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Libya protests: as it happened Feb 24

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23:06 With more Britons arriving in safety, more criticism of the
Government’s efforts to remove them is being aired. Andrew Briscoe, 44, a
former Army Sergeant Major from Hereford, described it as “shambolic”,
adding that the staff on the ground were poorly equipped with a team leader
who could not project his voice to give people information.

22:01 Mustafa Abdel Galil, Libya’s justice minister until three days
ago, tells Al
Jazeera
that Gaddafi has biological and chemical weapons, and will
not hesitate to use them.

21:08 Britons being repatriated on HMS Cumberland have told “harrowing
tales of violence”, according to the ship’s captain Steve Dainton. He
told Sky News: “There is great deal of relief to see the safety of a
Royal Navy warship arriving in Benghazi.” There are contrasting reports
of how many Brits are on board, varying from 68 (according to the Foreign
Office) to around 200 (from news reports).

20:46 Airline bmi
cancels all flights between Heathrow and Tripoli up to and including
February 28.

20.20 President Barack Obama says he is confident that markets will be
able to ride out the situation in Libya and the price of oil will stabilize.

Obama made the brief comments on Thursday during a discussion with his new
competitiveness council.

He said that energy costs are generally a source of uncertainty for
businesses. But the president said of the price of oil that, in his words, “We
think we’ll be able to ride out the situation in Libya and it will stabilize.”

Oil prices rose again on Thursday as the rebellion in Libya appeared to have
shut down even more crude production than previously estimated.

19.52 There are several rumours on twitter
and Reuters that Gaddafi has been shot dead. The US immediately issued a
statement saying they had no reason to believe the Libyan leader had been
killed:

TwitterAn unconfirmed rumor that #Gaddafi has been shot is pushing down oil
prices – Reuters #Libya #Feb17

HMS Cumberland in Benghazi

19.12 The White House has just said that the United States and the
world community had the “capacity to act” in case of a major
disruption to oil supplies following events in Libya.

18.54 Cobra, the British government’s crisis committee, has just ended
its meeting. They have been discussing the best ways of bringing home the
remaining Britons left in Libya, the BBC is reporting.

British evacuees from Libya disembark an RAF Hercules C130 transport
plane at Malta International Airport

18.21 Labour leader Ed Miliband has accused the Government of being “too
slow” in its evacuation efforts:

QuoteThey will need to learn lessons about the speed of response because it is
obvious other countries did respond more quickly. They have taken their eye
off the ball. British citizens in Libya who are looking to get home, and
their families, will want to know that everything is being done to get them
home as quickly as possible. I don’t think the Conservative-led Government
was sufficiently focused on this

18.05: Switzerland has ordered an immediate freeze on any assets that
may belong to Col Gaddafi and his entourage. Swiss foreign ministry
statement:

“The Federal Council (government) condemns the violence used by the
Libyan strongman against the people in the strongest terms.

“In view of the developments the Federal Council has decided to block
with immediate effect any possible assets of Gaddafi Kadhafi and his
entourage in Switzerland.”

17.55: The first issue of an arabic language Benghazi
newspaper
has been released online by a Libyian protest group.

17.44: Oliver Miles, the former British Ambassador to Libya, writing
for BBC News, has looked at why
Col Gaddafi’s speeches appear to be so bizarre to outsiders
:

Opinion
Mr Gaddafi’s personal style is recognizably that of his Bedouin
background. Bedouin have plenty of time and talk a lot when there is anyone
to talk to.”

17.30: Italy
has asked for EU help to face a looming influx of migrants and refugees from
Libya.

“We cannot be left alone,” said Italian Interior Minister Roberto
Maroni as he pleaded for European Union assistance in dealing with what he
termed “an invasion of one million, 1.5 million that would bring any
country to its knees”.

HMS Cumberland17.11 The Ministry of Defence has told the BBC that foreign nationals
are now boarding HMS Cumberland in Benghazi port. The ship is due to set
sail for Malta this evening.

16.50: European defence ministers are expected to discuss the Libya
unrest at a meeting tonight, Hungary’s defence minister has said, amid
efforts to evacuate thousands of European citizens.

16.20: Libya’s state TV, in what appears to be a first, is now airing
urgent captions in English, the BBC reports.

16.05: The Libyan ambassador to Jordan has resigned from his post, the
state-run Petra news agency reported, amid deadly protests against Col
Gaddafi.

“Libyan ambassador to Amman Mohammad Hassan Barghathi has announced
his resignation from his post because of the current developments in his
country,
” Petra said without elaborating.

16.00: France’s human rights ambassador Francois Zimeray says he
believes 1,000-2,000 people killed in Libya. He told AFP:

QuoteThe question is not if Gaddafi will fall, but when and at what human cost

For now the figures we have … more than 1,000 have died, possibly 2,000,
according to sources.

There is precise and corroborating evidence for an enquiry into crimes
against humanity, based on the information that we’re receiving, pictures,
statements by Gaddafi and his son.”

15.45: Muhammad bin Sayyid Hassan as- Senussi, who would have been Libya’s
crown prince if the country still had a monarchy, said the international
community should put pressure on Muammar Qaddafi to stop the killings in the
country.

In an interview with Al Arabiya television Senussi, whose great-uncle King
Idris was overthrown by Qaddafi in 1969, said it is time for Qaddafi to
leave Libya.

He urged tribes in the North African country to continue to fight the Libyan
leader, Bloomberg reported.

15.15: Richard
Spencer
, our Middle East Correspondent, has offered this analysis:

Richard SpencerIt was a very different Gaddafi and not just because this time he did not
have the cameras with him – though that itself must raise questions.

His tone was much calmer, almost pleading, than in the violent and angry
tirades he inflicted on television viewers on Tuesday.

What he did, is once again show that for all his showmanship he is very
much in the mould of other Arab ‘strongmen’.

In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak first addressed his people in defiant mode, as if
he was more outraged at the fact that people had risen against him than he
was interested in knowing why.

Then in his second speech he tried to be conciliatory, tried to present
himself as an elder statesman, suggested that he was all along happy to take
a back seat (but wouldn’t give up his status).

Gaddafi has just done the same – moving from irate father wagging his
finger at his disobedient teenage subjects to saying all he ever wanted was
to be a loved and respected constitutional monarch with no real power, like
our own dear Queen.

There was an even more direct echo later on: Mubarak told ABC News in the
US that he was ‘fed up’ with ruling his country, and only carried on to stop
it falling apart.

Gaddafi said he wasn’t ‘interested’ any more but would stay because he was
patriotic.

But in Mubarak’s case, it wasn’t enough and it seems hard to believe it
will be enough in Gaddafi’s case either.”

Col Gaddafi rambled throughout his live television interview conducted by
phone with state televison. It was not known where he was calling from.
(Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES).

14.55: Col Gaddafi continues through his extraordinary rant by quoting
a proverb that “if you carry a leaking bagful of water it will make
your backside wet”.

QuoteThat’s your responsibility. You are my people in al-Zawiya,” he
added.

He urged parents to “pay attention to your children” and find those “responsible
for inciting them and take them to court”.

“You should take the guns away from the kids. This is the
responsibility of all parents,” he added.

“My condolences to the families of those people killed from the security
forces. I wonder if Bin Laden is going to help compensate the families.

“Here I wait hoping that al-Zawiya, known to be the town of 1,000
martyrs against the Italian colonisers (so) please do not disappoint me.

“Otherwise each one will take justice in their own hands and rid the
country of this dark cloud.

“Peace be on al-Zawiya and its people.”

He then abruptly hangs up the phone.

14.45: In comparing himself to the Queen, who he says has not been
overthrown for 57 years.

QuoteYou
need to listen to your parents. If people disobey their parents they end up
destroying the country.

“The same case as in Britain (where) for 57 years the Queen has been
ruling. I have been in the same situation.

“I am not in the same position to be able to impose rule on the
people. I have become more of a symbolic leader. I have no power, it’s the
people themselves who have the prerogative.”

He continued: “There are institutions that look after these issues of
state. We have popular committees here and everyone is represented.

“I do not particulary care about this and I am not interested in this.

“It is not a matter of authority, this is an international link we
have heard about, which is spreading across the world.”

The terrorists he said “do not care about you”.

“All they want is to kill you and your kids so they can control them.”

Osama bin Laden (left) was blamed by Col Gaddafi for the uprising.
(Picture: EPA)

14.36: Col Gaddafi told state television:

QuotePeople have no reason to complain whatsever.

This incitement is taking place by those armed youngsters. Our
children are incited by those wanted by America and the western world.

“Get control of your children, keep them at home.

“Those (children) are carrying machine guns and they feel
trigger-happy, especially when they get stoned with drugs. My brothers,
don’t you have wise men in your areas?

“The men are scared to go out on the street. Don’t you think that al
Zawiya… should rethink what has been happening?

“The majority of the civilians are unarmed.”

He asks now that the “oil has stopped” how will his citizens how
support themselves.

14.30: Appears to blame drug dealers, al Qaeda, its chief Osama bin
Laden, other terrorists and students “disobeying” their parents.
Says he has “no power” over the country, and draws comparisons to
the Queen.

14.23: He is defiant. Listening in. Update shortly.

14.20: BREAKING NEWS: Col Gaddafi is addressing Libyan state TV
via mobile phone.

14.10: The pilot of Col Gaddafi’s private jet, who is Norwegian, has
fled Libya, reports have claimed. Odd Birger Johansen, 57, flew to Vienna
with his wife and daughter after fearing for their lives in Libya, the BBC
reported. Mr Johansen is reportedly one of four personal pilots used by the
long-standing Libyan leader.

Twitter14.05: Interesting
tweet from Cal Perry, Middle East Correspondent for Al Jazeera English
:
“During presser at Libya embassy: man with handi-cam from govt. tapes
all faces of press. Then amb. invites Malta press to go to Tripoli!”

A British family arrive at Gatwick Airport after being evacuated from
Libya. (Picture: EPA)

13.45: A new statement has been issued by the Foreign Office and the
Ministry of Defence.

It confimed the RAF C130 Hercules has departed Tripoli with 51 British
passengers on board and 13 other entitled passport holders, bound for Malta.
A second C130 is deploying to Malta and will be ready to assist as required.

HMS Cumberland has docked in Benghazi and is currently preparing to carry out
the evacuation of British Nationals from the port.

The MOD is “assisting FCO officials in Tripoli and has pre-positioned a
number of other assets and personnel in the area to assist as and when
appropriate as part of the overall Foreign Office led response”. “A
number of further UK assets are also being readied to assist the FCO if
required.”

QuoteIn support of the Foreign Office led operation to evacuate British
nationals from Libya, I can confirm that a RAF Hercules C130 is currently in
the air having taken off from Tripoli airport with 51 British people on
board. It will land in Malta later today
,” said Dr Liam Fox, the
Defence Secretary.

“The Ministry of Defence has had a range of assets in the Eastern
Mediterranean region for the last 24 hours, including HMS Cumberland, which
is now alongside in Benghazi preparing to evacuate British nationals.

“Having pre-positioned various assets we are confident we have the
necessary capabilities in place to support the ongoing civilian and
commercial efforts to help Britons in need of assistance.”

Foreigners trying to leave Libya wait inside the international airport in
Tripoli. (Picture: BARCROFT MEDIA).

13.40: There are multiple reports of gun battles taking place between
security forces and protesters leaving up to 100 people dead. Both Reuters
and Al Jazeera report the battle took place in the town of al Zawiyah, 50 km
west of Tripoli. Witnesses reported that the army attacked the town, firing
shots at protesters for more than four hours.

13.25: The United Arab Emirates has urged the United Nations Security
Council to intervene swiftly to stop bloodshed and violence in Libya and
hold probe acts of brutality in the North African nation, the state-run WAM
agency said.

Bloomberg said the U.A.E. demanded that the Libyan authorities refrain from
using force and save lives, WAM reported citing a foreign ministry
statement.

13.20: Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, becomes the
latest world leader to condemn the “appalling” violence in Libya.

QuoteIt’s appalling what’s happening in Libya, where a regime’s army is firing
blindly and intentionally on its own people,”
Mr Netanyahu told a
press conference with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk.

“It requires a strong and clear condemnation from the civilised world
and even more so from the democratic world.”

His comments came as Europe and Russia also strongly condemned the “violence
and the use of force against civilians” and urged respect for human
rights and international law.

The EU said it was considering sending a humanitarian intervention force to
Libya.

13.15: France called for a U.N.-backed inquiry team sent into Libya to
investigate possible crimes against humanity.

QuoteWe want an independent, impartial and credible inquiry team sent to Libya
under the auspices of the United Nations
,” Foreign Ministry
spokesman Bernard Valer.

“This mission would be able to measure the scale of crimes committed
and notably whether crimes against humanity occurred.”

Cool support from UN member states including Russia, China and Cuba means that
any draft resolution on Libya to come from Friday’s urgent session of the UN
Human Rights Council will likely be heavily watered down, diplomats told
Reuters. There were some suggestions that there would be no resolution
passed at all.

A man gestures in front of burnt vehicles in a state security building in
Tobruk, east of Libya (Picture: REUTERS).

13.05: All muslims should support the uprising against Col Gaddafi, an
offshoot of the al Qaeda terror network in North Africa.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb urged full support of the revolt but did not
give any specifics, the Associated Press reported.

According to a statement posted on the militant website the group, based in
neighboring Algeria, denounced Col Gaddafi as a “criminal tyrant.”
It said support for the rebels should especially come from Libyan neighbors
Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.

13.00: Putting himself on a collision course with President Obama,
Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said his country was against imposing
sanctions on Libya because such measures would punish the Libyan people.

Quote
It is not correct to move hastily on these type of situations. It is
not right to impose sanctions against Libya because such measures will
punish the population
,” he said.

12.50: Foreign journalists who enter Libya without permission are “al
Qaeda collaborators” the embattled Libyan government now believes,
according to the US State Department.

QuoteIn meetings with senior Libyan government officials, US diplomats were told
that some members of CNN, BBC Arabic and Al Arabiya would be allowed into
the country to report on the current situation
,” a spokesman said.

“These same senior officials also said that some reporters had entered
the country illegally and that the Libyan government now considered these
reporters Al-Qaeda collaborators.”

12.40: More than 30,000 Tunisians and Egyptians have fled to their home
countries from Libya since Monday, according to the International
Organisation for Migration, a UN agency.

It was standing by to help tens of thousands more who are expected to leave.
It comes as Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, condemned the violence in
Libya.

12.30: Reuters
have put together a nice factbox
detailing the countries and
companies evacuating nationals and employees from Libya or closing
operations due to the political turmoil in the country.

Video12.20: Telegraph TV’s latest Libya footage
on the chaos at Tripoli airport as people try to flee.

12.15: Jeremy Hunt, the Culture Secretary, has appeared to confirm that
the SAS was on stand-by and could be deployed to help rescue 170 oil workers
in perilous circumstances in the Libyan desert.

While the Ministry of Defence refused to comment on the movements of the
Special Forces, the Mr Hunt sought to stress the Government’s proactive
response to events.

QuoteThe most significant news is the SAS troops that are now ready to spring
into action,” he told LBC Radio.

“They are obviously thinking very, very carefully about these 170
trapped oil workers and the issue now is how do we deal with people outside
Tripoli rather than inside Tripoli
.”

Asked whether he could foresee a time when British troops were deployed in
Libya, he added: “Absolutely.”

But I don’t want to speculate on that because the normal Foreign
Office line rightly – because they don’t want to compromise the operations –
is that they don’t rule anything in or rule anything out, but we wouldn’t
have SAS troops on stand-by if we weren’t envisaging the possibility of
having to use them.

12.05: The Foreign Office has just issued this update:

* Three flights have either already departed or are about to leave Tripoli:

* A charter flight carrying 78 adults and one infant arrived at Gatwick at
0715 this morning.

* A FCO-chartered flight left Tripoli at 0745 this morning and arrived in
Malta at 0900. It carried 130 adults and 2 infants. It is currently waiting
for a new crew at Malta and is currently scheduled to arrive in the UK early
evening.

*There will be a further FCO charter flight departing Gatwick today. Details
are being finalised now.

* A Hercules C130 will depart Tripoli airport soon carrying at least 50
British Nationals.

* Another Hercules is on standby in Malta if needed.

* HMS Cumberland is approaching Benghazi and preparing to dock. We are
encouraging British Nationals to go to the port. Capacity is several
hundred. It will transport passengers to Valetta, Malta. We are unable to
confirm precise time of departure. There will be no charge for this assisted
departure.

* 26 British nationals should be departing on a Turkish ferry leaving Benghazi
later today. We are looking into contingency plans around using more ferries
if needed. British Nationals at the port already may wish to make contact
with Turkish Embassy officials to use this route.

QuoteNumerous FCO staff continue to work day and night to provide the best
possible assistance to British Nationals in Libya
,” a spokesman
said.

“We have increased the number of FCO staff working in the call
handling centre. We are also looking to activate options around commercial
call handling.

“We currently have two Rapid Deployment Teams on the ground in Libya:
one on HMS Cumberland helping Brits to get on board, and a team providing 24
hour support at Tripoli airport. We will send more if needed.”

He added: “Consular staff are at Malta airport assisting passengers.
We are sending additional staff to Malta to reinforce our teams already
there.”

An RAF Hercules transport plane sits on the runway at Malta Airport
(Picture: REUTERS)

12.00: The
London School of Economics has announced
its Council will review its
£300,000 funding for its North Africa Programme that it received from the
Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation.

QuoteThe School had originally planned to ask Council to consider what to do
with the unspent funds, but will now also ask Council to consider whether
the School should set aside for purposes agreed with the wider School
community funds equivalent in value to the Foundation funds already spent
,”
a spokesman said.

He said the student occupation, sparked by unhappiness about the university’s
links to Libya, had “ended following discussions with the Director”.

The group of students had occupied the senior dining room for the past few
night after making “a number of demands concerning” the school’s
links with Libya.

They demanded that the LSE reject further monies from the £1.5 million
donation from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation
and use the £300,000 already received to create a scholarship fund for “underprivileged
Libyan students”.

Students are satisfied with LSE’s position on the matter,
particularly in light of strong support from the student union for the
original £1.5 million donation
,” he added.

11.50: Saudi Arabia says it is “ready and willing” to make up
for any shortfall in oil production caused by the uprising in Libya, Reuters
reports.

Protesters shout anti-government slogans near a bombed ammunitions store
in Tobruk. (Picture: REUTERS).

11.45: A cousin of Col Gaddafi, and one of his closest aides, has
arrived in Cairo. Gadhaf al-Dam said the crackdown was seen “grave
violations to human right and human and international laws”, the
Associated Press reported.

It came after France joined the UN in calling for international justice for “atrocities”.

11.40: Security forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on
Thursday attacked anti-government militias controlling the town of Misrata
and killed several people, Reuters reports.

11.35: Thanks to colleague Praveen Swami for flagging this great
Google Map of fighting in Libya
.

11.30: ABC Radio Australia reports that Libyan authorities have
detained one Australian-Libyan citizen in the country. It remains unclear
what the person has been detained for.

11.25: After several British airlines suspended operation to and from
Libya other companies have also announced they are stopping travel to the
country.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is dropping all flights serving the Libyan capital of
Tripoli from today until Feb. 27 following a German government travel
warning while the Italian carrier Alitalia announced it was also suspending
regular flights.

11.20: Col Gaddafi to make a public address in Zawiyah city west of
Tripoli, state television said Thursday.

Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi is to make a public address shortly.
(Picture: EPA).

11.10: A foreign military intervention in Libya is not currently on the
cards but establishing and enforcing a no-fly zone was “worth looking at”,
French Defence Minister Alain Juppe said.

11.05: Libyan oil production has halved and fallen by 1.2 million
barrels a day because of the current unrest in Libya, according to Paolo
Scaroni, the chief executive of Italian energy giant ENI as the price of oil
hit a 30-month high.

11.00: Henchmen of Col Gaddafi’s regime have abducted two daughters of
his exiled former protocol chief and forced them to denounce their father on
state television, the exiled aide’s lawyer claims.

Nuri el-Mismari, who is exiled in France where he was arrested last year at
the request of Tripoli on suspicion of embezzlement, has made various
declarations to the media about Kadhafi’s demise in the face of mass
protests.

On Wednesday, he told the AFP news agency that “the Libyans are not
going to stop. Moamer Kadhafi over. He’s lost everything
.”

Mismari’s lawyer Frederic Landon said that two of his daughters were forced to
speak on Libyan state television to denounce their father’s declarations.

“Two of Mr el-Mismari’s daughters have just been abducted by men
working for Mr Kadhafi and forcibly taken to the television to deny their
father’s statements,” he said.

“They are still in the hands of Moamer Kadhafi’s men, which shows
there’s a will for reprisals.”

10.50: Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appears on Libyan state TV claiming that
life in Tipoli was returning to “normal”. He accuses “Arab
brothers” of fueling a conspiracy while also blaming the media for “spreading
lies”, Al Jazeera reports.

He calls on Egyptians to not participate in the “conspiracy” after
the country’s army ordered an evacuation of its citizens after authorities
there interpreted Saif Gaddaffi’s earlier speech as incitement to violence
against their people.

Life in Tripoli is normal,” he said, adding that he would
organise a tour for international media and other organisations.

AP reports that he denied airstrikes against Libyan cities, claiming the death
toll exaggerated.

Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi’s son Seif al-Islam speaks on Libyan state
television (Picture: AFP/ GETTY IMAGES)

10.45: Mobile phone messages are circulating in Tripoli, calling for
mass protests against Col Gaddafi following Friday lunchtime prayers, Al
Jazeera reports.

10.40: French Defence Minister Alain Juppe has he hoped Col Gaddafi “lives
his last moments at head of state,” with hundreds already dead in
protests against his regime, AFP reports.

France has taken an extremely clear position. I wish with all my
heart for Kadhafi to live his last moments at head of state
,” Juppe
told France Inter radio.

“What he’s done, what he’s decided to do, that’s to say firing heavy
weaponry on his people, is naturally unacceptable.”

James KirkupJames
Kirkup
10.20: Prime Minister David Cameron has said he was “extremely
sorry” for the delay to Government efforts to rescue Britons stranded
in Libya.

According to James Kirkup, who is travelling with the PM, Mr Cameron
apologised during several television interviews in Muscat, Oman just hours
after the Government’s chaotic operation to rescue Britons from Libya.

Quote
What I would say to those people is that I am extremely sorry,
he told Sky News.

“It is a very difficult picture in Libya. This is not an easy
situation.”

He added to the BBC: “Of course, I am incredibly sorry. They have had
a difficult time.

Mr Cameron told the BBC News that “all the options” were open,
including the use military assets “as they were needed”.

“In terms of the future, I don’t want to speculate too much. We have
to plan very carefully for what we can do, with the companies concerned, for
all those people who are out in the desert working for various businesses
out there.

“We have people working round the clock to get that done. It wouldn’t
be right to speculate about all the different means and methods we can do to
do that. As for the future, we must look at all the options.”

Scottish rescue workers and crash investigators search the area around
the cockpit of Pan Am flight 103 in a farmer’s field east of Lockerbie
Scotland after a mid-air bombing killed all 259 passengers and crew, and 11
people on the ground. Mustapha Abdeljalil claimed Co Gaddafi ‘ordered’ the
bombing. (Picture: REUTERS)

10.00: The former minister in Col Gaddafi’s former ministers, who
claimed his former boss had “ordered the Lockerbie bombing” has
further predicted that the Libyan leader will follow in Adolph Hitler’s
footsteps by committing suicide, rather than give up power, AFP reports.

Mustapha Abdeljalil, justice minister until he quit over the bloody crackdown
on protestors, told Sweden’s
Expressen
that he expected Kadhafi to make good on his pledge to die
on Libyan soil rather than slink into exile.

QuoteGaddafi’s time is up. He is going to go like Hitler, he is going to commit
suicide
,” Abdeljalil said in Thursay’s edition of the newspaper.

Hitler committed suicide in his bunker in Berlin in April 1945 as he witnessed
the disintegration of the Nazi German empire. He made the comments about
Lockerbie in the same newspaper.

Col Gaddafi (left) and Mustafa Abdeljalil, Libya’s justice minister
(Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES/ EPA).

09.45: Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport
union, which represents oil workers, accused the Government of “failing”
UK citizens at a time of crisis.

QuoteThe response of the Government in terms of organising transport to get our
people home has been a disgrace that has left lives in danger while other
foreign nationals were back on home soil in their thousands before a single
plane had even left the UK
,” he said.

“If planes can be scrambled to fly David Cameron around the Middle
East and North Africa on press stunts, why can’t the same be done for our
people caught in the middle of a civil war?

09.30: Italy warns of a “biblical” exodus of up to 300,000
migrants from Libya, AFP reports. Roberto Maroni, the Italian Interior
Minister, urged European Union nations to help with coping with “a
catastrophic humanitarian crisis” looming in Libya.

09.20: Egyptian workers fleeing Libya say anti Col Gaddafi militias
control town of Zuara, 120 km west of Tripoli, Reuters reports.

Twitter09.15: NBC
News London-based correspondent Stephanie Gosk, tweets
that “Sandstorm
forces border to close between Libya and Egypt. Makes getting out of Libya
even harder”.

09.00: Lebanese authorites confirm they refused to allow a Libyan plane
to land in Beirut yesterday. This was due to the not identifying its
passengers, Al Jazeera reports, amid claims the passengers included the wife
of one of Gaddafi’s sons.

British passengers arrive at Gatwick Airport after the flight from Libya,
which they described as ‘descending into hell’. (Pictures: REUTERS/
CHRISTOPHER PLEDGER).

08.45: Forces loyal to Col Gaddafi have attacked the town Az-Zawiyah to
the west of the capital Tripoli, Al Arabiya television reported, citing
witnesses, according to Bloomberg.

08.30: The first reports of the “hellish” scenes inside Libya
are beginning to emerge from Britons fleeing the regime.

Bryan Richards, an oil worker, escaped from Libya last night on what he was
told was the Polish President’s official plane.

QuoteI am not quite sure how it came about but we had a call saying that there’s
a Polish plane going with 50 seats. ‘Does anyone want one?’ It was a bit of
no-brainer really. I am in Warsaw. I am out of the sand and into the snow,”
he told Today from Warsaw.

He said he was nearly “bludgeoned” as he tried to escape through
Tripoli Airport.

QuoteI was the tail-end Charlie of our little entourage going through the
airport. I do this many times a year coming in and out of Tripoli airport.

“Now, we see organised chaos but we are used to it. This was manic.
This was the worst nightmare of pop concerts and football hooligans all
mixed into one.

“It was unbelievable. If you can imagine an area the size of the
Wembley pitch full of people and luggage, all trying to move in the same
direction but not going anywhere and no-one else can move anywhere. It was
unbelievable manic, mayhem. There was no sanitation, nothing to eat, people
had been there for days
.”

A Royal Air Force C-130 Hercules transport plane at Malta International
Airport outside Valletta (Picture: REUTERS).

Meanwhile, passengers landing at Gatwick have spoke of their relief to be
home.

Helena Sheehan, 66, said she had just experienced “some of the worst
hours of her life”.

“Libya is descending into hell,” she said.

“The airport is like nothing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.

“It’s absolute chaos. There’s just thousands and thousands of people
trying to get out.

William Hague has ordered a review into the rescue fiasco. He admitted
the response had been poor. (Picture: EPA)

08.20: The Foreign Secretary, who is to chair a meeting of COBRA, the
government’s crisis committee later today, admits fiasco was “infuriating”.
He calls for more international pressure on Libya as the “odds are
stacking heavily” against regime, which he claimed had embarked on “atrocities”.

He said that the problems with the plane and the rescue efforts had left him
angry. People “should have been rescued yesterday”. He declined to
say if Special Forces, but added that “we will be looking at every
option”.

QuoteApart from the people in Tripoli there was nobody more infuriated than I was,”
he told the BBC’s Radio 4 Today Programme.

On Col Gadaffi and his regime he added: “We are having a quite
different situation from Egypt and Tunisia where the Military refused to
fire on their pelple but that doesn’t seemed to have flowed (to Libya).

“Atrocities have taken place, atempts to fire on the people of that
country. And that is deeply concerning that a government that is using force
and violence against their own. The odds are stacking heavily against him

(Col Gadaffi).” He called for more international pressure over the
coming days.

The Libyan leadership will be “held to account” for crimes against
its people, he added.

Mr Hague said the Government had expected a number of airlines to fly out to
Libya but they had “suddenly” withdrawn their offers due to safety
or business concerns.

08.15: William Hague admits Foreign Office resources are “under
strain”, blaming airlines and the earthquake in Christchurch.

08.10: Sky News reporting the mercenaries working for Gaddafi trained
at the same places as the IRA.

British special forces could be used to rescue the 170 British workers
marooned in desert camps in Libya. (Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

08.00: More pressure on Col. Muammar Gaddafi as Alain Juppe, the French
Defence Minister said he hoped time as leader of Libya was coming to an end.

I hope wholeheartedly Gaddafi is living his last moments as leader,”
Juppe said in an interview on France Inter radio where he repeated French
calls for sanctions after Gadaffi’s bloody crackdown on the revolt in Libya.

Asked if sanctions should include halting purchases of oil from Libya, the
minister said: “If that option were proposed I would go for it,”
Reuters reported.

Pressure is mounting on Col Gaddafi (Picture: REUTERS)

07.45: Reports have suggested that Libyan oil production is down by as
much as 25 per cent. It comes after President Barack Obama raised the threat
of sanctions against Libya, saying that action could be taken by the United
States unilaterally, in concert with major allies or through international
institutions.

US officials have said those options included economic sanctions, freezing
assets of the Gaddhafi regime, scrapping humanitarian aid. At this stage,
imposing a no-fly zone over Libya was toward the bottom of the list.

07.30: Libyan
pilots crash their fighter jet rather than attack Benghazi, according to
reports
. Two Libyan air force pilots bailed out of their fighter jet
and let it crash rather than obey orders to attack opposition-held Benghazi,
Libya’s second largest city, the website for the Libyan newspaper Quryna
reported.

07.20: A plane chartered by oil company BP, carrying 150 people, has
landed at Gatwick from Libya.

Telegraph07.15: A British operation to rescue nationals stranded by the civil
war in Libya has
finally got under way after a day of delays forced the Government to borrow
a plane from BP.

07.00 Welcome to The Telegraph’s live blog, following events in Libya
and across the Middle East as they develop on Thursday.

Libya protests: as it happened Feb 23

Libya protests: as it happened Feb 22

Libya protests: as it happened Feb 21

Article source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8346916/Libya-protests-as-it-happened-Feb-24.html

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