Libya Live Blog - March 31

Libya Live Blog - March 31

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: 

  11:58pm

  That's it for tonight from Libya - but we're not going to bed yet! And you can stay up with us, and keep up to date on the very latest reports and news on our brand new, all-fresh live blog for April 1, by clicking here.

• Timestamp: 

  11:14pm

  Libya's top oil official Shokri Ghanem says he is still in his office, denying reports he had left the country. He told Reuters by phone:

  This is not true, I am in my office and I will be on TV in a few minutes.

• Timestamp: 

  10:43pm

  The UK Guardian reported on Thursday that one of Gaddafi's most trusted aides has been sent to London for confidential talks with British officials.

  Mohammed Ismail, a senior aide to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, visited London recently, the paper said citing British government sources familiar with the meeting. To read more from source, click on the screenshot below.

  

   

• Timestamp: 

  10:15pm

  Nicaragua's UN mission has postponed - for the second time - a news conference with former foreign minister Miguel d'Escoto, who was named to represent the Libyan government.

  The news conference was first scheduled for Wednesday and later cancelled. It was then rescheduled for Friday at the UN headquarters in New York, but was abruptly cancelled.

• Timestamp: 

  9:47pm

  Scottish authorities said they wanted to interview former Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

  This could be all the evidence that we wanted given to us on a silver platter.

  British officials are hoping that Koussa will provide vital military and diplomatic intelligence, campaigners want him to shed light on the bombing which killed 259 people.

• Timestamp: 

  8:25pm

  Watch Libya's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim responding to the recent reported defections of several diplomats. Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports on the reaction from Tripoli.

• Timestamp: 

  7:57pm

  US defence secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said it is highly unlikely for al-Qaeda to "hijack" the uprising in Libya against Gaddafi's rule.

  Gates played down the threat posed by the group's regional affiliate, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, saying:

  I think that the future government of Libya is going to be worked out among the principal tribes.

  So I think that for some outside group or some element of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to be able to hijack this thing at this point looks very unlikely to me.

  On Tuesday NATO's top commander Admiral James Stavridis had talked about "flickers" of possible al-Qaeda or Hezbollah influence among the opposition ranks.

• Timestamp: 

  7:17pm

  A senior Libyan diplomat has announced his resignation and fled to Egypt, becoming the second high-profile reported defection from Gaddafi's government in as many days.

  Ali Abdessalam Treki, who was recently named as Libya's envoy to the UN, said in a statement posted on several opposition websites that he is not going to accept that job or any other.

  We should not let our country fall into an unknown fate. It is our nation's right to live in freedom, democracy and a good life.

• Timestamp: 

  6:41pm

  NATO says it has "seamlessly" assumed full military command of operations over Libya on Thursday, taking over from a coalition led by the US, France and Britain.

  Commander of NATO's Libya operations Canadian Lieutenant-general Charles Bouchard said in Naples, Italy: 

  The transition has been seamless, with no gaps. NATO is fully responsible.

  Bouchard also warned "those acting against civilian populations in civilian centres", saying:

  I recommend that you cease these activities.

  This US Navy handout photo shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Barry in the Mediterranean Sea launching a Tomahawk cruise missile on March 29 as part of coalition military operation over Libya.

  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  6:12pm

  Gaddafi has warned that mounting coalition air strikes have unleashed a "crusader war" that could spiral out of control. The Libyan leader read out from a text on state TV, saying:

  If they continue, the world will enter into a real crusader war. They have started something dangerous that cannot be controlled and it will become out of control.

  The leaders who decided to launch a crusader war between Christians and Muslims across the Mediterranean and who ... killed ... huge numbers of civilians in Libya, they have been made crazy by power and they want to impose the law of strength on the strength of the law.

• Timestamp: 

  5:37pm

  Turkye's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the idea of arming the Libyan rebels to remove Gaddafi from office.

  Speaking at a joint press conference with his British counterpart David Cameron in London, he said:

  Doing that would create a different situation in Libya and we do not find it appropriate to do that.

  This could also create an environment which could be conducive to terrorism, and that would itself be dangerous. It should be NATO which should protect the civilians from cruelty.

• Timestamp: 

  5:03pm

  The photo below shows Libyan rebel fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenades driving through Ajdabiya on Thursday as they fought for control of the eastern oil town of Brega. A day earlier Gaddafi's forces them back along a coastal strip under a hail of rocket fire.

  
  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  4:33pm

  Human rights and mine experts on Thursday said that Gaddafi's forces have planted land mines including Brazilian-made anti-personnel mines and Egyptian-made anti-tank mines in areas around Ajdabiya.

  Monitors discovered two minefields following Saturday's retreat of government troops, believed to have been laid during their 10-day occupation of the crossroads town south of the rebel capital, Benghazi.

  Human Rights Watch monitor in Benghazi, Peter Bouckaert, said his team found stocks of mines abandoned by Gaddafi's forces.

  We found 12 warehouses of anti-vehicle mines in Benghazi, tens of thousands of them.

  Bouckaert's team also found 35 warehouses full of munitions in Ajdabiya, which had no land mines but had vast quantities of artillery shells, mortar bombs and anti-tank missiles.

• Timestamp: 

  2:36pm

  Some key points from the first half of the NATO press briefings by Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, the chairman of NATO's military committee, and Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the commander of the operation in Libya:

  --NATO is aware of a report of civilian casualties in Tripoli. The top Vatican official in the Libyan capital, Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, told Catholic news agency Fides that at least 40 civilians died in Tripoli when a building collapsed. He also said air strikes had "indirectly" hit hospitals, including one in Mizda, 145km southwest of Tripoli. General Bouchard said NATO is investigating to determine whether its forces were involved.

  --NATO will block arm shipments into Libya by sea, no matter where they are coming from, but Admiral Di Paolo is "confident" no allies are thinking about doing that.

  --There are no NATO forces on the ground.

  --Admiral Di Paolo said he was "not surprised" that NATO supreme commander and US Admiral James Stavridis mentioned "flickers" of intelligence that Hezbollah and al-Qaeda might be active in Libya. Such indications should be expected, he said.

• Timestamp: 

  2:14pm

  Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, a Canadian air force general who is in charge of NATO's operation in Libya, briefs the press via video conference from Naples, Italy:

  

• Timestamp: 

  2:12pm

  NATO is holding a press conference to brief reporters on their campaign in Libya - Operation Unified Protector. Admiral Giampaolo Di Paola, the chariman of NATO's military committee, just finished speaking, and soon we'll hear from Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, who is commanding the operation itself.

• Timestamp: 

  11:56am

  The four New York Times' journalists who were captured by Gaddafi's forces in Libya talk about their experience on video:

• Timestamp: 

  9:21am

  Lindsay Graham, an influential Republican senator on the Armed Forces Committee, has weighed in with CNN on the flurry of recent developments in Libya.

  Graham says there are "some very sophisticated people" leading the opposition in Libya and that he does not fear the country risks turning into an "al-Qaeda-driven state" if the rebels win:

  "You know, to be honest with you, I'm sure there are probably some people under the banner of opposition that are - that may have some al-Qaeda sympathies, but I have zero concern about this turning into an al Qaeda-driven state; and the Libyan people are not going to replace Gadhafi to be run by al Qaeda."

  The US mission in Libya needs to be aimed more specifically at taking Gaddafi out of power by force, Graham said, using overwhelming airpower - specifically A-10 and AC-130 warplanes. He also said he considers Gaddafi an "unlawful enemy combatant." 

• Timestamp: 

  8:59am

  Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid spent some time driving around the eastern front in Libya with Hatem Al Hodairy, a volunteeer ambulance driver:

• Timestamp: 

  8:41am

  De StandaardI, a Belgian newspaper, has posted video of F-16 fighter jets in action over Libya, bombing buildings and planes at a regime-controlled airfield:

   

• Timestamp: 

  6:28am

  White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has issued a statement in the wake of the stories coming out about CIA operations in Libya:

   

  As is common practice for this and all Administrations, I am not going to comment on intelligence matters. I will reiterate what the President said yesterday – no decision has been made about providing arms to the opposition or to any group in Libya. We’re not ruling it out or ruling it in. We’re assessing and reviewing options for all types of assistance that we could provide to the Libyan people, and have consulted directly with the opposition and our international partners about these matters.

   

• Timestamp: 

  4:45am

  In this photo from yesterday, a man watches as a mobile artillery gun is destroyed by anti-Gaddafi fighters to ensure it would not fall into the hands of Gaddafi's forces on the road between Ajdabiya and Brega.

  

  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  4:27am

  The White House reportedly negotiated with TV networks about the ideal time to screen President Obama's address to the nation on Monday night. Nothing unusual there, scheduling is a delicate matter - and becomes moreso when advertisers invest big bucks to hit their ideal timeslots - but New York Times blogger Bill Carter points out that ABC had its own priority for the nation. A show so important, it couldn't be interrupted or rescheduled to arrange an address from the nation's president.

  Dancing with the stars.

  An administration official said:

  The White House routinely works with the networks, as a group, in circumstances like these to find a time that’s respectful of both the networks and their audience – while ensuring that the president has the platform he needs to deliver an important message to the American people.

• Timestamp: 

  3:47am

  Our regular liveblog readers will remember that, at about this time yesterday, we mentioned that Nicaragua's first lady announced that former foreign minister Miguel D'Escoto was to become the new Libyan ambassador to the United Nations.

  Now Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, has poured cold water on the idea, saying that D'Escoto was only in the US on a tourist visa - which didn't allow him to undertake government business.

  She also said that he had been appointed by Moussa Koussa, who has since quit the administration and fled to Britain. Rice told reporters:

  I think the first question is whether he's actually been appointed in any legitimate fashion.

  D'Escoto is a Roman Catholic priest and a former Sandinista revolutionary, whose left-wing government in Nicaragua was attacked by US-funded Contra fighters during the 1980s. He once called former US president Ronald Reagan "the butcher of my people".

  He was understood to have been appointed after Gaddafi's first choice, Ali Treki, was reportedly denied a visa to enter the United States.

• Timestamp: 

  3:15am

  Gaddafi's foreign minister has flown to Britain and is reportedly seeking refuge after abandoning the regime in Libya.
  
  A former spy chief, Koussa is not guaranteed a warm reception in the country, after he was expelled as Libyan ambassador to the UK, having said he would attempt to eliminate political opponents there.
  
  Al Jazeera's Tim Friend has more.

• Timestamp: 

  2:46am

  And the air strikes continue. Explosions have reportedly shaken an eastern suburb of Tripoli, as warplanes staged a raid on the Libyan capital, a witness has told the AFP news agency

  Libya's state news agency also reported the attack.

  Shortly after the aircraft flew over the east and southeast suburbs of the city, explosions could be heard in the southeast Salaheddine district, targeting a military site in the area, said the witness, speaking on condition of anonymity.

  Gaddafi's Bab al-Azizia [meaning Splendid Gate] home and compound is located in a southern suburb of the city - whch is also home to 1million people.

  Jana, the official Libyan news agency, said "a civilian site in Tripoli has been the target tonight of bombing from the colonialist crusader aggressor." They continued:

  The price of any bomb or missile launched by the crusaders on the Libyans is paid for by the Qatari and Emirati governments.

   

  In this photo, a Canadian CF-18 fighter jet waits in Trapani before taking off on a night mission over the Mediterranean Sea. Canada has deployed six such Hornet jets to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya.

  

  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  2:28am

  New footage has emerged from the first moments of the uprising in Libya, showing gunmen - who appear to be Gaddafi loyalists - shooting unarmed protesters dead.
  
  With armed men dragging people from Benghazi's mosque, others were left to die on the streets.
  
  Al Jazeera's Sue Turton reports from the city.

• Timestamp: 

  2:24am

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, says that Moussa Koussa's defection doesn't necessarily mean Gaddafi will be leaving power any time soon:

  Will this be seen by Gaddafi as a sign he has no friends left? Who knows? He is a law to himself.

  We haven't heard from him much recently, and we've also not heard much from his sons.

• Timestamp: 

  2:10am

  So who let the cat out of the bag about the previously covert operations in Libya? Al Jazeera's John Terrett, reporting from Washington DC, tells us that "the smart money is on Pentagon officials" concerned about mission creep in libya, while also having troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Timestamp: 

  1:57am

  More worries in the oil markets, as Dutch officials suspect Libyan hands at work in one of its oil corporations.

  The Dutch government has asked Oilinvest (Netherlands) BV Group, which markets Libyan oil refiner Tamoil's products, to address concerns about its ownership, a finance ministry spokesman has said.

  We have concerns that Libyan parties may have influence on the company (Oilinvest) and we would like the company to address them.

  The Netherlands has frozen about US$4.4billion in Libyan assets since March 2 and is ensuring United Nations sanctions were implemented, the spokesman said.

   

• Timestamp: 

  1:51am

  CIA officers on the ground in Libya assisted with the rescue of one of two airmen who ejected when their F15E fighter jet crashed last week, sources tell the Associated Press.

• Timestamp: 

  1:43am

  Want more details on those reports of Obama secretly authorising covert ops in Libya? Check out this article:

  

• Timestamp: 

  1:29am

  In this photo, taken on a guided government tour, Gaddafi loyalists shout during the funeral of Munther Da'as, a 23-year-old that, according to Libyan officials, was killed in an air strike at the fish harbour in Sirte on Sunday.

  

  [Photo: Reuters]

• Timestamp: 

  1:11am

  Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught tells us that Koussa was not alone, and that there are several senior Libyan government figures waiting to fly to European capitals.

  She said they include the current head of intelligence, the oil mininster, the secretary of the general peoples' congress and a deputy foreign minister. She tells us:

  It seems the government of Gaddafi is collapsing around him tonight, and they're running for the hills. 

  But its all about Cololnel Gaddafi here. The people are loyal to him, not to his ministers, so how this will be taken by the Libyan people is another matter - that's if they know what's going on. Today, state TV said that Moussa Koussa was going on holiday. We'll see if they say the same for these others.

• Timestamp: 

  1:07am

  Al Jazeera's Tim Friend, reporting from London, says Moussa Koussa crossed into Tunisia in a large convoy and had several official meetings before flying to Britain.

• Timestamp: 

  12:55am

  Ahead of a NATO press conference expected tomorrow, where the 28-member military alliance will outline its operations, the office of the US secretary of defence has said:

  In the last 24 hours:
  - the Coalition and US have conducted a total of 188 sorties
     -- 102 of these were "strike" sorties (61 by Coalition; 41 by U.S.)
  - the US launched 2 TLAMs [Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles]
  
  Total Sorties:
  - Coalition = 784 (489 "strike")
  - U.S. = 1206 (463 "strike")
  
  Total TLAM:
  - Coalition = 7
  - U.S. = 216
  
  

• Timestamp: 

  12:45am

  Tunisia has become the latest country to freeze Gaddafi's assets, with prime minister Beji Caid Sebsi saying the move was "the least we can do". He said:

  We had no problems making that decision.

• Timestamp: 

  12:20am

  Moussa Koussa, Libya's foreign minister has abandoned Gaddafi and fled to Britain, says the UK foreign ministry. Click the image below to read the full story.

  

• Timestamp: 

  12:05am

  Hello and welcome to today's live blog. We'll keep you updated throughout the day with reports and news from Libya, as it breaks - right here. Don't forget, you can also follow our Twitter feed: @ajelive

  And if you feel there's something you missed, catch up with yesterday's Libya live blog by clicking here.