As the uprising in Libya continues, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.
We're signing off from today's liveblog - but fear not, you can continue to keep up to date with all an new, fresh liveblog for March 2 - by clicking here.
Timestamp:
11:50pm
If you speak Arabic, enjoy yourself with this spoof video from a bunch of Egyptian funny guys...
Timestamp:
11:39pm
Canada has frozen Libyan assets worth more than US$2.4billion, said a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The warship being sent toward Libya has now been named as the HMCS Charlottetown Halifax-class frigate - which will help evacuate citizens and be prepared "for any need, including the enforcement of sanctions".
Timestamp:
11:38pm
Further UN Security Council resolutions against Libya remain possible - including one to endorse a no-fly zone over the country, where Gaddafi has been reported to have used airstrikes against protesters. "We are nto ruling anything out at this stage," British envoy Mark Lyall Grant said. He told reporters:
We will look at what is happening on the ground and we will look to take whatever measures we consider necessary to respond to events.
Timestamp:
11:34pm
Italy has announced plans to send a humanitarian mission to Tunisia within the next 48 hours, with enough food and medical aid to help meet the immediate needs of up to 10,000 refugees. "I hope this is followed by the intervention of other European countries," said interior minister Roberto Maroni.
At least 75,000 people have streamed across the Libya-Tunisia in the past nine days, with 14,000 crossing on Sunday alone, UNHCR announced earlier today. They're going to need all the help they can get.
Timestamp:
11:27pm
Amid calls for the imposition of a no-fly zone - which would almost certainly involve foreign airstrikes against Libyan airfields and military facilities - Russia says military intervention "would kill the shoots of democracy in the region". Read more here: Top powers split over Libya options
Timestamp:
11:15pm
US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen says:
The pace of change and the course of events are moving at the speed of Twitter
Timestamp:
10:57pm
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Timestamp:
10:50pm
Ahmed Yousef, of the Libyan National Initiative, tells Al Jazeera from Tripoli:
There are security brigades roaming Tripoli’s main streets and controlling Tripoli’s main crossings - in the east, west and at the south. There are also pro-Gaddafi vehicles roaming the main streets.
As for the areas and neighbourhoods, the citizens are entrenched and sealing them off with what ever they can, making it difficult for any stranger to enter. We are talking about a relative control - perhaps the regime is trying, through the security brigades, to send messages to the residents of Tripoli that the regime is in charge.
We sense chaos here and the uprising confused the security apparatus.
There’s real fear, Tripoli at night became a ghost town. I saw with my own eyes - any car can stop you for a search. One aspect of this chaos is that the regime is recruiting young people and arming them with light weapons and is dispatching them to several squares.
And there are also some reports that they give them money to support the regime and stand against the uprising.
Timestamp:
10:44pm
Libya has been suspended from the UN Human Rights Council. The General Assembly session didn't need to vote on it, as it was passed by consensus. Here come the speeches...
Timestamp:
10:30pm
Ban Ki-moon:
There are reports that government forces have fired indiscriminately on peaceful protesters and bombed military bases in the east of the country.
In the west, there are reports of on-going and serious clashes between government forces and armed opponents.
The death toll from nearly two weeks of violence is unknown but is likely to exceed 1,000, as I reported to the Security Council on Friday. Thousands have been injured. Credible and consistent reports include allegations of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture.
Timestamp:
10:25pm
Ban Ki-moon:
The International Organisation for Migration say 1.5million migrant workers are in Libya. UNHCR has appealed to all neighbouring countries to maintain open borders for those fleeing the country. All those wanting to leave Libya must be allowed to do so - free from discrimination, irrespective of their nationality. In these circumstances, it is critical the international community remains united.
The winds of change are sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. People are demanding human rights and freedoms. It is our collective reponsibility to stand for human rights.
Timestamp:
10:18pm
Ban Ki-moon tells the UN General Secretary he wants to see them support the HRC's recommendation to kick Libya off the council:
The world has spoken with one voice and demand the full recognition of rights to the Libyan people. The reports from the ground are sobering. Arms depot and arsenals have reportedly been opened to gangs, who terrorise neighbourhoods.
Timestamp:
10:11pm
A Canadian Hercules military transport plane was refused permission to land in Tripoli earlier today, and has returned to Malta without the load of oil workers officials had hoped to evacuate, CTV reports. It comes after a C17 transport plane was deneid landing rights last week and was forced top wait in Rome for days awaiting the necessary approvals.
Canada has also sent a frigate to Libya - though it could take a week to get from Halifax to the Mediterranean sea .
Timestamp:
10:08pm
Robert Gates, US defence secretary, says 400 Marines are aboard the amphibious USS Kearsarge - currently headed toward Libya. But he also said the UN SC resolution passed on Saturday did not authorise the use of force - and that NATO members are spilt on whether to take military action.
Timestamp:
10:05pm
Al Jazeera's Scott Heidler tells us the UN representatives to Venezuela and Cuba want to speak in tonight's General Assembly session. It's not clear that they oppose kicking Libya off the Human Rights Council, but may want to make some statement against UN intervention.
Timestamp:
9:50pm
The pre-Gaddafi Libyan flag has been raised at the Libyan embassy to Malta. Protesters met with the ambassador, who reportedly said he would accept their flag. After talks, however, the green flag still flew. The ambassador wanted to take it down, the consul did not, the Times of Malta reported.
But while the ambassador spoke to journalists outside the embassy, protesters scrambled up the side of the building, scaling the two-storey embassy, and raised their flag from the pole - to cheers from below. The Times of Malta has video footage.
Timestamp:
9:35pm
The UN's General Assembly will decide later tonight whether or not to kick Libya off the Human Rights Council. Scott Heidler, Al Jazeera's correspondent at the UN, tell us the real issue is whether or not the decision will go to a vote. If the president of the General Assembly - currently Joseph Deiss of Switzerland - determines that there are no objections, he can announce the resolution passed by consensus.
If he thinks there are objections, he will call for a vote. To pass, it needs a 2/3 majority - or 128 of 192 members. Speeches will follow.
Timestamp:
9:05pm
The World Food Programme has sent 80 tonnes of food so far to help Libyans fleeing into Tunisia, it says. The WFP's executive director is in Tunisia to discuss humanitarian needs with government officials, while the World Health organization says there is a need for “urgent action to avoid pandemics", due to food shortage.
Timestamp:
8:58pm
Libya's deputy ambassador the UN, Ibrahim Dabasshi, has told Al Jazeera that Gaddafi is trying to replace both Ambassador Mohamed Shalgam and himself.
Timestamp:
8:50pm
This video was sent to Al Jazeera via our YourMedia link. We haven't yet been able to get a full translation, or to confirm exactly where or when it was filmed. However, the sender tells us he filmed it using a mobile phone at the a field hospital set up in Benghazi.
Ali Khedr Mohamed Mohamed, a 65-year-old "simple Egyptian man" from the small village of Eliat Lamlom Maghagha near the city of Elmenia, says he came to Libya when he was 17 years old, in 1963 - before Gaddafi seized power.
He says that, "last Tuesday" he was kidnapped by armed pro-Gaddafi supporters, and taken to one of the military camps in the city of Sirte. He was offered 25,000 Libyan Dinars (US20,000), along with a luxury car and Libyan citizenship - in exchange for being recorded on video saying he was the leader of a group of Egyptian revolutionaries who came to Libya to overthrow Gaddafi.
After refusing, he says he thought he was going to be killed. It's not clear what injuries he suffered. But a soldier took Ali from his would-be killers, telling others he would execute the Egyptian personally. He says the Libyan soldier then hid him inside a car and drove him out of the Gaddafi stronghold, releasing him to his freedom.
Timestamp:
8:25pm
Some 75,000 people have fled across the Libyan border into Tunisia in the past nine days, UNHCR reported earlier. Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the Tunisian side, described the scene as "really chaotic".
Things are now at breaking point. The crowds on the Libyan side have been growing and the situation for them has been getting much worse. We've had people being taken from the crowd, people who collapsed, fainted, suffering from dehydration and stress.
Timestamp:
8:22pm
This composite picture was posted online and appears to show the same couple of people popping up in different guises on Libyan state TV - one of which turns up once as a sheikh, and later filling up a crowd.
Timestamp:
8:00pm
This video emerged online recently, and purports to show several new graves in the western Libyan town of Zawiya.
Timestamp:
7:43pm
These photos posted online by @AliTweel purport to show shops in Tripoli this afternoon, running out of food.
Timestamp:
7:40pm
Tweets from several sources say that people in Tripoli are too scared to leave their homes following evening prayers, "in fear of snipers and mercenaries".
Timestamp:
7:31pm
Hundreds of African migrant workers are attempting to flee Libya, saying they are victims of attacks by Libyan mobs looking for Gaddafi's reported mercenaries. One standing in a burnt-out workshop tells Al Jazeera:
Libyans did this. They are against us because we are black. Because of the colour of our skin. They think we are mercenaries, but we are not.
Timestamp:
7:12pm
"After shooting at its own people, and mismanaging its own responsibility", Libya should be kicked off the UN's Human Rights Council, says Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Garh Store. "It will be a historic first, but it will be the Human Rights Council - and the UN - living up to its mandate." He tells Al Jazeera:
The west has bought for too long a time the version of authoritarian regimes taht presents opposition as extreme, Islamist, radical - bordering on terror. If someone is bordering on terror, we support pursuing them through the courts and combatting them with all necessary means.
But I think there has been a double standard here by saying all opposition groups fall into that camp. What we have seen in Egypt, Tunisia, and now other countries, is a young generation - well informed, with clear aspirations for freedom, democracy, development and human rights.
Timestamp:
6:52pm
The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration said it helped evacuate a group of 1,450 Egyptians from Libya earlier today, and has chartered five flights to carry a further 900 from the Tunisian island of Djerba. Marc Petzoldt, IOM's Chief of Mission in Tunisia, said:
With thousands of migrants still awaiting authorization to enter Tunisia, there is an urgent need to decongest the border area which lacks adequate facilities to host large numbers of people.
Timestamp:
6:37pm
Libyan residents had some US$62.1billion deposited in overseas bank accounts at the end of last year, says the bank for Internation Settlements. Much of it is in the form of investments made by Libyan banks - but individuals account for US$8.2billion of cash held overseas.
A third of Libya's 6million people live on less than $2 a day, reports Arab News
Timestamp:
6:25pm
Libyan state TV has been showing soldiers inspecing weapons they say were handed in by opposition forces in Az Zawiyah.
They say the men "felt guilty for what they had done after listening to lies on foreign media". They also said the surrender was peaceful and that the men were not arrested nor were their names taken...
Timestamp:
6:06pm
Gaddafi troop commander General al-Mahdi al-Arabi has told protesters staging a sit-in in a square in Zawiyah, west of Tripoli, that Gaddafi has threatened an airstike against them if they did not disperse, reports Al Jazeera Arabic.
Timestamp:
6:02pm
The UN High Commission for Refugees says 140,000 have fled Libya to Egypt and Tunisia since February 20th. - with 14,000 crossing the border into Tunisia yesterday alone.
Yesterday UNHCR erected 500 tents, and last night each was sheltering between six to eight people. This morning work continues on erecting a further 1000 tents so that a total of 12,000 people will have shelter by the evening. An additional two airlifts are planned for Thursday with tents and supplies for up to 10,000 people. The water and hygiene situation remains precarious. UNHCR has requested ICRC and UNICEF to help with improving these facilities. Tunisian civilians, the Tunisian Red Crescent and the Tunisian military have been offering what our staff have described as 'unprecedented support', but are seriously overstretched ...
We are very concerned that a large number of sub-Saharan Africans are not being allowed entry into Tunisia at this point. UNHCR is in negotiations with self-appointed volunteers from the local community who are guarding the border.
Timestamp:
5:53pm
James Mattis, the US general in control of US Central Command, syas establishing a no-fly zone over Libya "would be challenging". He said:
You would have to remove the air defence capability in order to establish a no-fly zone - so no illusions here - it would be a military operation, it wouldn’t simply be telling people not to fly airplanes.
Timestamp:
5:49pm
We mentioned earlier the Libyan pilots who flew to Malta instead of bombing protesters in Benghazi. Well, Malta has just announced it's not going to give the planes back.
The island nation's government on Wednesday refused to let a Libyan passenger plane land, because the passengers included two pilots sent to fly the Mirage jet fighters back to Libya, said the office of the Maltese prime minister.
Martin Bugelli, head of information for the prime minister's office, said they were abiding by the UN arms embargo imposed on Gaddafi.
The jet fighters are understood to be of comparable capability to the MiG-21, with a top speed of around Mach 2.2 - and capable of carrying sidewinder missiles and up to 4,000kg of bomb payload.
Timestamp:
5:37pm
We're expecting a US military press conference shortly. Officially, it's not to give a statement about Libya - but Gaddafi is likely to be the subject of the first question. We'll bring you details right here...
Timestamp:
5:32pm
Austrian officials have just announced they are freezing Gaddafi's assets in the country. The country's central bank said some US$1.66billion of Libyan assets were held by Austrian institutions. However, a bank source said:
Very little of it is likely to be Gaddafi's directly and, if it is, it is not going to have Gaddafi written all over it.
Saif al-Islam studied in Veinna - and Austrian media reports that he kept his two pet white tigers in the city's zoo while he was there.
Timestamp:
5:25pm
Hillary Clinton says the US is sending two "specialist humanitarian teams" to Egypt and Tunisia to help deal with the developing refugee crisis -and is moving "military assets" - warships - to support them.
It's worth noting that UN Security Council resolution 1970, passed on Saturday, did authorise member states to " adopt 'all measures necessary' to secure the prompt and safe delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need" in Libya.
Clinton says the US must use "diplomacy, development and defence to promote and protect American interests".
The stakes are high.
Timestamp:
5:19pm
The Italians have said they will allow the use of their bases for possible action against Libya
Timestamp:
5:10pm
A Live Phone Caller tweets, reportedly from Tripoli, that they are recognising the same people in the footage of pro-Gaddafi demonstrations aired on state TV
Timestamp:
5:00pm
The London School of Economics will investigate claims Saif al-Islam Gaddafi plagiarised chunks of his PhD thesis, the BBC says.If you happen to be an expert on "The role of civil society in the democratisation of global governance institutions", you can read the 429-page paper on Saif Gaddafi's own website - and see if you recognise anything.
The school also announced it is likely to set aside GBP 300,000, which it says is equivalent to the entire amount received from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, and will likely use it to set up a scholarship fund for Libyan students.
Timestamp:
4:56pm
Al Jazeera's Evan Hill, has posted this photo of the former military garrison in Benghazi. Read his excellent report: The day the Katiba fell
Timestamp:
4:44pm
A petition has emerged online at change.org, pleading for Malta to grant political asylum to the two pilots who refused to bomb Libyan citizens
Timestamp:
4:24pm
We mentioned earlier that Gaddafi's troops were gathering outside Nalut. Here's what one resident of the city just told Al Jazeera:
Last night, before sunset, about 25 armed cars tried to enter the vicinity of Nalut town and controlled one of the entrances. We had to to pull back, and took guard of [another] entrance to the town, helping journalists and medical aid as well as food supplies into the town.
We heard that the news about tanks and other armed vehicles was not true at the time. It was not a very large-sized force.
Timestamp:
4:13pm
France has urged humanitarian aid to take priority over installing a no-fly zone. In a radio interview, European Affairs Minister Laurent Wauquiez said:
Libya is twice the size of France. So is it even possible to set up a no-fly zone quickly, and would it be effective? The main risk is that [Gaddafi] uses his money to pay an army of mercenaries.
Paris is in favour of the European Union going a step further on that point. The Libyan state owns stakes in European companies. The aim would be to ensure that it can not sell its stakes.
Timestamp:
4:04pm
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Benghazi, tells us:
Benghazi has a long line of people who have stood up to Gaddafi - and paid the price ... Every town and settlement here has some anti-aircraft weapons, and some ammunition. We don't know quite how much. Probably not enough for going ahead and mounting an attack, as some here have been suggesting. Perhaps enough to defend the city - but no-one knows the strength of the air force left loyal to Gaddafi.
I think everybody is hoping for a peaceful end to this ... People here want an air exclusion zoen set up to defend against these sort of airstrikes. But they absolutely do not want troops on the ground. They don't want Iraq or Afhanistan here.
Timestamp:
3:49pm
If Gaddafi was hoping for a share of the record GBP 670million annual profit of Financial Times publisher Pearson, he's going to be disappointed. Pearson has just annouced it is freezing dividend payments on the 26.5million shares held by the Libyan Investment Authority.
The LIA holds a 3.3 per cent stake in the publisher and is its fourth largest shareholder. While Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino said she had been "uncomfortable" with the Libyan investment, the company acted after the British government ordered a freeze on Libyan assets.
Timestamp:
3:46pm
With oil production down to 50 per cent, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Libya, tells us that "oil will be the lifeline for the new Libya - but in the old Libya, few benefitted from the wealth it generated".
Timestamp:
3:40pm
David Cameron, British Prime Minister:
We must keep pressure on all those members of the regime, particularly those not already included in the [UN Security Council] sanctions and asset freeze - and tell them: 'Keep up what you're doing, and you soon will be.'
We should see this situation across the whole of Middle East and North Africa as an opportunity. It is essential to ensure this is a genuine democratic awakening.
Timestamp:
3:36pm
A statement posted online purports to be from the youth of Tripoli, pledging support for the "interim national council" formed in Benghazi - and calling for mass demonstrations this Friday:
Pro-Gaddafi forces remain 10km outside Nalut, Al Jazeera is told. It is a the capital of a mountainous region in the west of the country.
Timestamp:
3:16pm
Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the Tunisia-Libya border, tells us Tunisian forces are being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people streaming into the country. International organisations are bringing food relief and tents, he tells us, but they just can't get there soon enough, with enough supplies, to meet the need.
Timestamp:
3:04pm
Our correspondent tells us that Facebook and Twitter are still inaccesible (directly) in Libya. Our humble liveblog has also been blocked...
Timestamp:
2:53pm
The United States has vowed to keep the heat on Gaddafi. Susan Rice, US ambassador the UN, told ABC's Good Morning America:
We are going to keep the pressure on Gaddafi until he steps down and allows the people of Libya to express themselves freely and determine their own future.
Timestamp:
2:40pm
Gaddafi "is a living political corpse who has no place in the modern civilised world", an unnamed Kremlin source has told the Interfax news agency.
Timestamp:
1:30pm
Government opponents in Zawiya repelled an attempt by forces loyal to Gaddafi to retake the city closest to the capital in six hours of fighting overnight, witnesses have told the Associated Press.
Timestamp:
1:15pm
The UN refugee agency says that the situation on Libya's border with Tunisia is reaching a crisis point after 70,000 to 75,000 people fled from the violence in Libya since February 20.
Timestamp:
12:30pm
China's Foreign Ministry says it is concerned about the situation in Libya, defends the actions of its police's harassment of foreign journalists.
Timestamp:
11:58am
Hundreds of Filipino workers are leaving Libya everyday. But this is a drop in the ocean as there are up to 30,000 Filipinos working in Libya and the Filipino government has been accused of being too slow in response.
Timestamp:
11:41am
Hillary Clinton at the Human Rights Council:
The international community is speaking with one voice .. and our message is unmistakable.. these violations of universal rights are unacceptable and will not be tolerated"
Timestamp:
9:37am
Al jazeera's Inside Story: As protests continue, medical supplies, along with fuel and food, are running dangerously short.
Timestamp:
9:19am
The UNHCR releases a hotline for Refugees& asylum-seekers in Libya +218 214777503; has urged people to call in and spread the word.
Timestamp:
9:09am
The ‘mubaraking’ of Gaddafi, Maliki, Mugabe and others by South African activist and commentator Patrick Bond.
Sorry, don’t expect peace promotion from the African National Congress government in South Africa. Late 2010, the chair of South Africa’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee, justice minister Jeff Radebe, approved the sale of 100 South African sniper rifles and more than 50,000 rounds of ammunition to Gaddafi. Any references to human rights in the committee’s deliberations are already considered a joke, but Radebe may now have some serious bloodstains on his reputation.
Timestamp:
8:50pm
Amnesty International has demanded the release of a Vietnamese human rights activist arrested for allegedly calling for a Middle East-style uprising in the south-east Asian country.
Dr Nguyen Dan Que, a prominent government critic, was detained on Saturday after authorities said he was caught "red-handed keeping and distributing documents" calling for the overthrow of the government.
Timestamp:
8:30am
Zimbabwean activists who met to discuss the uprisings in the Middle East - were arrested and charged for treason .... a charge that carries the death penalty
Timestamp:
5:25am
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez proposed an international mediation effort to seek a peaceful solution to the uprising against Gaddafi, his friend and political ally.
I hope we can create a commission that goes to Libya to talk with the government and the opposition leaders. We want a peaceful solution ... We support peace in the Arab world and in the whole world.
Timestamp:
4:06am
Gaddafi blames al-Qaeda for the unrest in his country:
Timestamp:
3:47am
Latest from Libya, where military officers are defecting from Gaddafi's side to join the growing opposition:
I, Brigadier Dawood Issa Al Qafsi, declare that I join the Feb 17 revolution. With me are officers, non commissioned officers and soldiers in the Armed Forces units in Ajdabia, Braiga, Bisher, Ogaila, Sultan and Zwaitina ... Glory to the martyrs of the revolution ... We announce that we join the Libyan Military Council formed in Benghazi.
At this evening of Feb 28th, two war planes took off from Al Qurdabiyeh base in Sirte for a raid on the town of Ajdabia. It was confronted by Anti-aircraft guns and forced it to flee without human casualties. We call on our honorable people in Sirte to intervene and to advice their sons to refuse bombarding any Libyan town to spare the blood of the innocent of our great people.
We, Brigadier Musa’ed Ghaidan Al Mansouri the Head Al Wahat Security Directorate, and Brigadier Hassan Ibrahim Al Qarawi, the former head of Al Jabel Al Akhadar Security Directorate, announce our loyalty and the joining to the Feb 17 revolution of the Libyan people that aims for freedom, dignity and social justice and to end the injustice and oppression.
Timestamp:
1:40am
Abdullah, a witness speaking to Al Jazeera from Misurata, about 200km east of Tripoli, says:
There’s now artillery shelling on the suburbs of Misurata and on the Air force college, south west of Misurata. There are also helicopters trying to bomb the local broadcast.
They are also using heavy weapons against the protestors ... also last night helicopters dropped leaflets and threats from the regime.
A plane fell in the sea and we arrested five of its crew ... we have weapons trying to use to defend ourselves but it is normal weapons that cannot be compared to the planes or tanks or armored vehicles or the heavy weapons they use to bomb us ... we are the defending righteous and freedom ... we want him [Gaddafi] to leave.
Timestamp:
1:38am
Tripoli resident says that the price of rice, a main staple, has gone up 500 per cent, reaching the equivalent of $40 for a five-kilogramme bag.
Bakeries are limited to selling five loaves of bread per family, and most butcher shops are closed, she said.
Timestamp:
12:53am
"All my people love me," Muammar Gaddafi insists, ignoring mounting global pressure to step down and perhaps head into exile after four decades at the helm of his country.
"They love me. All my people with me. They love me all. They would die to protect me," the veteran Libyan leader said, speaking in halting English in an interview with Western media.
"No demonstrations at all in the streets," claimed Gaddafi, who has ruled his north African country for more than 41 years.
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