Libya Live Blog - March 30

Libya Live Blog - March 30

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.

• Timestamp: 

  11:59pm

  That's it for today. But you can keep up to date with our continuing coverage on our Libya live blog for March 31, by clicking here.

• Timestamp: 

  11:37pm

  Tunisia's prime minister Beji Caid Sebsi said his government has frozen Gaddafi's assets, saying it was "the least we can do". Sebsi told Tunisian main TV channels:

  We had no problems making that decision.

  The move is expected to impact dozens of Libyan investments in Tunisia including hotels, a chain of petrol stations and a stake in an oil terminal.

• Timestamp: 

  10:47pm

  British foreign office confirms in a statement Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa has defected and said he is resigning his post upon arrival in London on Wednesday.

• Timestamp: 

  8:30pm

  Nicaragua has named former foreign minister Miguel d'Escoto to represent Libya at the United Nations after a senior Libyan envoy Ali Abdussalam Treki was reportedly denied a visa.

  A Spanish version of the letter to UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon informing him of the decision was posted on the Nicaraguan government's official website. A copy of the letter allegedly from Gaddafi has been posted in English here.

  The Nicaraguan government said it has sent a letter to Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, to inform him of the decision "to support our Libyan brothers in their diplomatic battle to enforce respect for its sovereignty".

  UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Wednesday the UN had not yet received the letter but said the Nicaraguan mission had scheduled a news conference with d'Escoto on Thursday.

  Treki was to replace Abdulrahman Shalgham, the Libyan UN envoy who turned against Gaddafi. The Libyan government had asked the UN to no longer recognise Shalgham.

  Shalgham told The Associated Press in a telephone interview of d'Escoto on Wednesday:

  They have mercenaries on the battlefield now so I guess this guy will be a political mercenary. I guess anything's possible these days. He's not even a Libyan.

  The representative of the Nicaraguans called me and said he's coming here. He just wants to make propaganda for Gaddafi.

  [[Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  8:00pm

  Tunisia's TAP news agency says Libya's foreign minister Moussa Koussa has flown to London from the Tunisian resort of Djerba on Wednesday. He reportedly arrived in Tunisia for a "private visit"  on on Monday, TAP said.

  Al Jazeera has learned from sources in the Tunisian interior ministry that Koussa may have defected, and is believed to be negotiating passage for himself and his family. European diplomats have told Al Jazeera the same, including that Koussa may also be negotiating a deal for other senior Libyan officials.

• Timestamp: 

  7:47pm

  Libyan rebels have denied allegations by a top NATO commander there may be al-Qaeda fighters in their ranks. Rebel army officer Colonel Ahmad Bani said:

  We don't have this organisation in Libya because their culture is different from ours. If there are any Libyans who were associated with al-Qaeda around the world and are now in Libya, they are fighting on behalf of Libya. If.

  On Tuesday, US Admiral James Stavridis said the coalition was trying to determine the composition of the rebel movement. He said:

  We have seen flickers in the intelligence of potential al-Qaeda, Hezbollah. We've seen different things. At this point, I don't have detail sufficient to say that there's a significant al-Qaeda presence or any other terrorist presence in and among [Libyan rebel forces].

  Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu told Al Jazeera's Sami Zeidan that  his country's priority was to protect Libya's civilians. Watch the interview below:

• Timestamp: 

  7:30pm

  Libyan rebels are reportedly fighting Gaddafi's troops in the oil town of Brega, and have asked coalition forces for arms supplies and air support.

  Ahmad Bani, a rebel army spokesman in the stronghold of Benghazi, said they had to pull back after the better-equipped Libyan military gained ground. Bani said civilians were under threat and that warplanes should "take out" Gaddafi's forces.

  Fighting is now under way at Brega and Ajdabiya will be a new defence point. We are seeking weapons that will be able to destroy the heavy weapons they are using against us such as tanks and artillery.

• Timestamp: 

  6:20pm

  Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the fighting in Libya, crossing borders into neighbouring African countries.

  The International Organisation of Migration says more than 376,000 have fled Libya, as follows:

  > nearly 200,000 going west into Tunisia
  > over 150,000 fleeing east into Egypt
  > another 15,000 south into Niger
  > at least 10,000 into Algeria
  > about 3,000 into Chad
  > approximately 2,800 into Sudan

• Timestamp: 

  6:14pm

  The Netherlands announced on Wednesday it has frozen more than €3bn ($4bn) of assets as part of EU sanctions against Gaddafi's government, targetting both prominent figures and entities.

  A spokesman for the Dutch finance minister, Niels Redeker, told AFP:

  We informed the parliament that €3.1bn fo Libyan assets have been frozen since March 2.

  The government provided no further details in its letter to Dutch legislators last week.

  
  [Photo: Rueters]

• Timestamp: 

  6:10pm

  Up to 600 protesters mainly women have reportedly marched the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi on Wednesday asking coalition forces to re-strike Gaddafi's troops.

• Timestamp: 

  5:49pm

  The first coalition air strike in two days against Gaddafi's forces was carried out near the eastern city of Ajdabiya, where rebels have sought shelter after being pushed back from the frontlines.

  The AFP said huge plumes of smoke rose into the sky amid cries of jubilation among the rebels, who had called for air support earlier.

  Justifying their lack of fight, the rebels pointed out they were poorly armed with vintage or looted weapons, some of which jammed or had no more ammunition. They called it  a fight of "the people" against an army.

  A rebel fighter, Yunes Abdelghaim, 27, told AFP:

  We want two things: that the planes drop bombs on Kadhafi's tanks and heavy artillery, and that they [the West] give us weapons so we can fight.

• Timestamp: 

  5:13pm

  Uganda has offered asylum to Gaddafi, the same as it would consider an application from anyone seeking refuge in the east African country, a minister said on Wednesday.

  Al Arabiya TV reported that Uganda would welcome Gaddafi following a suggestion by coalition forces that he go into exile to end the conflict.

  Henry Okello Oryem, a junior Ugandan foreign affairs minister, told Reuters:

  Those are rumours. I have just been in a cabinet meeting with all the ministers and yes we discussed Libya but there was nothing on asylum that we discussed. However, if Gaddafi does apply for asylum in Uganda, we'll consider his application like we do for all those who seek refuge in Uganda.

• Timestamp: 

  4:40pm

  Libyan families are fleeing the eastern town of Ajdabiya towards the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Wednesday as counter-attacks by pro-Gaddafi forces prompt a panic retreat of rebel fighters.

  
  [Photo: EPA]

• Timestamp: 

  4:13pm

  Oil shipments from Africa's third-largest producer have been blocked for weeks due to heavy fighting and international sanctions. Shipping sources say  shipments remain at a standstill, with no one hiring oil tankers.

  A shipping source told Reuters:

  There has been no crude oil, no fuel oil and no clean products out of Libya for about 10 or 12 days. There is no Libya enquiry at the moment from anywhere.

  Before the crisis Libya produced about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, or almost two per cent of world output.

  
  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  3:50pm

  France says Qatar is playing an "essential" role in UN-mandated coalition operations over Libya.

  Speaking to French and Qatari pilots during a 90-minute visit to the Souda military base on the island of Crete on Wednesday, Gerard Longuet, the defence minister, said:

  Qatar is essential at this time. This is the first time that there is such a level of understanding between Europe and the Arab world.

  Souda-based French and Qatari Mirage fighters have jointly operated over Libya since March 24.

• Timestamp: 

  3:38pm

  Reuters citing rebel sources said 18 civilians have been killed in fighting in rebel-held Misurata on Tuesday.

• Timestamp: 

  3:35pm

  Al Jazeera has learnt from sources on the ground that Gaddafi troops are on their way to Brega.

  Reuters is reporting that pro-Gaddafi forces are pressing further east with an artillery offensive against rebel fighters. A rebel fighter, Mohamed al-Abreigi, told Reuters:

  We are going to Ajdabiyah. We will gather there and, God willing, we will head back to Brega today.

  
  [Photo: EPA]

• Timestamp: 

  3:22pm

  The Libyan government has threatened to sue any international company enterign into energy deals with the rebels, Reuters said, citing the official news agency.

  The government said only the state oil company has the right to conclude energy exploration, production and marketing deals.

• Timestamp: 

  2:06pm

  A spokesman for Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni says Uganda would welcome Gaddafi if he were to seek asylum there, the AP news agency reports.

• Timestamp: 

  1:56pm

  The United Kingdom has expelled five Libyan diplomats, including the embassy's military attache, citing "grave concern" at the Gaddafi regime's behaviour, Reuters has reported.

  "The government also judged that were those individuals to remain in Britain, they could post a threat to our security," Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament.

• Timestamp: 

  1:01pm

  One more post on the landmines issue: Human Rights Watch has issued a report, just today, that confirms the use of anti-personnel and anti-vehicle by Gaddafi's forces.

• Timestamp: 

  12:57pm

  Regarding that Facebook video that purports to show landmines outside Sirte, here's a report from CNN quoting Human Rights Watch saying they believe Gaddafi's troops planted "several dozen" mines outside Ajdabiya when they occupied the town.

• Timestamp: 

  12:41pm

  A Facebook group that calls itself the "Intifada of February 17, 2011," after the day Libyans' anti-regime protests were met with deadly violence, has posted this video that allegedly shows rebels uncovering landmines in the desert on the road to Sirte. Rebels had been advancing to Sirte on Monday before meeting stiff resistence and retreating. There is no way for Al Jazeera to verify the authenticity of this video.

• Timestamp: 

  12:15pm

  James Bays, outside Ajdabiya, also notes that it might be difficult for coalition pilots to discern Gaddafi's irregular fighters and mobile mortar teams riding in jeeps and the backs of trucks from the rebels fighting with them. 

• Timestamp: 

  12:10pm

  Bays also describes the tactics being used by Gaddafi's forces. They send mobile mortar teams several kilometres off the main road, flank the disorganised rebel columns, and begin shelling them from a distance. Almost without fail, the mortar fire - possibly combined with long-range Grad rocket attacks - has forced rebels to retreat.

  Perhaps more ominously, Bays says he thinks there could be plainclothed regime spies traveling on the main road with the rebels, feeding information back to Gaddafi's troops.

• Timestamp: 

  12:04pm

  Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from near Ras Lanuf, notes there was a sandstorm yesterday, which could account for the lull in air strikes. She said she expects a "renewed intensity" from the coalition effort today.

• Timestamp: 

  11:52am

  The Sky News crawl says one of their correspondents has witnessed air strikes near Ugayla, a village between Ras Lanuf and Brega. 

• Timestamp: 

  11:41am

  The AP reports that fighter jets "buzzed" over the fighting near Ras Lanuf today but didn't fire on the Gaddafi troops. 

• Timestamp: 

  11:24am

  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Wednesday that UN Security Council resolution 1973 doesn't give foreign powers the right to arm Libya's rebels.

  France, on the other hand, has said it is prepared to discuss such a move with its allies, and the United States has left the door open, saying the resolution doesn't outlaw it.

  Russia, of course, abstained from the Security Council vote authorising the resolution and has called for a ceasefire. Lavrov did reiterate Russia's position that Gaddafi should step down.

• Timestamp: 

  11:18am

  The question now is why the international coalition has yet to launch air strikes on Gaddafi's troops as they advance from Nawfaliya to Bin Jawad to Ras Lanuf. Are they obeying the letter of resolution 1973, as Christian Science Monitor writer Dan Murphy suggests on Twitter, or is there something else going on?

• Timestamp: 

  11:11am

  The AFP news agency says Gaddafi's forces have taken Ras Lanuf, but Reuters says rebels are still withdrawing and the fighting is ongoing. The regime troops are reportedly bombarding the rebels, but they could be doing so from a distance, since Grad rockets have a range of up to 40 kilometres.

• Timestamp: 

  5:27am

  As many as 25,000 people have fled the violence in Ajdabiya, the United Nations said in a situation report on Libya released on Tuesday.

  Since the conflict began, at least 376,485 people have left the country for Egypt, Tunisia, Niger, Algeria, Chad and Sudan.

• Timestamp: 

  4:43am

  Former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto will be the new official representative of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi to the United Nations, Nicaragua's first lady - former Sandanista revolutionary and wife of Daniel Ortega - Rosario Murillo has told the AFP news agency.

   

• Timestamp: 

  4:25am

  In this photo taken yesterday afternoon, a sheep joins other supplies in the back of an anti-Gaddafi fighter's truck, outside Bin Jawad.

  

  [Picture: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  3:26am

  Amnesty International has released a briefing report about those forcibly "disappeared" in Libya. You can read it by clicking here.

  These detainees and disappeared persons are at grave risk of torture and other serious human rights abuses. The true number is impossible to calculate...

  

• Timestamp: 

  2:59am

  Nancy Soderberg, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, says the United States may consider providing "defensive weapons" to anti-Gaddafi fighters in Libya - but doing so "quietly".
  
  She tells Al Jazeera that officials will always seek to further their strategic interests, but that the US did not create the armed rebel groups, and doesn't entirely know who they are.

• Timestamp: 

  2:35am

  Libya's national football team beat Comoros 3-0 in an African Cup qualifying match held in Mali. The Associated Press says some 20,000 Malians turned up to watch the match, with many carrying banners condemning military action in Libya.

• Timestamp: 

  2:15am

  Nancy Soderberg, former US ambassador to the UN, tells Al Jazeera that the United States may arm anti-Gaddafi fighters, "and just do it quietly" - without a separate UN Security Council resolution, as French officials had suggested was necessary. We'll bring you that interview in full soon.

• Timestamp: 

  2:05am

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught says Gaddafi supporters in Tripoli feel "hard done by and misunderstood".

• Timestamp: 

  1:44am

  The US military has so far spent US$550million on military action in Libya, says the Pentagon.

  Costs to the US taxpayer are expected to stabilise at US$40million a month once NATO takes control of operations, military officials added.

  Some 60 per cent of the money was spent on missiles and bombs, while the rest was for bringing troops to the region and operating costs.

• Timestamp: 

  1:27am

  In this photo from yesterday, a woman is restrained by police officers at a demonstration outside the Libya Conference in London.

  

  [Photo: GALLO/GETTY]

• Timestamp: 

  1:15am

  More from Anita in Tripoli:

  When we arrived a month ago, what was obvious was that it was a city that was not functioning properly any more. It was empty, it was shut up. And that is because it was a city run on foreign labour. And a huge amount of that skilled foreign labour had left by the time we got here - and that's been exacerbated since.

  It's just not possible to keep everything running without that foreign labour they had. So we're seeing big queues at petrol stations, those are getting more tense with every passing day ... and supplies are running out. We're seeing bread queues because bakers have left the country; fish isn't available as it used to be as the fishermen aren't fishing any more.

  All these sorts of things are closing in on Libyans here. No-one's starving, but life hasn't been 'normal' for more than a month here.

• Timestamp: 

  1:12am

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, tells us it feels as though "the walls are closing in" in the capital city. She tells us:

  There is tremendous anxiety here, people don't know what's coming. But there is unshakeable faith among some here, who feel Gaddafi's rule will never end, that he is the right man to run the country and life without him is unthinkable.

  Then there's a quieter voice, not often heard, that says Tripoli and Libya would be better without him. But that's not one that you hear in public here.

   

• Timestamp: 

  12:36am

  Obama to NBC News: Gaddafi has been "greatly weakened" by international military campaign.

  Would he give extra weaponry to the armed anti-Gaddafi fighters?

  I'm not ruling it in, I'm not ruling it out ... We are going to be looking at all options to provide support to the Libyan people so that we can transition towards a more peaceful and more stable Libya.

• Timestamp: 

  12:34am

  US president Obama: Bombardment in Libya "is not a signal that the US would back military intervention in other conflicts", says Reuters.

• Timestamp: 

  12:27am

  Anti-Gaddafi fighters in Misurata have come under attack, a spokesman named Mohamed tells Reuters by satellite phone:

  Gaddafi's forces are launching intensive and vicious military campaigns against us in Misurata. They are determined to capture the city. Today was tough for the rebels.

  A second told the agency:

  The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. There is a shortage of food and medicine. The hospital is no longer able to deal with the situation ...

  Gaddafi's forces went into houses in Zawabi, which is near Tripoli street, and killed four brothers and two of their neighbours. We are sure they have positioned snipers on the rooftops of these houses.

  Some 124 civilians have been killed in the city of 300,000 in the past nine days, said the fighters.

   

• Timestamp: 

  12:21am

  The Dutch defence and foreign ministers have apologised for mistakes made over a botched rescue mission which resulted in the capture of three marines.

  Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said officials had seen a "window of opportunity'' they feared might evaporate and they decided to rescue a Dutch citizen before the situation in Sirte deteriorated.

  Rosenthal said the daylight mission was premised on elements of speed and surprise, but several miscalculations were made.

• Timestamp: 

  12:10am

  Welcome to our Libya live blog for March 30. We'll keep you right up to date with all the latest breaking news and reports from the country over the course of the day. But if you feel you've missed out and want to catch up, check out yesterday's blog, by clicking here.