Rolling coverage of events in Libya, as they took place on April 6 2011, with behind-the-scenes moves against Col Muammar Gaddafi intensifying, and including updates from around the Middle East.
By Andy Bloxham and Chris Irvine 11:59PM BST 06 Apr 2011
Libya 'needs Gaddafi' or it risks an Iraq-style power vacuum
Opposition officials say Gaddafi forces 'obliterating everything in sight'
Gaddafi appeals directly to Barack Obama in letter asking him to halt Nato campaign
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For the latest updates on events in Libya and the Middle East, go to our Libya: live blog.
23.59 That's all from the Libya live blog tonight. For all the latest on Libya, go here. Good night all.
23.41 The latest Telegraph photos from Benghazi:
Rebel fighters mourn the martyrdom of one of their colleagues in Benghazi, Libya.
23.21 Human Rights Watch has warned that hundreds of hand-held ground to air, heat seeking missiles are lying in an unguarded weapons depot in Ajdabiya and could fall into the hands of al-Qaeda terrorists. Read the Telegraph's report here.
23.19 A mercenary from Belarus has spoken about getting paid £1,900 a month to help Col Gaddafi's forces fight against the rebels, saying "several hundred" of his compatriots were doing the same thing. More here.
23.17 Watch Hillary Clinton rebuffing Col Gaddafi's letter to her boss Barack Obama (see 21.10)
23.15 More on the air strikes - they were British apparently, according to Khaled Kaim, the deputy foreign minister, who said that "British warplanes have attacked, have carried out an air strike against the Sarir oilfield which killed three oilfield guards and other employees at the field were also injured.
22.44 the Libyan Deputy foreign minister has said three guards have been killed in an air strike at Sarir oilfield
21.53 The Telegraph's man in Libya, Ben Farmer reports on fighting by the Misla and Waha oilfields:
Blow to the rebels today as they are forced to halt oil production in their Misla and Waha oilfields because of attacks from Col Gaddafi’s forces. Rebels say the damage was not significant, but the closure will dent their hopes of rapidly resuming exports to pay for their uprising. Rebel troops are also being diverted from the frontline to guard the fields.
21.10 Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, when asked about the Gaddafi letter to Barack Obama, has said he knows what he needs to do - step down and leave the country.
With respect to the letter you referred to, I think that Mr. Gaddafi knows what he must do. There needs to be a cease-fire, his forces need to withdraw from the cities that they have forcibly taken ... there needs to be a decision made about his departure from power and ... his departure from Libya,
20.42 Meanwhile in the rest of the Middle East, Qatar's prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani has said Gulf states hope to strike a deal with Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down.
`We (the council) have been meeting for the last few days in Riyadh and we're sending a proposal for him and the opposition and we hope a meeting will be held between his team and the opposition to try to find a way out of this problem.
20.20 And for Col Gaddafi's letter to Barack Obama in full, then go here.
20.15 For Bruno Waterfield's report on Libyan rebels complaining that Nato is not doing enough to protect Misurata, go here.
19.59 Francesca Cicardi, a Spanish freelance based in Cairo, Tweets:
@FraCicardi As I write,I'm realizing don't know if rebels're loosing their faith or still hopeful.For sure they're aware it's going to take time #Libya
19.55 Latest from Misurata is that one resident has been killed in clashes as pro-Gaddafi forces shelled the city.
19.00 Human Rights Watch has called on Libyan authorities to allow Iman Al-Obeidi, the woman who alleged she was raped by Gaddafi security forces, to leave Tripoli for her own safety and receive medical treatment.
18.42 Omar Fathi bin Shatwan, the former Libyan energy minister, has said many memebrs of Gaddafi's inner circle are too scared to defect and has urged Nato to step up its campaign "to finish the job".
18.40 The White House, perhaps unsurprisingly, has rebuffed Col Gaddafi's letter (see 18.12). Jay Carney, the White House spokesman confirmed the letter, "obviously not the first", he said, adding that "Words are different than actions."
18.30 Watch the Telegraph's video of Angelina Jolie, the actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador, touring a refugee camp outside Libya on the Tunisian border to raise awareness of their plight.
18.12 The Associated Press is reporting that Col Gaddafi has directly appealed to Barack Obama in a letter to halt the Nato campaign.
In the rambling, three-page letter Gaddafi says his country had been hurt more morally than physically by the campaign, and a democratic society could not be built through missiles and aircraft. He also calls Mr Obama "our son" and says he hopes he will win re-election in 2012.
17:51 A Tanzanian government official has called the uprisings in Libya, Egypt and other Arab states a "lesson" to African countries that dictatorial regimes are running out of time. AFP reports that the deputy foreign minister Mahadhi Juma Maalim told the country's parliament:
"This is the lesson to all of us in Africa and elsewhere that regimes that are in power without the consent of the people are no longer acceptable. The era for dictatorship is now over. Some of these countries have started implementing reforms including organising elections."
17:20 The BBC's Tim Willcox has Tweeted on the situation in Misurata:
@BBCTimWillcox Opposition figure says Gaddafi's forces obliterating everything in sight in Misurata while NATO just watches
16:34 Italy and other countries should increase aid donations to help stop uprisings in Africa and the Middle East spreading long-term unrest across the region and Europe, the EU's development chief tells Reuters. Andris Piebalgs says:
If we don't have a better formulation of our aid, the immigration wave from Africa will continue, instability will continue and we can't just build Chinese walls. It is obvious that these events (the uprisings) should have a positive impact on the commitments of the Europeans in terms of development aid because if not, we will face the consequences - permanent instability, military conflicts, war.
16:14 Al Jazeera says it is hearing reports that Gaddafi's troops have shelled an oil field in Ojla, south of Ajdabiya.
16:08 Further to the refugee boat story, an Eritrean priest has reported that some of the bodies pulled out of the sea from a different vessel were killed by gunfire. The Independent quotes Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic cleric based in Rome, as saying:
There are five bodies in total, two women, two boys and an Egyptian who we believe was the boat’s captain. Their bodies have gunshot wounds in them. Somebody shot them after they left Libya.
16:00 Some great photography from Reuters here from the front line of fighting between rebel and loyalist forces in Libya.
Rebels on the frontline between Ajdabiya and Brega turn as an explosion shakes the ground. (REUTERS)
15:27 More on the boat of refugees, via Reuters. Between 130 and 250 people are missing and at least 15 dead after the boat, carrying refugees from Libya, capsized south of Sicily. Rescuers picked up 47 people, including a heavily pregnant woman, after the overloaded boat, which left Libya two days ago, sank 40 miles south of the island of Lampedusa.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), a migrant assistance agency which has officials on Lampedusa, an Italian fishing boat rescued another three people. Between 15 and 20 bodies were seen in the water, but high winds and rough seas made it difficult for coast guard boats and a police helicopter to operate. Coast guard officials said the boat had originally been carrying around 200 people but the IOM put the figure as high as 300, of whom it said some 250 were missing. IOM said in a statement:
The vessel, which was laden beyond capacity, had left the Libyan coast with migrants and asylum seekers from Somalia, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan. Some 40 women and 5 children were on board. Only two women survived the shipwreck.
15:25 Startling footage via CNN of the devastation in Zawiyah, a town that was almost entirely destroyed when Col Gaddafi's army crushed a rebel stronghold.
14:37 Scores of people are feared drowned after a small boat carrying more than 200 African migrants fleeing Libya capsized in rough seas, with Italian coast guards managing to pull 48 survivors from the water.
14:10 Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have stepped up pressure for action by the UN on the popular unrest in the Middle East, warning in particular that a crackdown in Bahrain had reached critical levels. Julie de Rivero, Geneva advocacy director at HRW, said:
A large number of critics are under arrest in Bahrain, the climate of fear is extensive and there needs to be an international response. And equally we haven't seen a reaction by the Human Rights Council to the continued repression of protestors and critics in Yemen and also in Syria."
13:58 The Ministry of Defence said RAF Tornados yesterday attacked targets around Misrata and Col Gaddafi's home city of Sirte, hitting a total of six armoured fighting vehicles and six battle tanks. As a whole, the alliance flew 137 missions on Monday, 186 on Tuesday, and had planned 198 for today.
Rebel fighters sit in a tent smoking hashish near a tank along the road between Ajdabiyah and Brega (Reuters)
13:55 The RAF is to shift four Typhoon jets to ground-attack roles. If they open fire, it is believed it will be the first live attack the new aircraft has ever been engaged in. The move follows the announcement on Monday by Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain was sending four more Tornado GR4s to region. The RAF now has 20 fighter aircraft committed to the operation.
13:26 Rebel forces are preventing untrained and unarmed volunteers from travelling to the front amid early signs of increased professionalism in their armed forces.
13:16 NATO is being "particularly careful" with its air strikes in Libya as Gaddafi's troops have begun using civilians as human shields, the deputy commander of operations, Rear Admiral Russell Harding, has said. He added:
Libya must be 800 miles wide and in all that air space we are dominating, so perhaps, and I am not criticising anyone, in one or two areas, if they don't hear us or see us, I can understand how that might lead to a lack of confidence.
"But I can reassure you that at every hour of every day we are watching what is going on in Libya and making sure that we are protecting civilians.
12:44 The International Committee of the Red Cross says civilians in Libya face a new major hazard from unexploded munitions that have been strewn across areas where fighting has occurred or can remain in destroyed military vehicles.
A Libyan rebel fighter walks in the desert about 25 miles (40 kilometers) outside Brega. (AFP/GETTY)
12:30 As fuel supplies continue to paralyse parts of Libya, a source told AFP that Gaddafi has been able to import 19,000 tonnes of petrol from a foreign tanker that had been anchored in Tunisian waters. In the rebel-held east of the country, oil exports were set to resume for the first time since mid-March after the arrival of a tanker capable of holding 100 million dollars' worth of crude.
12:28 More than 200 Iranian parliamentarians have condemned the "frightening crimes" of Saudi troops in Bahrain and demanded their departure, state television website reported.
12:21 NATO has dismissed rebel criticism of the pace of its military campaign in Libya, saying the number of its airstrikes is increasing every day.
A rebel who defected from pro-Gaddafi forces wears his medals along with a dagger and a hand grenade, outside Brega. (AP)
12:03 Denmark has appointed a special envoy to the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the Danish foreign ministry has said. The country does not have an ambassador in Tripoli.
11:44 Battles have reportedly been raging for hours today on the Mediterranean coast road as both sides try to break the stalemate. Mohamed el-Masrafy, a member of a rebel special forces unit, said clashes began at 4am (GMT) after Gaddafi's forces were resupplied with ammunition and moved eastwards out of the oil port of Brega.
11:31 The rebels are becoming increasingly vociferous in their compaints against NATO for inaction. Said Emburak, 43, a resident of Ajdabiyah, said:
What is NATO waiting for? We have cities that are being destroyed. Ras Lanuf, Ben Jawad, Brega, and Gaddafi is destroying Misrata completely.
11:08 Pope Benedict XVI has called for an end to bloodshed in Libya and Ivory Coast.
10:52 Gaddafi has sent a message to President Obama "following the withdrawal of America from the crusader colonial alliance against Libya", according to the country's official news agency JANA, but no further details were given.
10:38 Gaddafi's men using human shields, according to NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero.
Hundreds of ambulances wait at the port in Izmir, western Turkey, for the arrival of the Turkish hospital ship Ankara, carrying 321 wounded people from Libya (EPA)
10:10 Libyan rebels will now be able to supply the besieged city of Misurata by sea, according to the French defence minister, Gerard Longuet, who said:
We are going to ensure that aid comes from Benghazi and that at no moment Gaddafi's military forces will be able to stop this.
09:57 Prof Thomas G Weiss, of the City University of New York, told the Independent newspaper Libya is an example of the UN using its military might properly:
Let's be clear: military force is not a panacea, and its use is not a cause for celebration. At the same time, the deployment of military force for human protection was largely absent from the international agenda until the action against Libya last month. Mustering the cross-cultural political will is never going to be easy, but Libya may be pivotal for the evolving norm of the responsibility to protect.
09:08 Jordan has sent fighter aircraft to a European air base to support the no-fly zone over Libya and protect humanitarian flights from the Arab kingdom, its foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, told the Jordan Times newspaper.
The remains of what appears to be a gun emplacement outside Benghazi (REX FEATURES)
09:05 Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has weighed in over Misrata:
Misurata is in a situation which cannot continue and I am going to discuss it in a few hours time with the Secretary General of NATO.
Abdelfatah Yunis, the rebel commander, says:
If NATO waits one more week, there will be nothing left in Misurata.
08:43 Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian leader, has used an emergency meeting on Libya in Rome as his excuse for missing part of his trial for sex with an underage prostitute.
08:15 "Papa" Gaddafi gave gifts of gold watches with his face on them, according to one of his former nurses, Andrew Osborn, the Telegraph's Moscow correspondent, writes:
Oksana Balinskaya, who worked in Libya for two years until she was evacuated at the end of February, said the eccentric leader liked to give his staff gold watches with a picture of himself dressed in military uniform saluting on the dial.
08:09 MI5 believed the former Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, was "involved in killing dissidents in Britain", according to security service files, Duncan Gardham, the Telegraph's Security Correspondent, writes.
The files show that the security service believed they had “conclusive evidence” that the Libyan embassy, where Mr Koussa was the ambassador, was “directing operational and intelligence gathering activities against Libyan dissidents.”
07:51 The Telegraph's correspondent Ben Farmer is near Brega, from where he filed a detailed report on how loyalist forces gave no respite for the rebels, pushing them back into another retreat.
As the barrage crept forward across the desert floor, the rebel positions once more dissolved into a free-for-all of confused traffic heading east.
07:32 From the Telegraph's front page today: Nato will ask the RAF to contribute more warplanes to step up ground strikes against Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.
07:27 The rebels have criticised the NATO-led mission in the skies over Libya for failing to protect civilians in Misratah, which is being attacked by Gaddafi's troops.
07:20 The rebels in Libya have been pushed back to Ajdabiya after heavy shelling from Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
07.00 Welcome back to the Libya live blog for April 6. The Telegraph has comprehensive coverage of events in Libya and the wider Middle East.
Our team in Libya:
Damien McElroy
Ben Farmer
Nick Meo
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