US crew rescued after Libya crash

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  1. 1906: Mohammed in Misrata (see previous entry) tells BBC World Have Your Say the people who have been killing in his city are not Libyan, but mercenaries, and he says a number of them have been captured by rebels there. Sami in Tripoli disagrees: "Libya is a multicultural country and they are not mercenaries … Fundamentalists have been fighting a holy war against us. The army will kill to defend Libya."
  2. 1902: The western city of Misrata came under heavy attack by Col Gaddafi's forces on Tuesday, witnesses have told the BBC. Caller Mohammed in Misrata tells BBC World Have Your Say tanks and snipers were shooting in the morning. Four children died - a report which can't be independently verified by the BBC.
  3. 1857: Some endorsement for the no-fly zone from President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, whose country lost more than 800,000 people in a genocide in 1994. He told the BBC's Africa Have Your Say programme: "It was the right thing to do. I fully support that. The fact that mistakes were made elsewhere in other instances doesn't make it right not to act in this particular case."
  4. 1852: One of the heads of a pro-Gaddafi brigade has been killed near Tripoli, Al Jazeera reports. It gives the commander's name as Hussein al-Warfali.
  5. 1850: The countries in the no-fly zone coalition continue to discuss who should take command. The US is eager to hand over the lead, but Nato has not so far said it is willing to take over. President Obama believes Nato should be part of the mission's command structure, the White House has said.
  6. 1810: The UK Foreign Office tweets: "We continue to urge remaining British nationals in Libya to leave as soon as it is safe to do so."
  7. 1841: Enforcement of the no-fly zone over Libya appears to be entering its fourth night. In the past few minutes, anti-aircraft fire and distant explosions have been heard in Tripoli, AFP reports.
  8. 1836: Col Gaddafi's forces may have the advantage in firepower, but it seems a few new weapons are making their way into rebel hands. Rob Crilly of the Telegraph newspaper, who is in Benghazi, tweets: "some of the rebels have very new looking AK-47s today. Shiny and they are covering the muzzles to keep dust out #libya"
  9. 1816: Much of the debate about the Libya no-fly zone has centred on lessons drawn from experience: Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, and more. Writing for the BBC news website, Shashank Joshi from the Royal United Services Institute looks at some of the dangers ahead for the coalition.
  10. 1805: Andrew in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire, UK writes: "As a British Taxpayer, I'm affected by this. Why do we have to foot the bill in higher taxes if we can still afford it? We have no money left as a country so Cameron shouldn't get us involved in any more of these conflicts." Have Your Say
  11. 1800: BBC World Have Your Say is on air on BBC World Service radio from now until 1900GMT taking your calls and comments on Libya from inside the country and around the world. You can post your comment on Facebook, call +44 20 70 83 72 72 or text +44 77 86 20 60 80.
  12. 1758: One of the rebels in Benghazi, Abdallah Fajani, tells our correspondent Col Gaddafi will fight hard to hold on to this area: "Ajdabiya is the crossroads from three, four, five cities, so he wants to be in this city because this city is very important... And [so] it is important for us as well."
  13. 1754: The BBC's Ian Pannell reports on the divisions among the Libyan rebels in Benghazi: "Rebels lack any command or control, they have no communications equipment and only light weapons... There are divergent strategies here: some envision pushing to the west, perhaps even to go as far as Tripoli; others want to just take Ajdabiya and then consolidate their hold of the east, hoping the Libyans in other cities will rise up and liberate themselves."
  14. 1745: Russian PM Vladimir Putin has been speaking on the situation in Libya, saying those responsible for civilian casualties in Libya "should pray to save their own souls", Reuters reports. He has also said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev represents Russia's position as president, and dismissed allegations he and Mr Medvedev had a disagreement about Libya, saying that they were "close".
  15. 1742: On the question of command and control of the military operation in Libya, the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels says there has been no agreement yet: "Britain wants Nato to take over, but it admits there are differences of opinion. Many countries are sceptical, including Turkey which wants any Nato mission to be much more strictly defined. And France has been resisting Nato control, saying Arab countries wouldn't want it. So we may be heading for a European command, or a form of words which will allow Nato structures to take part, without taking a political lead - what diplomats here wouldn't want to call a fudge."
  16. 1735: Dr Amaya in Tripoli tells BBC World Have Your Say there have been 17 casualties of coalition air strikes in his hospital, three of whom were off-duty soldiers - a report which can't be independently verified by the BBC.
  17. 1730: Salah in Zintan has told the BBC about attacks on the western city: "The city is quiet now, but 10 people were killed earlier today. There are many tanks to the north and people have told us that there is a very large group of troops coming from the south. If these troops arrive, they will destroy the city. We are waiting for the Americans and the French to come and help. So far they haven't come to Zintan. We want them to help us, to check out the area and to do the best they can to protect us."
  18. 1725: A UK resident who has recently returned from Zawiya but does not wish to be named has just told the BBC: "I spoke to one of my trusted friends in Zawiya about two hours ago. He'd had to drive 30km out of Zawiya to get reception to call me - the phone was not his. He said there were hundreds of troops on the street searching people, asking questions, taking away mobile phones, money, laptops, memory sticks. House-to-house searches are frequent and violent."
  19. 1720: Jan Techau (1703 entry) said he had information France and Turkey had softened their resistance to Nato leading the operation. He added "the real problem is that we don't have a strategy [for the campaign]. We don't know where we want to go, we have no political aim in mind, nobody can talk about regime change although everybody's thinking about it. What is the ultimate goal? How can we reach it? When can it be reached? To these questions we haven't heard any answers yet."
  20. 1712: Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News's international editor, has been to the hospital where some of the Libyans injured in the US airmen's rescue have been taken (1649 entry). She has spoken to the father of a young boy who expects to have his leg amputated due to a bullet wound. Gauging the reaction of locals in the area, she says: "The local Libyans do not seem resentful, they still want the coalition forces to keep operating."
  21. 1708: Responding to Okello Herbert (1439 entry), Michael Richards from Birmingham, writes: "The African Union does not have the means nor the will to deal with Libya. Those who say it should be left to the AU should realise that while the AU was in talks, the UN was taking action. Action that came just in time. If the UN hadn't intervened, there would be no revolution anymore, only a massacre. " Have Your Say
  22. 1703: Jan Techau from the Carnegie Endowment in Brussels and former analyst at the Nato Defence College in Rome thinks genuine progress is being made in the talks about a possible Nato command of the Libya campaign: "It looks like Nato could play a role in running the operation, but that would not mean that those who abstain from actually participating in it would be pariahs or would be somehow politically tarnished by it," he told the BBC World Service's Europe Today programme. "So there is a lot less vitriol and a lot more willingness to compromise visible within Nato at the moment."
  23. 1654: The chief of the French armed forces had informed the allies of all its operations ahead of Saturday's strikes in Libya, a spokesman has said, Reuters reports.
  24. 1649: The Daily Telegraph's Rob Crilly has been reporting six Libyan locals were shot and injured by a US helicopter as it recovered one of the two pilots after the F-15 crash near Benghazi (0955 entry).
  25. 1642: Patrick Baz, AFP's Middle East photo manager, tells the New York Times' Lens blog about covering the conflict: "I think it's the only conflict I've covered where I don't understand. It's very, very, very weird what's going on. Why is the rebellion not supported by the former army that supposedly joined them? Where are the special forces of this army? There's not a single unit in this rebellion that is organised."
  26. 1639: Col Gaddafi is still attacking civilians in direct violation of a UN resolution, US Adm Locklear has added.
  27. 1637: Rwandan President Paul Kagame, asked on BBC Africa Have Your Say whether the UN Security Council was right to make the decision to intervene in Libya, said: "It was the right thing to do. I fully support that. The fact that mistakes were made elsewhere in other instances doesn't make it right not to act in this particular case."
  28. 1633: Qatar's forces will be up and flying in the Libya coalition operations by the weekend, says US Adm Samuel Locklear, the head of US forces enforcing the no-fly zone, according to Reuters.
  29. 1630: Asked at night time, how she feels when the bombers come, she said: "Well, we are waiting for them, because we know they'll start at nine o'clock, like in Iraq, every two hours, they start bombing them; so nine o'clock, you see like not too many cars."
  30. 1622: An Iraqi woman from Baghdad who left Iraq and has been living in Tripoli for 10 years has been speaking to BBC Radio Five Live; asked if the situation in Libya was similar to that in Iraq, she said: "I think it is going to be like that, because every single thing starts pointing [to the fact] that it is going to be like that, and that the same scenario is going to happen. "
  31. 1611: It has emerged Libya has substantial gold reserves, reports the BBC's Andrew Walker. They are worth more than $6bn at current prices, which puts Libya among the top 25 countries in terms of gold reserves. Libya is restricted in how it can use its overseas assets, but most Libyan gold is held inside the country and could generate millions of dollars in revenue for Col Gaddafi.
  32. 1608: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said the international intervention in Libya, and France's conduct in it, were in strict compliance with UN Resolution 1973, BBC Monitoring reports. He told the French National Assembly: "Even if we call for the departure of Gaddafi, it's for the Libyan people and that people alone to decide on their fate and on their future leaders."
  33. 1606: The military campaign could end "at any moment" if Col Gaddafi accepts a ceasefire, Mr Juppe has added.
  34. 1604: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has called for the creation of a special committee of foreign ministers from coalition countries to oversee operations in Libya, AFP reports.
  35. 1559: The repercussions from the Middle East have also been felt in sub-Saharan Africa, points out UK Foreign Secretary William Hague (previous entry). He mentions the crisis in Ivory Coast, and criticises Zimbabwe for intimidating opponents. He warns: "Governments that block the aspirations of their people, that steal or are corrupt, that oppress and torture or that deny freedom of expression and human rights should bear in mind that they will find it increasingly hard to escape the judgement of their own people, or where warranted, the reach of international law."
  36. 1557: UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has been commenting on events in Libya and the Arab world. Speaking in London, at the Times CEO Africa Summit, he said: "We are only in the early stages of what is happening in North Africa and the Middle East. It is already set to overtake the 2008 financial crisis and 9/11 as the most important development of the early 21st century, and is likely to bring some degree of political change in all countries in the Arab world."
  37. 1543: From Reuters: Foreign ministers of the Libya no-fly zone coalition countries will meet in the coming days in a European capital, says French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe.
  38. 1529: Fighting in the western city of Zintan, near the border with Tunisia, has now subsided, an eyewitness has told BBC Arabic. The witness, Abdul, said: "Right now, it is calmer than it was in the morning, when there was fighting and shelling in the east of the city. Those Gaddafi forces have now withdrawn. However, 50 to 60 tanks have massed at the northern entrance to the city. Gaddafi's forces have also cut off the electricity."
  39. 1521: More now from the Libya desk at the BBC World Service, which has been speaking to people on the ground. In Misrata, an opposition activist has appealed to the international community for help: "We need a sea ambulance or medical supplies to be brought by sea, because the government has cut off electricity and water and the hospital is suffering."
  40. 1516: Were journalists used as human shields by the Libyan government to ward off an attack on Col Gaddafi's compound? The row rumbles on. CNN is angrily denying claims by the rival Fox news network that CNN correspondent Nic Robertson and other journalists acted as human shields, AP reports. On Monday, Fox claimed that UK forces called off an attack on the Libyan leader's compound because journalists were there on a government trip to see earlier damage. CNN denies this, pointing out that Fox sent a security guard with a camera, rather than a correspondent or camera crew, on the same trip. Fox has now admitted it sent a representative, but stands by the human shield charge, AP says.
  41. 1457: If the Arab world remains uneasy about the no-fly zone, there is little sign of reluctance among the Libyan rebels. The Libya desk at the BBC World Service has learned that representatives of the rebels' Transitional national Council in Benghazi have called a protest for Tuesday evening against Russia's calls for the air strikes and the no-fly zone to be suspended. They expect a significant turn-out. One resident told the BBC: "We are happy about air strikes. Without them Benghazi would have been destroyed. Gaddafi's forces brought long line of tanks with weapons to destroy us. Without French air strikes on Saturday, we would be dead. We think it's a good step. The UN is helping us." Another said: "We are happy the coalition strikes are here. It saved Benghazi from absolute disaster."
  42. 1451: Here are the key excerpts from the Nato statement on the no-fly zone: "Nato has now decided to launch an operation to enforce the arms embargo against Libya... [Nato ships and aircraft] will conduct operations to monitor, report and, if needed, interdict vessels suspected of carrying illegal arms or mercenaries... At the same time, Nato has completed plans to help enforce the no-fly zone - to bring our contribution, if needed, in a clearly defined manner, to the broad international effort to protect the people of Libya from the violence of the Gaddafi regime." However, there is no specific mention of using Nato's command-and-control structure to direct operations.
  43. 1439: Okello Herbert, from Jinja Uganda, writes: "I am disappointed with the quick decision the western world has made on Libya about a 'No-fly zone'. Apart from Libya, many other African countries have fought civil wars, eg Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda, Somalia, and UN have done nothing like what they are doing in Libya. What are they after? Their so-called air strikes to save civilians are again killing civilians. Even if Gaddafi is a dictator, Africa through the African Union has the capacity to deal with its problems." Have Your Say
  44. 1438: Meanwhile, in Tripoli, Libyan officials say a naval facility in the east of the city was bombed overnight by coalition forces, Reuters reports.
  45. 1435: There are further reports of fighting on the ground between pro-Gaddafi forces and the rebels. The AFP news agency says at least nine people were killed in clashes on Monday and Tuesday in the rebel-controlled town of Yafran, 130km (80 miles) south-west of Tripoli.
  46. 1427: The backing of the Arab League was crucial for getting the UN resolution on the Libya no-fly zone, but some Arab countries are watching developments with unease. Algeria's foreign minister says Western military intervention in Libya is "disproportionate" and must end immediately, Reuters reports, quoting the Algerian state news agency. Algeria has seen small-scale protests since the wave of uprisings in the Arab world began three months ago but the demonstrations have usually been broken up by the security forces.
  47. 1420: Spain has voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking part in the coalition to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's request for formal approval of the move was adopted by 336 votes to 3, with one abstention. Spanish planes have already been patrolling Libyan airspace. Madrid has also sent a frigate and a submarine to join coalition forces.
  48. 1415: More on the debate over who should lead the mission in Libya: France is not the only country opposed to a joint Nato command, Yves Boyer, deputy director of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research tells the BBC World Service. Like the French Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, Mr Boyer pointed out that the operation was not initiated by Nato but by individual countries forming a coalition. Given that the operation was "relatively limited in scope", he said it could "be led by a Franco-British team, or by a European command, either the British or the French taking the lead".
  49. 1407: The Washington Post's UN correspondent, Colum Lynch tweets: "[UN Secretary General] B[an] K[i-]moon on why he spports NFZ [no-fly zone]: 'the longer we waited, the more of the civilians could have been be killed. Time was of essence.'"
  50. 1344: President Obama has called the Emir of Qatar, and underscored Qatar's contribution to the Libya mission, the White House has added.
  51. 1339: Turkey is "uniquely aware of the command and control capabilities of Nato, but has declined to discuss what more Turkey may do on Libya", the White House has said, according to Reuters.
  52. 1335: Aid agencies are still waiting on Libya's borders to gain access into the country. At the border with Tunisia in the west, Ivan Gayton from MSF says they have heard reports that thousands are wounded, but are being denied access to medical care: "We see certainly that we, Doctors Without Borders, are not allowed to go in to access the wounded. It doesn't seem as though the wounded are able to get out to access our care here in Tunisia and we hear from the people coming out, as well as from people within Libya, that access to healthcare for the wounded people is very, very difficult."
  53. 1331: Speaking in Geneva, aid agency representatives have said providing humanitarian relief is extremely challenging: "For UN agencies, a picture of exactly what is happening inside Libya is increasingly difficult to get. The World Food Programme has received reports that food is in short supply, with most shops closed in towns where fighting is taking place. In other parts of the country, food prices have risen sharply. And the World Health Organization says medicines are running short too, in particular anaesthetic, which is much needed for those wounded in the fighting. Aid agencies are hoping to get a convoy of aid into Libya tomorrow, but much depends on the security situation," UN spokesman Adrian Edwards told the BBC.
  54. 1326: Adam C Smith in Renton, Washington, US, writes: "I'm proud of my president urging this legitimate coalition doing what they can to keep unarmed civilians from genocide from their own 'leader'. I hope - but don't think - that like Egypt the Libyan forces take the side of the people clamouring for democracy. " Have Your Say
  55. 1322: Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci has said Western-led air strikes on Col Gaddafi's forces in Libya were disproportionate and threatened to worsen the crisis, AFP reports.
  56. 1320: In a readout of US President Barack Obama's call with Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday evening, "the leaders agreed that [the implementation of UN resolutions on Libya] will require a broad-based international effort, including Arab states, to implement and enforce the UN resolutions, based on national contributions and enabled by Nato's unique multinational command and control capabilities to ensure maximum effectiveness. They underscored their shared commitment to the goal of helping provide the Libyan people an opportunity to transform their country, by installing a democratic system that respects the people's will."
  57. 1314: The Daily Telegraph has an account of the welcome the US airman received after his crash near Benghazi (1025 entry): "Raising his hands in the air he called out 'OK, OK' to greet the crowd. But he need not have worried. 'I hugged him and said don't be scared we are your friends,' said Younis Amruni, 27... A queue formed to shake the hand of the airman, as locals thanked him for his role in the attacks."
  58. 1306: Nato ambassadors have agreed Nato warships would help to enforce a UN arms embargo on Libya, diplomats in Brussels have said, Reuters reports. The envoys have been trying to resolve the question of who should command the military campaign in Libya if the US steps back from leading the operation, they have said.
  59. 1303: Ghaith Armanazi, a former Arab League ambassador in London, tells the BBC World Service he would have welcomed for Arab countries to play "a much bigger role in determining the outcome in Libya. But what the Arab League has accomplished still goes beyond what traditionally it was able to do in the past, and that is to take a decision with regard to a member state infringing on its sovereignty, which was sacrosanct in terms of the charta of the Arab League."
  60. 1257: More from Richard Ottaway: The British conservative MP adds the ban on arms shipments to the rebels is "a grey area at the moment" and might be reconsidered. "But even if it was decided in five minutes' time to supply arms, it would take a long time to get them on the ground, so they [the Libyan opposition] shouldn't be looking to that as a solution," he told the BBC World Service.
  61. 1249: The chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the UK Parliament, Richard Ottaway, has acknowledged the UN resolution to enforce a no-fly zone was "no panacea" to the Libyan conflict because it did not allow for foreign troops on the ground: "If you're going to have UN resolutions to get a consensus of countries like China, Russia, who didn't oppose it, you've got to stick to the rules. If you want to change the rules, then you have to go back to the UN. You can't just interpret them in a way that suits the people on the ground at any given moment," he told the BBC.
  62. 1243: A local man at the scene of the crash told Reuters: "At about one in the morning, we heard planes overhead. We heard an explosion, and a plane circling in the area. We assumed a rocket had hit, but when we got here we found the crashed plane."
  63. 1240: Daily Telegraph reporter Rob Crilly has described how he and a photographer from the paper were the first international journalists to visit the scene of the crashed F-15 near Benghazi: "We got a tip-off this morning and drove to a field about an hour outside Benghazi where the wrecked remains of an F-15E Strike Eagle were lying burnt and charred. A small group of souvenir hunters and opposition supporters had come out to see the wreckage. It was lying... essentially in a meadow. There was a guided missile still there, lying to one side, and various bits of paperwork, kind of bits and pieces of technical workings of the aircraft floating around in the... breeze."
  64. 1237: Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has himself spoken after his meeting with Mr Gates, saying an immediate ceasefire would be the best way to protect civilians in Libya. He has said Russia believes "that an immediate ceasefire and a dialogue between the belligerent parties is the surest path to the reliable security of civilians".
  65. 1235: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who is in Moscow, has said some people in Russia seem to believe what he called Col Gaddafi's "lies" about civilian casualties in Libya: "We've been very careful about this, and it's almost as though some people here are taking at face value Gaddafi's claims about the number of civilian casualties, which as far as I am concerned are just outright lies," he told reporters after talks with the Russian defence minister.
  66. 1230: More from the Libyan doctor in Misrata: The children of a colleague were killed by Col Gaddafi's forces on Tuesday morning, "two boys and two girls. The situation is so serious. In my hospital here, we have no electricity and we work with a generator." The doctor added he had not been in touch with his family for 10 days and did not know how they were. He says he lives in the hospital, where water and medical supplies are running low. "In one or two days, we can go home, because we won't be able to do more than normal people can do. We are relieved to hear about the air strikes and the coalition forces, but on the ground we are dying every day."
  67. 1226: A medical doctor in Misrata says the town has been under attack from government forces for the fifth consecutive day. "They are talking about a ceasefire, they are talking about a no-fly zone, for me that does not mean anything. My people here are under attack," he told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme. Misrata is being bombed by Col Gaddafi's artillery and has also been under attack from snipers, he said.
  68. 1222: The French foreign ministry has said a call by Russia for a ceasefire in Libya could\rbe discussed at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday.
  69. 1220: UN Refugee Agency tweets: "#UNHCR staff at #Tunisia's border with #Libya say they can hear gunfire coming from deep inside Libya."
  70. 1218: A US official has said both the crew of the F-15 fighter jet that crashed in Libya are safe and back in American hands.
  71. 1212: An anonymous caller in Tripoli tells BBC World Have Your Say a story told to her by a friend: "She was in the bakery and she talked to a nine-year-old boy. She asked him: 'Where are you from?' He said: 'I'm from Benghazi, we just ran away. They [the rebels] force us to have a new flag. They went door by door, they gave us a flag and they said you have to put it outside your houses. One of our neighbours said 'I don't want the flag'. They hit him, they gave him a bullet in his heart'."
  72. 1209: British Maj Gen John Lorimer, the chief of defence staff, is giving a briefing on the military situation in Libya: he has said the coalition operation in Libya is having a "very real effect", and that the Libyan government attack on Benghazi on Monday was "stopped in its tracks".
  73. 1200: ceoDanya tweets: "In #Libya, you can being going out to pray at the local masjid and get arrested... sometimes you come back after a month, a year or never."
  74. 1155: The French government says it will support coalition partners on Libya when the US scales back its participation, Reuters reports.
  75. 1147: In the UK, David Cameron's spokesman says the prime minister has updated the cabinet on the latest developments in Libya. "The cabinet is completely united on the issue but clearly people do have questions," the spokesman said. He added that the issue of whether Col Gaddafi would be targeted was not raised, saying "we have a very clear position on that".
  76. 1142: UN Refugee Agency tweets: "#UNHCR staff at #Tunisia's border with #Libya say they can hear gunfire coming from deep inside Libya."
  77. 1139: Officials at Nato headquarters in Brussels say they don't expect any decision for several days on whether the alliance should play a command-and-control role in military operations around Libya, the BBC's Chris Morris reports. He adds that there may be an agreement today for Nato to begin enforcing the arms embargo on Libya - this would primarily involve the use of naval assets which are already in the Mediterranean.
  78. 1135: Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdiukov condemns civilian deaths in Libya, Reuters reports.
  79. 1132: With the no-fly zone over Libya largely in place and attacks against ground targets continuing, there seems to be growing international criticism of the operation, the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says. Even members of the coalition prosecuting the campaign seem uncertain as to how it should move forward; who should assume command; and even what the eventual goal should be, our correspondent adds.
  80. 1130: Rahb tweets: "Gaddafi declares victory on the "crusaders" as a US jet crashes into Libyan soil. #Libya #USA #YEMEN."
  81. 1128: More from Mr Gates, who is currently visiting Moscow. He says that the fighting in Libya should recede in the next few days.
  82. 1126: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates says the coalition is going to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties in Libya, Reuters reports. Mr Gates also says that most Libyan targets are air defences which are isolated from populated areas.
  83. 1119: The US Command in Africa also confirms to the BBC that the plane which came down in Libya was based at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, Britain.
  84. 1110: BoyGeorge tweets: "Going into Libya is just the same as going into Iraq. Smoke and mirrors. Some of us are clever enough to see through it."
  85. 1107: ShababLibya tweets: "1 of Gaddafi millitia caught in Zitan confessed they are being paid LYD 600 for each dead body they bring back to Tripoli" #Libya."
  86. 1104: The US military now says that the second crew member from the crashed jet in Libya has been rescued, Reuters reports.
  87. 1102: More from the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, who says that ambassadors from NATO's member states are meeting again in Brussels this morning, but the Downing Street source says reaching agreement is proving "difficult" and suggested that in particular getting Turkey in board was proving "hard".
  88. 1059: Downing Street sources say it's unlikely that Nato countries will all agree to lead the operation in Libya, the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg reports. Our correspondent adds that there is a possibility that a "hybrid structure" will be put together where Nato allows use of some of its command and control structures, but the operation is not led by them. The source suggested a similar arrangement to that in Afghanistan, where Isaf, not Nato, are in the lead.
  89. 1050: More on the reported fighting in Misrata. A spokesman in the rebel-held town says that pro-Gaddafi forces killed five people, four of them children, on Tuesday, the AFP reports.
  90. 1048: DarrylMason tweets: "Okay, looks like US will be going with crashed warplanes/missing pilots that must be rescued mission to justify ground troops in #Libya."
  91. 1044: Turkey will "never point guns" at Libyans, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is quoted as saying by Reuters. Mr Erdogan also says that the military operation sould be conducted under the UN control.
  92. 1035: Mr Fidler also confirms that the warplane - F-15E Strike Eagle - crashed overnight. It was not immediately clear where the jet went down.
  93. 1031: More details on the crash. African Command's Kenneth Fidler tells the BBC the indications are that the crash was not caused "by hostile action". He says that one crew member has been recovered, and an operation is currently under way to recover the other serviceman.
  94. 1025: The US African Command has now confirmed to the BBC that the US warplane crashed in Libya.
  95. 1020: ken_nkc tweets: "The attack on Libya seems like an open ended war to me. There still isn't a clear objective..."
  96. 1018: The death toll from Monday's fighting in Misrate has now reached 40, a town resident tells Reuters.
  97. 1011: More on the US warplane that crashed late on Monday in Libya. It is understood that the pilot was taken by rebels and is safe, the Telegraph says. So far there have been no independent confirmation of this report.
  98. 1006: The BBC News website is running a selection of articles on the Libyan crisis, including this analysis piece on whether Libya could become next Iraq.
  99. 1000: If you're just joining us, welcome to the BBC's live coverage of events in Libya. We're bringing you the latest updates from our correspondents, expert analysis and your reaction from around the world. You can contact us via email, text or twitter. We'll publish what we can.
  100. 0959: The Telegraph now says that the crashed US warplane is an F-15E Eagle.
  101. 0955: Journalist Rob Crilly from The Telegraph currently in Libya tweets: "just found a crashed US warplane in a field. believe a mechanical failure brought it down #libya" a tweet a few minutes later added: crew believed safe #libya
  102. 0953: Spanish aircraft have joined the military operation in Libya, the defence ministry in Madrid is quoted as saying by Spain's TVE broadcaster.
  103. 0947: The New York Times is running a piece in which its four journalists, recently freed by the Libyan government, provide harrowing details about their capture.
  104. 0941: Magikdexter tweets: "Great, another war where no one knows whats going on."
  105. 0939: Khaled, originally from Zawiya but who now lives in Manchester, tells the BBC: "To put things into prospective, Gaddafi state TV keeps showing what mounts to no more than a few hundred people and claiming these are the Libyan masses supporting him. There are around 1.5 million people living in Tripoli, so if they were pro-Gaddafi, then we would expect to see them in the streets every day and every night to prove his point. Truth is that all honest Libyans have had more than enough of this dictator who values nothing in this world but himself." Have Your Say
  106. 0934: Othman writes: "My family are in Tripoli right now, and I can tell you that the vast majority of the Libyan people are united against Gaddafi and his murderous regime. We are in full support and appreciative of current international action, and hope that they don't hesitate in targeting him. People in Tripoli are frightened to express this though due to a complete lockdown by Gaddafi thugs. When this is over I can guarantee that the streets of Tripoli will be full of people celebrating." Have Your Say
  107. 0922: A presenter on Libya's pro-Gaddafi TV station al-Libya is shown holding an automatic weapon in the studio and pledging to fight till his "last drop of blood".
  108. 0917: Pro-Gaddafi forces are attacking the town of Zintan using heavy weapons, Reuters is quoting al-Jazeera as saying.
  109. 0915: British MPs backed the military action in Libya in a 557-13 vote late on Monday. John Baron, a Conservative, voted against, and in a BBC interview he explained why: "Once again, we could be seen to be meddling in a Muslim country. We're told the Arab League and our Arab allies want to put in a no-fly zone - why not let them get on and do it. After all, we've been supplying them with the weaponry and the capability for decades now. They have some very sophisticated stuff. And my concern also is, what is the exit strategy? What is the end game? Because if this is not known, we risk being drawn into an ill-defined mission, while civilian casualties rise."
  110. 0911: richardengelnbc tweets: " #libya.. rebels still need a lot more help beyond air and missile strikes. they remain disorganized, leaderless, undisciplined."
  111. 0902: amitmehra tweets: "So how come #US #UK&allies; only feel pain of citizens from country with oil #Libya? there was No love 4 #Rwanda #Yemen #Ethiopia #Congo."
  112. 0858: A doctor in Misrata, who wanted to remain anonymous, tells the BBC: "This is the fifth or sixth consecutive day of shelling the city. Our clinic is full of patients. We have no more beds to treat the patients. There is no light in the city. There has been no communication for 10 days and no water for more than one week. And still the heavy shelling continues. The situation is so serious. The international community must take responsibility. Since yesterday we have received 125 injured including an entire family with four children, shot in their car while trying to leave. Even my medical resources are running out. We can't sustain this any more."
  113. 0848: Britain's Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey tells the BBC that bombing raids on Libya are only targeting military facilities. He says that an attack on Libyan leader Col Gaddafi's compound on Sunday actually hit a military capability within that compound. Mr Harvey adds: "The targets will be the military targets which the coalition identifies as presenting a threat to the Libyan population. And anyone who is at those targets, in those target locations, regrettably becomes a target."
  114. 0842: ChangeInLibya tweets: "Gaddafi is blowing up buildings in Tripoli randomly to make people think its coalition jets :/ #libya #feb17."
  115. 0837: The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris reports: "The French are fiercely proud of the role they played this weekend in saving the people of Benghazi. President Nicolas Sarkozy has looked decisive, far more assured than he did during the crisis in Tunisia. But at time it is his mercurial diplomatic style that has come to the fore. He is criticised in some quarters this morning for being too impulsive. The New York Times reports the US and UK were frustrated by his decision to launch unilaterally the first attacks on Libya without fully informing his allies. On Saturday, before the leaders had left the summit at the Elysee Palace, President Sarkozy hurried to a press conference to announce to the world that French planes were already over Libya, and engaging Col Gaddafi's forces. It is also clear that despite pressure from the US and the UK, President Sarkozy has objected strongly to Nato taking the lead. There are even reports the French and German ambassadors to Nato walked out of a meeting last week after criticism from the Nato secretary general."
  116. 0833: Adel, from Southport, UK, but originally from Tripoli, writes: "Gaddafi's regime through its reign has never shown any regard for human life, as someone who spent 37 years of my life there, it was, and still is, a brutal regime that, we hope, is coming to an end." Have Your Say
  117. 0825: al Jazeera tweets: "#Pakistan foreign office makes carefully worded statement on #Libya but seems to oppose military intervention."
  118. 0823: The BBC's Allan Little reports from Tripoli: "We have been shown no evidence of destruction but for the single exception of the missile that struck Col Gaddafi's own compound on Sunday night. The government said that was proof that the air strikes had nothing to do with protecting civilians. A government spokesman said that a naval base 10km east of Tripoli had been targeted last night, as well as locations in Seba in the south and a fishing village on the Mediterranean, known as Area 27. The government insists that civilians have been killed and wounded. "Our hospitals are filling up," one minister told us. We have pressed the government here to show us evidence that civilians had indeed been affected but so far they have not done so.
  119. 0819: More on the three western journalists who have been reportedly arrested by pro-Gaddafi forces. The AFP names them as reporter Dave Clark and photographer Roberto Schmidt (both AFP) and Getty Images photographer Joe Raedle. The reporters' driver says they were seized on Saturday between Tobruk and Ajdabiya.
  120. 0814: Chris_Sedlmair tweets: "A call to defend #Libya's unity, sovereignty, and independence from #imperialist #aggression."
  121. 0811: "Libyan rebellion reveals chaos of civilians at war" says the Guardian newspaper in this piece by its correspondent in the eastern town of Ajdabiya.
  122. 0804: Adam, from Manchester wrote in response to a previous comment (see 0724 entry): "To Naj: My uncle in Tripoli was shot dead because he spoke out against the government 15 years ago… yet you claim to have not seen any blood shed… Hasn't anyone wondered why we have only seen a few hundred pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Tripoli? Tripoli has a population of more than 1.1 million, where are the rest of the demonstrators? Could it be that they are anti-Gaddafi and fear for their lives? Yes. This coalition isn't only "the West". Gaddafi must go, no-one has the right to deny a whole country their freedom of speech." Have Your Say
  123. 0756: braunold tweets: "There is nothing wrong with intervention in #libya being no.1 priority for europe - its about refugees not oil."
  124. 0749: Three western journalists, including two from the AFP news agency, have been arrested by forces loyal to Col Gaddafi, the reporters' driver is quoted as saying by the AFP.
  125. 0747: Anas, who lives in Manchester but has family in Libya, tells the BBC: "The situation is very tense as Gaddafi troops shoot randomly in the streets and kidnap people from their homes. They wanted me to pass on this message to show support for the international forces intervening to protect civilians in Libya." Have Your Say
  126. 0742: The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Tobruk says that there is no really a rebel army as such. The rebels are not soldiers - they are civilians who want democracy, our correspondent says. He adds that their goal is to produce a unified country with Tripoli as its capital. But this could be difficult to achieve if people in Tripoli and other cities start blaming the rebels for the air strikes.
  127. 0734: "Is the battle for Libya the clash of a brutal dictator against a democratic opposition, or is it fundamentally a tribal civil war?" asks the New York Times in this analysis piece.
  128. 0724: Naj, from Tripoli, writes: "It is crystal clear, that the US, UK and France are only interested on Libya's oil… My uncle who is still in Libya told me they have not seen any bloodshed for the last 40 years, Libya was the safest place in the world to live but now due to Western intervention Libya will become the second Iraq and civil war in the country will continue for a long time." Have Your Say
  129. 0719: More from the BBC's Allan Little in Tripoli. He says that some shops have closed in the city and most residents are keeping low profile.
  130. 0715: ProudLibyan tweets: "It may sound naive for outsiders, but for me the life of one Libyan is worth more than all the oil that Libya has!"
  131. 0713: China again calls for an end to fighting in Libya, expressing "deep concern" at reported civilian casualties and warning of a "humanitarian disaster", Reuters reports.
  132. 0710: The BBC's Allan Little in Tripoli says that it's very hard for reporters on the ground to know what's been hit in the Libyan capital. Our correspondent adds that the Libyan government has shown no evidence that civilians have been killed in the air raids.
  133. 0700: Muhammed, from Tripoli, writes: "I would like the world to know that so many civilians have died in the recent coalition attack. I want the world to know that the rebels are not the legitimate government of the Libyan people. Please stop the campaign." Have Your Say
  134. 0656: ShababLibya tweets: "#Gaddafi clearly has his troops in a killing frenzy, a well-known tactic to create men willing to slaughter. Terrifying. #Libya."
  135. 0646: ZsofiaT tweets: "Arab military support for #Libya coalition is finally coming: 6 Qatari Mirage fighters landing in #Crete today."
  136. 0642: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni strongly criticises the air strikes against Libya and accuses the West of applying double standards. In an article in Uganda's New Vision newspaper, Mr Museveni says the West has been eager to impose a no-fly zone on Libya but has turned a blind eye to similar conditions in Bahrain and other countries with pro-Western governments.
  137. 0637: The BBC's Ian Pannell in Benghazi says that although the momentum is now certainly with the rebels, they are badly disorganised, have no command and control structures and are ill prepared to advance westwards.
  138. 0625: The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Tobruk says: "Contacts between the rebel leadership and the UN are in their early stages. Like everything else about the popular uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi, they have an air of improvisation against them. The speed with which the situation in Libya has evolved from spontaneous street protest to armed rebellion has not allowed for detailed planning. The talks were to discuss the humanitarian situation in eastern Libya. The rebel-held area continues to import food supplies from neighbouring Egypt, but it is not clear how viable the local economy will be if it remains cut off from the rest of Libya for an extended period. Everything depends on the military situation, and that depends on the countries conducting air operations interpret their UN mandate. If they attack government troops on the battlefield, it will give the rebels a military edge. If they confine themselves to patrolling a no-fly zone, a long stalemate may well emerge."
  139. 0612: Rebel leaders in eastern Libya have met representatives of the United Nations in Tobruk to discuss the humanitarian situation in rebel-held parts of the country. No announcements followed the talks, which took place as UN-sanctioned air operations took place elsewhere in the country.
  140. 0558: More RAF jets have arrived at the Gioia del Colle airbase in southern Italy. The base is just over an hour's flying time from Libya. The BBC's Duncan Kennedy, is there: "Fighter aircraft from several nations in the coalition have been converging on air bases across southern Italy. Here at Gioia del Colle, which was used by the British during the Kosovo conflict, at least 10 combat jets have arrived. They are thought to be a mixture of typhoons and tornados. Other countries are using bases in Sicily and Sardinia, which is hosting aircraft from the United Arab Emirates. Britain's jets are using Gioia del Colle because it's close to Libya, allowing aircraft to patrol deeper into Libyan territory and to remain in its airspace for much longer periods without mid-air refuelling."
  141. 0544: The Financial Times reports on the tensions between the countries now ranged against Libya. It says French attempts to sidestep Nato at the start of the campaign have divided the coalition. Diplomats told the newspaper that the US and UK were angered by France's decision to launch the first attack without fully informing its allies. The paper says relations grew so tense that French and German ambassadors to Nato walked out of a meeting after criticism from the secretary general.
  142. 0532: A senior US defence official has told the Associated Press that the air and missile strikes by international forces have reduced Libya's air defence capabilities by more than 50%. That has enabled the coalition to focus more on extending the no-fly zone across Libya.
  143. 0519: Libya_Awake_United tweets: "#Musrata has port ! help should come through it, also weapons can be delivered from there to the revolutionaries. No other way #Feb17 #Libya"
  144. 0503: The BBC's Laura Trevelyan at the UN in New York says: "Ten countries here voted for the resolution, but five abstained - Russia, China, Brazil, India and Germany. They still have doubts about what is going on, and we can expect to hear more about that, although it may be a closed-door session. On Thursday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will brief council members on what has been done so far to implement the resolution. He is likely to be asked who will lead the operation. If not Nato, then who if the US is taking a back seat? Arab countries do not want Nato-led intervention. Other countries have said they want to Nato in charge, because they want a clear chain of command."
  145. 0456: The Libyan government has asked the UN for an emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the international military action in Libya. The meeting will now take place on Thursday, exactly a week since Resolution 1973 imposed a no-fly zone.
  146. 0449: An editorial in the Guardian newspaper says that the longer the bombing campaign goes on, the sooner the real issue will have to be confronted: where is it leading? "Three days ago, air strikes launched to save innocent lives looked simple enough. Very quickly, they have become part of the war," it warns.
  147. 0443: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has strongly criticised the bomb attacks on Libya and accused Western countries of applying double standards. Writing in the Ugandan newspaper, the New Vision, Mr Museveni said the West had been eager to impose a no-fly-zone on Libya but had turned a blind eye to similar conditions in Bahrain and other countries with pro-Western governments. Zimbabwe's President Roberty Mugabe said the UN Security Council resolution authorising the military action should never have been passed.
  148. 0429: LibyanYouthMovement tweets: "Latest we understand from Misrata its in hands of revolutionaries although water&elec; cut, one area full of G snipers many dead. Very difficult to get any sort of idea from Libya, but the town of Qal'a in western Libya is said to have been under heavy attack #libya. Latest in Zintan, as far as we understand it remains in revolutionary hands, but faced a very severe attack from Gaddafi."
  149. 0422: Mr Dabbashi says he does not think Col Gaddafi was the target of a missile strike on Sunday on the Bab al-Aziziya barracks in Tripoli, where the Libyan leader has a residence. "The target was a command post and sophisticated weapons. He is the target of the Libyan people, and I think the Libyan people will take care of that. The Libyan people are now secure from the air. The national army is moving westwards towards Tripoli. I don't think he will survive. Maybe he will survive for some days, but I don't think he will have a chance to stay for months."
  150. 0416: Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's former deputy permanent representative to the UN in New York, tells the BBC that the UN-mandated operation to enforce a no-fly zone is going well. "The attacks are accurate enough, there have been no civilian casualties, and the morale of the people is very high," he says.
  151. 0403: Ibn Omar tweets: "http://tinyurl.com/4rbh4ev you see those red lines in the sky? that's what #gaddafi had his men shoot at peaceful protestors. #libya #feb17"
  152. 0357: Filmmaker Michael Moore tweets: "Note to Republicans&Iraq; Invasion Supporters: Your attacks on Obama's war are hypocritical, hollow,&obscene.; Your wars have wrecked us."
  153. 0345: Sarah El Neweihi writes on the Yansoon blog: "The Iraq war is our most recent memory when we think of foreign intervention. It makes everyone nervous. However, there are so many key differences that distinguish this from Iraq. First and most importantly, there are no troops on the ground. This is the element that will remain key to my support for the intervention. As long as the strikes are systematic and only from the air, it rules out the possibility of an occupation, which is something that I can never support. Therefore, the knee jerk cries of "oil, oil!" from those opposed to this foreign action, is completely ridiculous."
  154. 0321: The US military fired 20 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya in the past 12 hours, spokeswoman Cmdr Monica Rousselow has said, according to CNN. A total of 159 Tomahawks have been fired by the US and UK since Saturday. Cmdr Rousselow also said one of the three US submarines that participated at the beginning of Operation Odyssey Dawn had since departed the area. She declined to say which submarine.
  155. 0313: A US general has said that the air and missile strikes on Libyan military are likely to slow in the coming days. "My sense is that, that unless something unusual or unexpected happens, we may see a decline in the frequency of attacks," Gen Carter Ham, the head of US Africa Command, told reporters in Washington. But he added: "We possess the capability to bring overwhelming combat power to bear, as we have done in the initial stages of this, where it's been required."
  156. 0309: Ibn Omar tweets: "I see the bombing of military facilities in #libya like chemotherapy. It targets the cancer cells, and there may be a small risk of damage to the other organs, but it needs to be done in order for the patient to survive"
  157. 0251: Video has emerged on YouTube of an explosion thought to be in the Libyan city of Misrata on Monday, though this is unconfirmed.
  158. 0237: Paul Roveda tweets: "They consulted the Arab League. They consulted the United Nations. They did not consult the United States Congress."
  159. 0230: Libyans Revolt tweets: "Not hearing much in terms of attacks on the #Tripoli side. Worry for Misrata though, not contacted anyone there."
  160. 0226: Abdul Kerim, a member of the rebel National Council in Benghazi, tells the BBC that people there view the international action positively. "Everybody believes now that the United Nations resolution to protect civilians has been acted in a perfect way in Benghazi and everybody is looking now to do the same for Misrata and Zintan. Yesterday a lot of people contacted by telephone calls - different sides - begging United Nations to do the same protection for Misrata and Zintan."
  161. 0209: CNN correspondent Nic Robertson in Libya has rejected a report by the Fox News network that he and other journalists were used as human shields by Col Gaddafi to prevent a missile attack on his compound. A story posted on the Fox News website on Monday said the presence of news crews from CNN, Reuters and other organisations interfered with British military operations.
  162. 0202: Libyan state television has accused Denmark of carrying out Sunday's attack on Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, BBC Monitoring reports. "The offensive on Bab al-Aziziya has been commanded by Denmark," the station said in a rare English-language bulletin at about 0120 GMT. The newsreader went on to accuse Denmark of having "for several years" led a "campaign against Muslims" through cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
  163. 0145: Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Centre, writing on the Moscow Times blog, says: "The Libya war, by itself, is unlikely to spoil US-Russian relations. The stakes in Libya are minimal, while the stakes elsewhere in the relationship are high. The critical question, however, is whether the United States will decide it has to intervene in Iran as well to help the Iranian people topple the country's tyrannical theocracy. Seen from Moscow, Iran is certainly closer to home than Libya."
  164. 0132: Richard Murphy, a former US assistant secretary of state, tells the BBC his hope is that "the Libyan military will not want to see their equipment and facilities destroyed, as they can be destroyed by air power - and that the rebel forces will show more training and capability than they previously have". He adds: "It is in the hands of the Libyans. The outsiders are only going to be able to do so much."
  165. 0127: BBC UN correspondent LauraTrevelyan adds that behind closed doors, US officials who supported the UN resolution hope the rebels will be strengthened and Col Gaddafi's regime will be weakened. "In public, of course, they can't say that because it will look like the invasion of Iraq."
  166. 0124: Almanara Libya tweets: "We believe the cattle in #Zintan were killed to prevent the residence of the city to have as food."
  167. 0121: The BBC's UN correspondent Laura Trevelyan says United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will brief members of the UN Security Council on Thursday on how the resolution on Libya is being implemented. Members of the Security Council will then discuss the resolution and how best to move forward.
  168. 0118: Free Libya Now tweets: "#Libya #Benghazi #LNTC is concentrating on the situation on the ground in #Misurata&#Zintan where the humanitarian situation is worsening.#Libya #Benghazi #LNTC stated that #Gadafi militias are intertwined with local populations preventing action against these militias."
  169. 0114: The Dutch government says Libya probably had inside information about the failed evacuation of a Dutch citizen by three Dutch soldiers held for 12 days by Libyan authorities. The Dutch citizen has since been released from the city of Sirte, and the three soldiers have also been freed with the help of Greek authorities.
  170. 0108: The Dictator tweets: "#Misrata: Many doctors living in Ghiraan area haven't been able to get to city after morning raid. Conditions are disastrous."
  171. 0106: Only one in three people in the UK agree it is right for Britain to take military action against Col Gaddafi's forces in Libya, according to a ComRes/ITN poll. It found that 43% of those surveyed disagreed with the action taken by the UK government and 22% were unsure.
  172. 0103: Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News's international editor, tweets: "Around the burnt out tanks destroyed by allied bombs near #benghazi, everyone rushes up to say 'thank you' to western journalists. New chant heard around #Benghazi #libya: 1,2,3 - Sarkozy merci!"
  173. 0100: For those just joining us, explosions and heavy anti-aircraft fire have been heard in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, for a third night. The Libyan authorities said that a naval base and a fishing village near the capital were also hit by air attacks. The US, France and Britain have said that the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gaddafi, is not being targeted despite the destruction of a building in his compound on Sunday night.
  174. 0056: Mohammed Abdule-Mullah, a rebel fighter in Libya, tells the Associated Press news agency that government troops stopped their resistance after the international campaign began. "But pro-Gaddafi forces are still strong," he says. "They are professional military, and they have good equipment. Ninety-nine percent of us rebels are civilians, while Gaddafi's people are professional fighters."
  175. 0050: US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice tweets: "POTUS: "United States forces are conducting a limited and well-defined mission… to prevent a humanitarian disaster."
  176. 0045: State television in Libya says several sites in Tripoli have come under attack on Monday night by what it deemed the "crusader enemy", Reuters reports.
  177. 0042: Gazella tweets: "Just spoke with my cousin in #Benghazi , said all is calm right now, only prob is with #Gaddafi loyalists attacking randomly creating chaos."
  178. 0036: Bruce Riedel, writing in the Brookings Institution blog, says: "The Indians are puzzled that some in the West who had embraced Qaddafi less than a hundred days ago are now so shocked by his cruelty. Qaddafi did not change in 2011. Some former Indian diplomats are quick to suggest that the Libyan war shows America's "unreliability" and a tendency to over react to the last news broadcast... The next regime, many expect, will be even more sympathetic to jihad or too intimidated to fight the extremists. Libya seems, to many Indians, another dangerous diversion (like Iraq) which will distract global resources from Pakistan and Afghanistan to many Indians. A war in Libya will strain NATO defence budgets and war weary publics quickly. In India they fear they have seen this movie play out before, with deadly results in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
  179. 0033: US Representative Ron Paul from the state of Texas tells US broadcaster CNN that President Obama should have consulted Congress before he acted in Libya. Mr Paul says America's attack on Libya is unconstitutional and that the US is "not accomplishing what it set out to do".
  180. 0030: Libyan tweets: " #Libya #TNC says Amr Moussa will likely change his mind about #NFZ comments and that his comments do not reflect #ArabLeague"
  181. 0022: Nic Robertson, CNN correspondent, tweets: "So far tonight, what appear to be three separate attacks - explosions, anti-aircraft fire in Tripoli. Port of Tripoli was apparently one target, building near naval vessels in harbor, according to one witness"
  182. 0020: Reuters news agency is reporting that a growing number of Republican lawmakers are criticising US President Barack Obama for not laying out a clear plan in Libya and undertaking costly military operations at a time when America's budget deficit is gaping.
  183. 0010: Welcome to the BBC's live coverage of the Libya crisis. Stay with us for the latest updates - reports from our correspondents on the ground, expert analysis, and your reaction from around the world. You can contact us via e-mail, text or Twitter. We'll publish what we can.

Live video

Key points

  1. A US warplane has made a crash-landing in Libya while taking part in the US-led military campaign to enforce a no-fly zone.
  2. The US-led coalition has been in action over Libya since Saturday, enforcing a UN resolution to protect civilians from Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces. The US says it will transfer its leading role on Libya within days, to share the burden among international forces.
  3. The US and the UK are reported to be in favour of Nato leading the campaign, but Turkey is uneasy about it and France has objected because it is worried this may alienate Arab nations, whose support is crucial to the campaign.
  4. Divisions have also emerged among the allies as to whether Col Gaddafi is a legitimate target.
  5. Live page reporters: Matthew Danzico, Laura Smith-Spark, David Gritten, Yaroslav Lukov, Alexandra Fouché and Alix Kroeger.
  6. All times in GMT
  7. You can also follow events on BBC Arabic

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