at the hands of the security forces, witnesses and human rights groups have said.
With regard to this phenomenon that is terrorising citizens, halting commerce, frightening merchants and consumers, and threatens to cut civilian services such as health and education, some youths and adults obtained weapons by robbing army storehouses," the statement read out on Libyan state television said.
"They are criminals. The ... (military command) was given the task of supporting public security forces with military forces in order to purge the country of these terrorist gangs."
"What is happening in Libya is just a group of youths who were exploited by other people belonging to foreign circles, al Qaeda and other suspicious circles."
1345 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, according to Reuters who say one of their correspondents had crossed into Libya.
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.
1345 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, according to Reuters who say one of their correspondents had crossed into Libya.
1330 Meanwhile Israeli President Shimon Peres said the anti-government protests sweeping the Arab world that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt are an "opportunity for peace" in the Middle East.
We believe that the biggest guarantee of peace is having democracy in our neighbours. We are happy to witness this democratic revolution which is taking place in the Arab world," he said in an address to the Spanish parliament.
1320 Spain's Repsol halts oil production in Libya, the company announced.
1310 Another blow to Libya, after Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating, a day after its counterpart Fitch did the same amid growing unrest in the oil-rich nation. Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term Libya rating from A- to BBB+, while also placing it on creditwatch with a view to a further downgrade in the near future, AFP reported.
1255 Muammar Gaddafi will neither leave Libya nor step down and a bloody fight to the end is likely with protesters intent on driving him out, the Libyan leader's former head of protocol.
"He will continue. There is nobody stronger than the people, but he will not leave Libya, he will not step down," Nuri al-Mismari told the Reuters news agency in an interview from a Paris hotel.
Nuri al-Mismari, who has been at Col Gaddafi's side for almost 40 years although he left Libya in late 2010 to undergo heart surgery in France, resigned on Monday from his post as chief of state protocol.
1245 France is sending three air force planes to the Libyan capital Tripoli to evacuate its nationals from the protest-hit nation, Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.
1240 The unrest in the Middle East risks bringing fanatics to power and triggering the disintegration of Arab states into "little pieces", Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.
1231 Libya's ambassador to the United States has resigned, saying he no longer represents his country's "dictatorship regime" and called on Muammar Gaddafi to depart.
"I resign 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," Ambassador Ali Aujali said in an interview on ABC television's "Good Morning America."
"I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone."
1220 The Netherlands plans to evacuate more than 100 Dutch citizens from Libya by air as soon as it has received permission from the Libyan authorities. Libya has meanwhile allowed two Egyptian military aircraft to land at the country's main airport to evacuate Egyptian workers, Egypt's foreign minister was quoted as saying by the state news agency.
1215 Qatar has become the latest country to condemn Libya's violent crackdown on anti-regime protests as dozens gathered outside the Libyan embassy in Doha to protest again the "massacres".
1200 The violent clashes have sent world stocks tumbling deeper into the red. Sharp falls across Asian markets overnight sparked a sell-off in London and Europe.
1145 British Airways has cancelled its return flight to Tripoli on Tuesday due to the unrest in Libya, PA reports. The airline, which operates a daily service to the Libyan capital from Heathrow airport, said it would make a decision on Wednesday's flight later today.
"We took a decision, as a precaution, not to fly to Tripoli today and passengers were informed," a BA spokesman said.
1130 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, says it is a mistake to ignore the democratic demands of the Libyan people.
Libyan men hold up a chain of bullets. (Picture: REUTERS)
1115 Dozens of protesters stormed the Libyan consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, burning portraits of Moamer Kadhafi and demanding the North African state's leader step down, AFP reports.
What is going on in Libya today is a real massacre," one protester said.
1110 For those worried about how the Middle East crisis is influencing currency markets, Bloomberg reports that The pound fell the most against the dollar in almost a week due to the escalating political instability.
1055 The United Nation's human rights chief, Navi Pillay, raised the possibility of "crimes against humanity" as she called for an international investigation into violence used by Libyan authorities to suppress protests.
Widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is a former war crimes judge.
"The callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protestors is unconscionable.
"I am extremely worried that lives are being lost even as I speak. The international community must unite in condemnation of such acts and make unequivocal commitments to ensure justice is rendered to the thousands of victims of this repression."
Her comments came as Libyan diplomats at the United Nations and several countries broke ranks with Col Gaddafi, urging foreign nations to help stop what many called the slaughter of anti-government protesters.
1040 The London School of Economics has abandoned its educational program funded by a charity chaired by Saif-al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, following a “highly distressing” crackdown on government protesters in the North African nation, Bloomberg reports. The London-based school suspended its LSE Global Governance research center, which had received funding from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Qaddafi’s son is a graduate of the LSE, Bloomberg reported.
A F1 mirage of the Libyan airforce sits on the tarmac of Malta airport (Picture: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)
1020 The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has denounced the "excessive" use of force by Libyan authorities to quash a popular uprising against strongman Col. Kadhafi.
1015 The Telegraph's James Kirkup has sent a dispatch from Kuwait City, where he is with Prime Minister David Cameron. Britain and the US have contributed to instability in the Middle East by supporting autocratic regimes that suppress human rights, Mr Cameron said.
1010 Reuters have prepared a very interesting factbox about some countries and companies evacuating their nationals and employees from Libya or closing operations.
1000 Growing numbers of companies are closing their businesses in Libya. Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara becomes latest after announcing it was closing its Lifeco joint venture in Libya. Oil major Royal Dutch Shell added that all its expat employees and their dependants in Libya, involved primarily in the company's exploration activities in the country, had been relocated.
0952 Meanwhile runways at Libya's Benghazi airport have been destroyed in the violence meaning passenger planes cannot land, it was claimed. It is estimated that more than 10,000 Egyptians are waiting to cross the border from Libya to flee the violent uprising against Col. Moamer Kadhafi's regime.
0945 Egypt is beefing up its military presence on the Libyan border in response to an influx of refugees and the evacuation of Egyptian nationals, a security source told the AFP news agency.
The army has sent extra units to ensure security along the northern frontier with Libya at the Soloum border crossing and to allow Egyptians fleeing Libya to safely return," the source said.
0940 The Turkish government says three ships are en route for Benghazi to evacuate thousands of its citizens from the Libyan city hit hardest by deadly protests against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.
The protests continue in Libya (Picture: REUTERS)
0935 China becomes the latest nation to urge Libya to ensure the safety of its nationals after hundreds of Chinese construction workers fled attacks at their work site amid violent unrest in the North African nation. Italy is also is to send a C-130 air force jet to Libya Tuesday to evacuate Italian nationals. Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said it was headed to Benghazi. Russia’s Emergency Ministry will evacuate 82 employees and family members of OAO Tatneft from Libya. Greece, meanwhile, has said it was preparing to airlift its nationals from Libya.
0920 The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo for delegates to discuss the Libyan revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, Reuters reports.
0915 OPEC's benchmark basket of 12 crude oils has breached the $100 barrier, the oil cartel has announced, amid concerns over the unrest in Libya and the wider oil-rich Middle East region. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan summoned his key ministers for an emergency meeting as oil prices soared to the two-year highs amid escalating violence.
0910 The Philippine government has said it will help 30,000 of its citizens flee "violence-wracked" Libya, AFP reports. It is also preparing evacuation plans for Filipinos living in other Arab nations enduring uprisings.
09.00 An online memorial to victims of the Libya protests has been launched.
08.45 Jeel Ghathub @Libyan4life tweets:
"A protester is shot in Libya and the Quran in his pocket shielded him from the bullet. La lllaha illAllah!"
A video of the claim can be viewed on YouTube.
08.44 Oil prices jump above $93 a barrel as Libyan crisis deepens
08.41
Muammar Gaddafi appears on Libyan television - watch his appearance with umbrella here.
08.26 Much of the focus is on Libya but let's not forget that protests are ongoing in Bahrain. This picture is just in.
08.24 Anwar Swed, a London-based Libyan protester, tells Radio Four:
"People are being shot left, right and centre"
08.20 Italy says it is sending an air force jet to Benghazi to evacuate its citizens from Libya's second city. The C-130 transport aircraft will evacuate roughly 100 citizens.
08.17 Evan Davies, of the BBC, tweets:
"Am I alone in seeing a similarity between Colonel Gadaffi with his umbrella in that video and the late Michael Jackson?"
08.05 Benedict Brogan, The Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor wonders whether Britain has left itself defenceless if Gaddafi goes.
Mr Hague talks of “instability and extremism on our frontiers” from a new Middle East. He’s right, but that begs the question about where Britain is left: we have just launched a radical progamme of defence cuts for which we have scrapped our aircraft carriers and much else on the assumption that there was no strategic threat on the horizon.
08.03 The Libyan Youth Movement has launched an online memorial page to remember those killed in the protests.
08.01 This from libyansrevolt on Twitter:
"Massive demo outside downingstreet tomorrow in London - come out there and show your support at 15.00."
07.58 @ShababLibya (Libyan Youth Movement) tweets:
"Rallies in cities world wide please to show your support. Libya will be free and we will take down this tyran'ts regime."
07.51 Frank Gardner, the BBC's security correspondent, tweets:
"Gaddafi not finished yet - remember how everyone wrote off Saddam after Shiite uprising of mar 1991?"
07.40 Diplomats are deserting the Libyan regime in droves. Embassies in Australia, China, India and Malaysia have severed ties with the leadership and more could follow today.
07.49 Arab League says it will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo later today to discuss the Libyan revolt against Gaddafi.
07.47 For those of you who have just joined us it's worth looking again at Col Gaddafi's bizarre television appearance last night. Why anyone sitting in a car with a roof would need an umbrella I'll never know.
07.43 The Telegraph's Political Correspondent,
James Kirkup, considers David Cameron's tour of Egypt.
As David Cameron continues his Middle East tour, some newspapers are excited about the fact that some of the business people on his plane are from the defence industry. Labour too has questioned the timing of the PM’s decision to promote the industry (one of Britain’s biggest) in the volatile region.
07.40 The uprisings sweeping the Middle East aren't as clear-cut as some reports are suggesting,
says Anne Applebaum.
It isn't clear what's happening in these pictures. They are confusing, not only because there is no logic to them, but because there is no voice-over, nobody to give the story a neat beginning, middle, and end.
07.39 Egypt's military rulers say they will reinforce the border with Libya.
07.36 Libya's ambassador to India, who resigned because of the violent crackdown on demonstrators, tells Reuters that African mercenaries were being used by the authorities, prompting some army troops to defect. Ali al-Essawi said:
"They are from Africa, and speak French and other languages. They [army troops switching to back the protests] are Libyans and they cannot see foreigners killing Libyans so they moved beside the people."
07.35 Libyan state television dismisses as "lies and rumours" allegations that security forces are carrying out a massacre of protesters.
07.33 Welcome back to The Telegraph's live blog on Libya. We will also be following other developments across the Middle East today, including protests in Bahrain.
Libya protests: as it happened Feb 21
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8337670/Libya-protests-live.html
1440 Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi will announce "major reforms" in a speech shortly, Al Arabiya television said in a newsflash, citing Libyan state television
1430 Employees of Libya's consulate in the Egyptian city of Alexandria have lowered the national flag, Reuters reports.
1420 Jordan becomes latest country to call on the Libyan authorities to stop the "bloodshed" in the north African country.
1410 Violence that has rocked Libya in the last few days is the work of gangs of delinquent youths manipulated by foreign forces including al Qaeda, Libya's defence ministry said.
Protests against the government of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli and other cities have left hundreds dead at the hands of the security forces, witnesses and human rights groups have said.
With regard to this phenomenon that is terrorising citizens, halting commerce, frightening merchants and consumers, and threatens to cut civilian services such as health and education, some youths and adults obtained weapons by robbing army storehouses," the statement read out on Libyan state television said. "They are criminals. The ... (military command) was given the task of supporting public security forces with military forces in order to purge the country of these terrorist gangs."
"What is happening in Libya is just a group of youths who were exploited by other people belonging to foreign circles, al Qaeda and other suspicious circles."
1345 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, according to Reuters who say one of their correspondents had crossed into Libya.
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.
1345 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, according to Reuters who say one of their correspondents had crossed into Libya.
1330 Meanwhile Israeli President Shimon Peres said the anti-government protests sweeping the Arab world that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt are an "opportunity for peace" in the Middle East.
We believe that the biggest guarantee of peace is having democracy in our neighbours. We are happy to witness this democratic revolution which is taking place in the Arab world," he said in an address to the Spanish parliament. 1320 Spain's Repsol halts oil production in Libya, the company announced.
1310 Another blow to Libya, after Rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the country's sovereign debt rating, a day after its counterpart Fitch did the same amid growing unrest in the oil-rich nation. Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term Libya rating from A- to BBB+, while also placing it on creditwatch with a view to a further downgrade in the near future, AFP reported.
1255 Muammar Gaddafi will neither leave Libya nor step down and a bloody fight to the end is likely with protesters intent on driving him out, the Libyan leader's former head of protocol.
"He will continue. There is nobody stronger than the people, but he will not leave Libya, he will not step down," Nuri al-Mismari told the Reuters news agency in an interview from a Paris hotel. Nuri al-Mismari, who has been at Col Gaddafi's side for almost 40 years although he left Libya in late 2010 to undergo heart surgery in France, resigned on Monday from his post as chief of state protocol.
1245 France is sending three air force planes to the Libyan capital Tripoli to evacuate its nationals from the protest-hit nation, Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said.
1240 The unrest in the Middle East risks bringing fanatics to power and triggering the disintegration of Arab states into "little pieces", Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.
1231 Libya's ambassador to the United States has resigned, saying he no longer represents his country's "dictatorship regime" and called on Muammar Gaddafi to depart.
"I resign 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," Ambassador Ali Aujali said in an interview on ABC television's "Good Morning America."
"I am calling for him to go and leave our people alone."
1220 The Netherlands plans to evacuate more than 100 Dutch citizens from Libya by air as soon as it has received permission from the Libyan authorities. Libya has meanwhile allowed two Egyptian military aircraft to land at the country's main airport to evacuate Egyptian workers, Egypt's foreign minister was quoted as saying by the state news agency.
1215 Qatar has become the latest country to condemn Libya's violent crackdown on anti-regime protests as dozens gathered outside the Libyan embassy in Doha to protest again the "massacres".
1200 The violent clashes have sent world stocks tumbling deeper into the red. Sharp falls across Asian markets overnight sparked a sell-off in London and Europe.
1145 British Airways has cancelled its return flight to Tripoli on Tuesday due to the unrest in Libya, PA reports. The airline, which operates a daily service to the Libyan capital from Heathrow airport, said it would make a decision on Wednesday's flight later today.
"We took a decision, as a precaution, not to fly to Tripoli today and passengers were informed," a BA spokesman said.
1130 Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, says it is a mistake to ignore the democratic demands of the Libyan people.
Libyan men hold up a chain of bullets. (Picture: REUTERS) 1115 Dozens of protesters stormed the Libyan consulate in Dubai on Tuesday, burning portraits of Moamer Kadhafi and demanding the North African state's leader step down, AFP reports.
What is going on in Libya today is a real massacre," one protester said. 1110 For those worried about how the Middle East crisis is influencing currency markets, Bloomberg reports that The pound fell the most against the dollar in almost a week due to the escalating political instability.
1055 The United Nation's human rights chief, Navi Pillay, raised the possibility of "crimes against humanity" as she called for an international investigation into violence used by Libyan authorities to suppress protests.
Widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is a former war crimes judge. "The callousness with which Libyan authorities and their hired guns are reportedly shooting live rounds of ammunition at peaceful protestors is unconscionable.
"I am extremely worried that lives are being lost even as I speak. The international community must unite in condemnation of such acts and make unequivocal commitments to ensure justice is rendered to the thousands of victims of this repression."
Her comments came as Libyan diplomats at the United Nations and several countries broke ranks with Col Gaddafi, urging foreign nations to help stop what many called the slaughter of anti-government protesters.
1040 The London School of Economics has abandoned its educational program funded by a charity chaired by Saif-al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, following a “highly distressing” crackdown on government protesters in the North African nation, Bloomberg reports. The London-based school suspended its LSE Global Governance research center, which had received funding from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation. Qaddafi’s son is a graduate of the LSE, Bloomberg reported.
A F1 mirage of the Libyan airforce sits on the tarmac of Malta airport (Picture: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)
1020 The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has denounced the "excessive" use of force by Libyan authorities to quash a popular uprising against strongman Col. Kadhafi.
1015 The Telegraph's James Kirkup has sent a dispatch from Kuwait City, where he is with Prime Minister David Cameron. Britain and the US have contributed to instability in the Middle East by supporting autocratic regimes that suppress human rights, Mr Cameron said. 1010 Reuters have prepared a very interesting factbox about some countries and companies evacuating their nationals and employees from Libya or closing operations.
1000 Growing numbers of companies are closing their businesses in Libya. Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara becomes latest after announcing it was closing its Lifeco joint venture in Libya. Oil major Royal Dutch Shell added that all its expat employees and their dependants in Libya, involved primarily in the company's exploration activities in the country, had been relocated.
0952 Meanwhile runways at Libya's Benghazi airport have been destroyed in the violence meaning passenger planes cannot land, it was claimed. It is estimated that more than 10,000 Egyptians are waiting to cross the border from Libya to flee the violent uprising against Col. Moamer Kadhafi's regime.
0945 Egypt is beefing up its military presence on the Libyan border in response to an influx of refugees and the evacuation of Egyptian nationals, a security source told the AFP news agency.
The army has sent extra units to ensure security along the northern frontier with Libya at the Soloum border crossing and to allow Egyptians fleeing Libya to safely return," the source said. 0940 The Turkish government says three ships are en route for Benghazi to evacuate thousands of its citizens from the Libyan city hit hardest by deadly protests against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi.
The protests continue in Libya (Picture: REUTERS) 0935 China becomes the latest nation to urge Libya to ensure the safety of its nationals after hundreds of Chinese construction workers fled attacks at their work site amid violent unrest in the North African nation. Italy is also is to send a C-130 air force jet to Libya Tuesday to evacuate Italian nationals. Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said it was headed to Benghazi. Russia’s Emergency Ministry will evacuate 82 employees and family members of OAO Tatneft from Libya. Greece, meanwhile, has said it was preparing to airlift its nationals from Libya.
0920 The Arab League will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo for delegates to discuss the Libyan revolt against Muammar Gaddafi, Reuters reports.
0915 OPEC's benchmark basket of 12 crude oils has breached the $100 barrier, the oil cartel has announced, amid concerns over the unrest in Libya and the wider oil-rich Middle East region. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan summoned his key ministers for an emergency meeting as oil prices soared to the two-year highs amid escalating violence.
0910 The Philippine government has said it will help 30,000 of its citizens flee "violence-wracked" Libya, AFP reports. It is also preparing evacuation plans for Filipinos living in other Arab nations enduring uprisings.
09.00 An online memorial to victims of the Libya protests has been launched.
08.45 Jeel Ghathub @Libyan4life tweets:
"A protester is shot in Libya and the Quran in his pocket shielded him from the bullet. La lllaha illAllah!" A video of the claim can be viewed on YouTube. 08.44 Oil prices jump above $93 a barrel as Libyan crisis deepens
08.41
Muammar Gaddafi appears on Libyan television - watch his appearance with umbrella here. 08.26 Much of the focus is on Libya but let's not forget that protests are ongoing in Bahrain. This picture is just in.
08.24 Anwar Swed, a London-based Libyan protester, tells Radio Four:
"People are being shot left, right and centre" 08.20 Italy says it is sending an air force jet to Benghazi to evacuate its citizens from Libya's second city. The C-130 transport aircraft will evacuate roughly 100 citizens.
08.17 Evan Davies, of the BBC, tweets:
"Am I alone in seeing a similarity between Colonel Gadaffi with his umbrella in that video and the late Michael Jackson?" 08.05 Benedict Brogan, The Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor wonders whether Britain has left itself defenceless if Gaddafi goes.
Mr Hague talks of “instability and extremism on our frontiers” from a new Middle East. He’s right, but that begs the question about where Britain is left: we have just launched a radical progamme of defence cuts for which we have scrapped our aircraft carriers and much else on the assumption that there was no strategic threat on the horizon. 08.03 The Libyan Youth Movement has launched an online memorial page to remember those killed in the protests.
08.01 This from libyansrevolt on Twitter:
"Massive demo outside downingstreet tomorrow in London - come out there and show your support at 15.00." 07.58 @ShababLibya (Libyan Youth Movement) tweets:
"Rallies in cities world wide please to show your support. Libya will be free and we will take down this tyran'ts regime." 07.51 Frank Gardner, the BBC's security correspondent, tweets:
"Gaddafi not finished yet - remember how everyone wrote off Saddam after Shiite uprising of mar 1991?" 07.40 Diplomats are deserting the Libyan regime in droves. Embassies in Australia, China, India and Malaysia have severed ties with the leadership and more could follow today.
07.49 Arab League says it will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo later today to discuss the Libyan revolt against Gaddafi.
07.47 For those of you who have just joined us it's worth looking again at Col Gaddafi's bizarre television appearance last night. Why anyone sitting in a car with a roof would need an umbrella I'll never know.
07.43 The Telegraph's Political Correspondent,
James Kirkup, considers David Cameron's tour of Egypt.
As David Cameron continues his Middle East tour, some newspapers are excited about the fact that some of the business people on his plane are from the defence industry. Labour too has questioned the timing of the PM’s decision to promote the industry (one of Britain’s biggest) in the volatile region. 07.40 The uprisings sweeping the Middle East aren't as clear-cut as some reports are suggesting,
says Anne Applebaum.
It isn't clear what's happening in these pictures. They are confusing, not only because there is no logic to them, but because there is no voice-over, nobody to give the story a neat beginning, middle, and end. 07.39 Egypt's military rulers say they will reinforce the border with Libya.
07.36 Libya's ambassador to India, who resigned because of the violent crackdown on demonstrators, tells Reuters that African mercenaries were being used by the authorities, prompting some army troops to defect. Ali al-Essawi said:
"They are from Africa, and speak French and other languages. They [army troops switching to back the protests] are Libyans and they cannot see foreigners killing Libyans so they moved beside the people." 07.35 Libyan state television dismisses as "lies and rumours" allegations that security forces are carrying out a massacre of protesters.
07.33 Welcome back to The Telegraph's live blog on Libya. We will also be following other developments across the Middle East today, including protests in Bahrain.
Libya protests: as it happened Feb 21
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8337670/Libya-protests-live.html
