Libya Live Blog - April 5

Libya Live Blog - April 5

• Timestamp: 

  10:30am

  Reuters news agency has reported that Libyan pro-democracy fighters hoped to begin their first independent oil shipment on Tuesday. The tanker Equator, which can carry 1 million barrels of crude, was due to arrive at the east Libyan port of Marsa el Hariga.
  
  The pro-democracy leadership says Qatar agreed to market oil from east Libyan fields no longer under Gaddafi's control after the Gulf state recognized the revolutionary council in Benghazi as Libya's legitimate government.
  
  Italy, a major investor in Libyan oil, also sided with the rebels on Monday, promising them weapons and demanding that Gaddafi and his family, who enjoyed warm ties with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, leave Libya.

• Timestamp: 

  9:30am

  A YouTube video shows a very funny old guy cracking jokes about Gaddafi in Zawiya one day and then very disturbing images of the same old guy being beaten/taunted in the back of a vehicle by soldiers a week or so later.
  
  Al Jazeera can not independently verify the authenticity of the video. WARNING the language is very disturbing.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  9:15am

  Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from the town of Ajdabiya on how the opposition there says the  momentum is changing.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  8:15am

  Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports on how the pro-democracy fighters have managed to push Gaddafi’s troops into the old town of Brega. And how many of the residents are desperate to leave due to shortage of basic supplies.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  8:00am

  US fighter jets have ended their combat missions in Libya, with Nato to take full command of operations.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  7:00am

  Moussa Ibrahim, the Libyan government spokesman, tells reporters that they are ready for negotiations as long as it is from within Libya.
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  6:15am

  Hani Faris, a political science professor at the University of British Colombia in Vancouver, spoke to Al Jazeera about the current situation in Libya and the way forward to solve the issues.
   
  "We have arrived at a junction in the Libyan crisis where diplomacy needs to play a role, all parties involved in the Libya crisis have seen that they can not have their way, there needs to be a settlement the sooner the better.
  
  "The Libyan people really need to put a stop to the war that is taken place.
  
  "It is well known that the regime in Libya can not survive, Ghaddafi himself must go, and he will go.
  We know that there is a fusion between the state and Ghaddafi, there are no autonomous state institutions. and when Ghaddafi leaves his regime will fall apart.    
  
  "The Arab world should not leave the negotiations and intervention in Libya to non Arab states, Egypt and Tunis have a very special role to play, both of them are highly regarded in the world today. Both of them are neighbors. They can both play a major role in bringing a settlement to Libya that recognizes the needs and demands for freedom and peace in the country."

• Timestamp: 

  4:15am

  Ordinary Libyans, and those families worst affected by the fighting on the front lines, are in no mood to compromise to end Libya's crisis. Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from Benghazi, where people continue to stand resolute in their call for Gaddafi and his entire family to leave power.

• Timestamp: 

  4:03am

  The European Union said it could provide special assistance to member countries facing a refugee crisis and ease refugees' conditions after political upheaval in north Africa.

  "In case of a massive inflow of displaced persons and refugees (from Libya, Tunisia or Egypt), the European Commission would be ready to make use of the 2001 directive that provides immediate protection" to these people, said Cecilia Malstroem, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, on Monday, the AFP news agency reported.

  This comes as more than 22,000 migrants, mostly from Tunisia, have landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa since theTunisian revolution in January.

• Timestamp: 

  3:20am

  Libyan rebels fighting Gaddafi's forces are worried about their financial resources and want to start exporting both oil and natural gas, the UN special envoy to Libya said.

  Abdelilah al-Khatib spoke to the Security Council about his recent visits to Libya, where he met with the rebels' Transitional National Council and members of Gaddafi's government in Tripoli.

  "The council raised concerns about the lack of funds as well as issues surrounding the marketing and sale of oil and gas, stressing that the issue required urgent attention in order to enable the economy to function effectively," he told the 15-nation Security Council on Monday.

• Timestamp: 

  2:27am

  The US Treasury is ending its freeze on former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa's assets following his decision to sever ties to Gaddafi's government and flee to Britain last week, a senior US Treasury official said.

  "Koussa's defection and the subsequent lifting of sanctions against him should encourage others within the Libyan government to make similar decisions to abandon the Gaddafi regime," David Cohen, the Treasury's acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a blog posting on the Treasury website.

• Timestamp: 

  1:05am

  Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdelati Obeidi that Gaddafi and his family must relinquish power. Obeidi was in Malta following talks with government officials in Greece and Turkey on ways to end the Libyan conflict.

  "The Prime Minister reiterated the Maltese government's position that the resolutions of the United Nations must be respected, that the Gaddafi government must step down, that Colonel Gaddafi and his family should leave and there should be an immediate ceasefire and a process to enable the Libyan people to make its democratic choices," the government said in a statement.

• Timestamp: 

  12:37am

  The Libyan government says it's ready to hold elections, a referendum or any other reform to its political system, Reuters reports.

• Timestamp: 

  12:31am

  Libya has said Gaddafi must stay, but the country is ready to discuss reforming its political system, Reuters reports.

  The government said only Libyans themselves can decided if Gaddafi should stay or not.

• Timestamp: 

  12:23am

  A Libyan government spokesperson said Libya is ready for a "political solution" with world powers, the Reuters news agency reports.

• Timestamp: 

  12:14am

  Libyan state television late on Monday showed live footage of Muammar Gaddafi saluting supporters from a jeep that drove outside his fortified compound of Bab al-Aziziyah in Tripoli.

  A written newsflash read: "The brother leader among his supporters."

  For other updates you may have missed from yesterday, click here.

• Timestamp: 

  12:00am

  Welcome to today's liveblog.

  We'll be keeping you up to date with breaking news and reports as they emerge from Libya. You can also check out yesterday's blog by clicking here.

  And don't forget, you can also tune into our live TV feed online: Watch Al Jazeera