Good morning, welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the continuing crisis in Libya.
• International efforts to respond to the Libyan crisis are gathering pace under US leadership. On Thursday a still defiant Muammar Gaddafi launched counterattacks to defend Tripoli against the popular uprising now consolidating its hold on the liberated east of the country.
The White House said Barack Obama planned to call David Cameron and France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, to discuss possible actions, including a no-fly zone or sanctions to force the Libyan leader to end the violence. Switzerland said it had frozen Gaddafi's assets.
• Up to 500 British citizens are thought to remain stranded in Libya as efforts continue to help them flee the chaos engulfing the country.
David Cameron is due to chair a meeting of the National Security Council on Friday morning with the issue of rescuing those stuck in Tripoli or in the remote oil-producing areas of the desert high on the agenda. Special forces are on stand-by to held.
A flight chartered by the Foreign Office landed at Gatwick at 3am UK time on Friday - following the arrival of a plane charted by oil company BP, another Foreign Office flight on Thursday - although officials could not say how many were on board. An RAF Hercules also lifted refugees from Tripoli to Malta where they joined one of the charter flights home. The naval frigate HMS Cumberland which picked up 68 Britons and about 130 other people of 10 nationalities from Benghazi on Thursday was still battling atrocious weather in the Mediterranean and was not expected to reach Malta until 3pm on Friday (5pm UK time).
• The UN Security Council is meeting later today to consider actions against Gaddafi that could include sanctions aimed at deterring his violent crackdown.
UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon will attend the meeting, where the 15 council nations will discuss further options, Associated Press reported.
Although no specific actions have been proposed, diplomats said no options are being ruled out.
Diplomats said possible sanctions likely to be put on the table include travel bans and asset freezes against Gaddafi and top officials in his government, an arms embargo against the government, and imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.
• Meanwhile protests are ongoing in the middle east, with Iraqi, demonstrators are converging on Baghdad's Liberation Square as part of an anti-government rally dubbed the "Day of Rage".
About 600 protesters already have gathered on the square today, shouting "No to unemployment," and "No to the liar al-Maliki," referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The rally has been hotly discussed for weeks on Facebook and groups on other social networking sites inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.
More people are expected to join the demonstrations after Friday prayers.
But turnout may be affected by al-Maliki's speech Thursday warning people to stay away. Shiite religious leaders have also discouraged people from taking part.
The Iraqi military barred vehicles from moving around the city and were keeping people from crossing one of the main bridges accessing the square.
• On Thursday Algeria lifted a 19-year state of emergency in a concession to the opposition designed to keep out a wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world. Ending the emergency powers was one of the demands voiced by opposition groups which have been staging weekly protests in the Algerian capital that sought to emulate uprisings in Egypt and neighbouring Tunisia, and has been welcomed by US President Barack Obama.
However, one of the organisers of the protests told Reuters this week that lifting the state of emergency was not enough, and that the government must allow more democratic freedoms.
The events in the middle east are having far-reaching repercussions it seems, with South Korea using the revolutions in an apparent attempt to goad North Koreans into similar protests.
The South Korean military has been dropping leaflets into North Korea about the pro-democracy protests in Egypt, conservative South Korean parliament member Song Young-sun said.The country has also sent food, medicines and radios for residents as part of a psychological campaign aimed at encouraging North Koreans to think about change.
The food and medicines were delivered in light-weight baskets tied to balloons with timers programmed to release the items above the target areas in the impoverished North, Song said in a statement.
South Korea's defence ministry declined to confirm the move, citing its policy of not commenting on sensitive issues in its dealings with the North.
The food items bore a message saying they were sent by the South Korean military and were safe for human consumption but could be fed to livestock to test safety, Song said.
The leaflets also carried news of public protests in Libya against the country's long-time leader, Song's office said.
Analysts say the level of Pyongyang's control over communications and movement of people is too tight to make it likely for North Koreans to rise up in similar protests against their leaders, according to Reuters.
Venezeuela's top diplomat has said the United States and other western countries are trying to create a movement inside Libya aimed at toppling Muammar Gaddafi, while the country's president, Hugo Chavez, has taken to Twitter in an apparent show of support for Moammar Gaddafi.
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro did not condone or condemn Gaddafi's violent crackdown in Libya, but called for a peaceful solution to the turmoil and questioned the accuracy of western media reports from the country.
"They [the US and other countries] are creating conditions to justify an invasion of Libya," Maduro said.
"Libya is going through difficult times, which should not be measured with information from imperial news agencies," Maduro added, referring to western media.
In a Twitter message on Thursday, Chavez wrote: "Viva Libya and its independence! Gadhafi is facing a civil war."
It was the first time that Chavez has publicly referred to the violence in Libya.
The Guardian's Tom Finn, in Yemen, says mass anti-government demonstrations are expected take place in Sana'a this afternoon, after Friday prayers. He writes:
The protests will start at Sana'a University where a motley collection of t-shirt clad students, illiterate tribesmen, and English-speaking professionals have been camped out in tents since Sunday calling for President Saleh to go.
The protesters will hold a traditional Islamic funeral this morning for two men shot dead on Tuesday night by pro-government thugs during a fierce street battle next to the university. For over a week now the two sides have been clashing violently, hurling rocks and shooting at each other as riot police struggle to control the crowds.
There does not seem to be a clear agenda for the day, but some are saying that the protesters may try and march on the presidential mosque, a towering $60m construction that looks out over the capital.
A mass pro-government rally will also take place in Tahreer square where thousands of Pro-Saleh tribesmen, some of whom have bussed in from outside the capital, are also camped out under marques. The government said it is expecting a million, but it is likely that numbers will not exceed tens of thousands. Saleh has told his security forces to protect both sets of demonstrations.
Catherine Ashton, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has said the European Union should consider "restrictive measures" against Libya.
Ashton, speaking this morning ahead of a meeting of EU defence ministers in Hungary later, told reporters the EU would look at travel bans and asset freezes in the next few days. The UN Security Council is meeting later today to discuss the possibility of sanctions.
"For the EU it's time to consider what we call restrictive measures ... to ensure we put as much pressure as possible to try and stop the violence in Libya and see the country move forward," she told reporters.
She said EU defence ministers would discuss how they can best collaborate on the issue.
"I don't think at this point there's any discussion about any sort of military action around Libya," Ashton added.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called an emergency meeting of the NATO council for Friday afternoon to discuss the situation in Libya, where a popular uprising against Muammar Gaddafi has led to widespread violence and the evacuation of thousands of foreigners.
Sky News is reporting that the UK "paid bribes to evacuate Britons".
Sources have confirmed that substantial payments were made to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime in Tripoli to evacuate British nationals from the capital city.
Libya still controls its own airspace so if any government wants to land in the country, permission must be sought from Libyan officials.
I've just called the foreign office, who are investigating the reports. We should have a statement from them later.
In the comments thread Benghazi217 reports that North Korea has seen protests in the past few weeks, while the economic and food situation is deteriorating. Earlier we heard reports that South Korea is dropping leaflets into its northern neighbour documenting the revolutions in Egypt and Libya.
The South Korean daily Hanguk Ilbo cites a South Korean "high ranking government source" as saying that protests over living conditions take place "almost every day," and that in some instances, soldiers have joined in the protest.
The Chosun Ilbo has published two stories of protest recently. The first says that several dozen protestors in three cities in North Pyeongan Province marched through the streets chanting that they wanted "electricity and rice."
In the second, "several hundred" protestors took to the streets of the border city of Sinuiju last week. A police officer in a market beat a trader into a coma. His family and fellow traders took to the streets and things snowballed. The army was called in, and 4 to 5 people were killed.
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This Youtube video apparently shows anti-Gaddafi demonstrations in Tajura, a district of Tripoli.
The video, apparently showing protests yesterday, shows peaceful-looking demonstrations – in contrast with earlier in the week, when Tajura was the scene of major flashpoints between Gaddafi's forces and anti-Gaddafi protesters. Reports suggested that fighting in the district had left men and women dead.
"What happened today in Tajura was a massacre," one resident of the district told the India Times earlier in the week.
"Armed men were firing indiscriminately. There are even women among the dead," adding that mosque loudspeakers were putting out appeals for help.
People trying to flee Libya at Tripoli airport on Wednesday. Photograph: AP
Helen Assaf, a freelance writer from Beruit has been in touch to say that a friend and 20 other Britons are stranded at an oil field south-east of Benghazi.
Basically they've heard nothing from the British embassy, their food is running out, and since they have no TV etc they don't really know what's going on outside (so I have been sending a few updates/summaries from the Guardian's live blog which is the only way any them are getting any news).
The Foreign Office has issued a strong rebuttal to Sky News's claims that it "paid bribes to evacuate Britons".
A spokesman said:
We categorically deny Sky News's accusation earlier that British officials have paid bribes to Libyan officials. Officials at Tripoli airport charge fees for services such as aircraft handling. These charges are applied to all countries and carriers seeking to fly in or out of Tripoli airport. In the current situation these fees have increased. Like those countries and carriers we have had to pay them – the alternative being to leave hundreds of British nationals stranded in Tripoli. Paying charges levied by the authorities at a foreign airport is not bribery.
Sky News has changed the headline on its story, which this morning read "Libya: UK Paid Bribes To Evacuate Britons', to "Libya: UK Paid Officials To Evacuate Brits."
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Despite the growing international pressure there is no sign Gaddafi is preparing to change course.
Libyan state television said this morning the government is to raise wages, increase food subsidies and order special allowances for all families, in a belated attempt win back public support for the regime.
Under the proposals each family will receive 500 Libyan dinars (£250) to help cover increased food costs, and wages for some categories of public sector workers will increase by 150 percent, the television station said.
Thousands of protesters have gathered once again in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Here is a link purporting to be a live feed from the square. Activists are urging the new military government to purge the cabinet of ministers appointed by former president Hosni Mubarak. "Friday is another day of protest to bring together Egyptians who bravely ousted Mubarak but still struggle as remnants of the old regime try to hang on and ruin the revolution," activist protester Sameha Metwali told Reuters.
The Foreign Office, which has been widely criticised for its inaction by those stuck in Libya, has just released a statement saying it has helped 500 British Nationals leave the country so far and estimate there is another 500 still there.
The statement also says the FCO:
• Has assisted nationals from around 25 other countries to leave.
• In London has taken more than 1000 calls in the last 24 hrs from British Nationals wanting to leave Libya, and their families and colleagues in the UK.
• Has sent over 25 specialist staff to reinforce teams in Malta and Libya.
As countries around the world continue to evacuate their citizens, a new Guardian video has been posted documenting more eyewitness reports of violence on the streets and chaos at Tripoli airport.
Iraqi's "Day of Rage" appears to be gathering pace with large scale demonstrations in towns and cities across the country and reports that the security forces have killed at least five people.
AP says the Iraqi capital is virtually locked down, with soldiers deployed en masse across central Baghdad, searching protesters trying to enter Liberation Square and closing off the plaza and side streets with razor wire.
The heavy security presence reflected the concern of Iraqi officials that demonstrations here could gain traction as they did in Egypt and Tunisia, then spiral out of control.
Iraqi army helicopters buzzed overhead, while Humvees and trucks took up posts throughout the square, where a group of about 2,000 flag-waving demonstrators shouted "No to unemployment," and "No to the liar al-Maliki," referring to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The protests stretched from the northern city of Mosul to the southern city of Basra, reflecting the widespread anger many Iraqis feel at the government's seeming inability to improve their lives.
A crowd of angry marchers in the northern city of Hawija, 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad, tried to break into the city's municipal building, said the head of the local city council, Ali Hussein Salih, prompting security forces to open fire killing three people and injuring 15, according to the Hawija police chief, Col. Fattah Yaseen.
In Mosul, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the provincial council building, demanding jobs and better services, when guards opened fire, according to a police official. A police and hospital official said two protesters were killed and five people wounded. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief the media.
In the south, a crowd of about 4,000 people demonstrated in front of the office of Gov. Sheltagh Aboud al-Mayahi in the port city of Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad. They knocked over one of the concrete barriers and demanded his resignation, saying he'd done nothing to improve city services.
They appeared to get their wish when the commander of Basra military operations, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jawad Hawaidi, told the crowd that the governor had resigned in response to the demonstrations. Iraqi state TV announced that the prime minister asked the governor to step down but made no mention of the protests.
Around 1,000 demonstrators also clashed with police in the western city of Fallujah 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad clashed with authorities, witnesses said.
The demonstrations have been discussed for weeks on Facebook and in other Internet groups, inspired by the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. More people were expected to join after Friday prayers.
While demonstrations in other Middle Eastern countries have focused on overthrowing the government, the protests in Iraq have centered on corruption, the country's chronic unemployment and shoddy public services like electricity.
Iraq has seen a number of small-scale protests across the country in recent weeks. While most have been peaceful, a few have turned violent and seven people have been killed. The biggest rallies have been in the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles (260 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, against the government of the self-ruled region.
But Iraqi religious and government officials appeared nervous over the possibility of a massive turnout for Friday's rally, and have issued a steady stream of statements trying to dissuade people from taking part.
On the eve of the event, al-Maliki urged people to skip the rally, which he alleged was organized by Saddamists and al-Qaida two of his favorite targets of blame for an array of Iraq's ills. He offered no evidence to support his claim.
Yesterday the Guardian spoke to Thomas Lydon, whose 22-year-old brother Benjamin was one of 42 Britons who had been stuck on a US government chartered boat in Tripoli harbour since 1pm GMT on Wednesday.
We've just spoken to Thomas again, who said Benjamin is still on the boat, and still in Tripoli harbour.
Benjamin was told to board the boat by British Embassy officials on Wednesday afternoon. Thomas says his brother has been on the boat, just 100m from the main road through Tripoli, for almost 48 hours now, with little information forthcoming from the Foreign Office.
"We have awful visions of him being stuck in Malta until Sunday," Thomas said. "Every time we've rung the FCO they're completely unaware of the ship they're on and the 42 British nationals on board."
Thomas said the Lydon family have booked a commercial flight from Malta to Britain for Benjamin, because "we don't trust the Foreign Office".
The Guardian's transport correspondent Dan Milmo says turmoil in the Middle East is already sending shivers through the vulnerable airline industry, where fuel accounts for a quarter of costs and is an important factor in holding down fares.
Even before Libya erupted, British Airways has increased its fuel surcharge twice in as many months. Today International Airlines Group, the business created by the merger of BA and Spain's Iberia, indicated that expansion plans might be curbed if the oil price surge does not recede. Last week the cost of aviation fuel hit $119 - a rise of 39% over the past year. After the price of brent crude oil leapt close to $120 a barrel yesterday morning, assurances by Saudi Arabia that it would step in to plug any shortfall managed to calm the market somewhat. However, oil was up more than $1 a barrel again today, rising as high as $113.91.
Libya's rebel movement has launched a new push against Gaddafi, Associated Press reports, calling for mass demonstrations in Tripoli today as it seeks to solidify its gains and loosen the longtime leader's grip on the capital.
A Tripoli resident said people in the capital have received messages on their mobile phones urging them to launch demonstrations after Friday prayers, and he said he expected thousands to comply despite fear of pro-Gaddafi militiamen who have been deployed on the streets.
The capital's central Green Square was the site of intense clashes earlier in the week between government supporters and protesters.
The resident said the government detained several activists in Tripoli late on Thursday to try to prevent today's demonstrations from taking place. Among those detained was Mukhtar al-Mahmoudi, a former member of Libya's Muslim Brotherhood, who in the past spent six years in jail, the resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
"Let us make this Friday the Friday of liberation," one of the text messages read, according to the resident.
Signaling continued defiance, Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, vowed his family will "live and die in Libya," according an excerpt from an interview to be aired later today on CNNTurk. Asked about alternatives in the face of growing unrest, Gaddafi said: "Plan A is to live and die in Libya, Plan B is to live and die in Libya, Plan C is to live and die in Libya."
David Cameron has told Britons in Libya to "leave now" and said "we will do everything we can" to help the estimated 170 Brits in the Libyan desert.
Speaking at Number 10 after meetings of the National Security Council and Cobra emergency planning committee, Cameron said:
We will do everything we can today and tomorrow to help those people and planning is under way to do just that.
In the last 24 hours there have been six flights that have left Libya and that is good, and there will be more on the way if necessary.
HMS Cumberland has now come out of Benghazi, bringing many, many British citizens out of Benghazi and we have also helped citizens of 25 other countries.
I have also asked HMS York to go into the area and help out if necessary.
But I would say that people do need to leave now and that is the message that I give very strongly to British citizens in Libya.
For those in the desert, we will do everything we can and we are active on that right now to help get you out.
Our South Asia correspondent Jason Burke says the repercussions of the worsening violence in Libya have reached India.
Reliable reports coming in that the entire Libyan Embassy in New Delhi has defected, issuing a statement that they represent "the people, not the former regime". More soon, when I get my hands on the full statement.
Save the Children has dispatched an "emergency response team" to the Middle East in preparation for a coming refugee crisis caused by the protests and crackdown in Libya, the charity announced today.
In a press release, Save the Children's Middle East regional director El Khidir Daloum said reports that children had been killed in the attacks on demonstrators by Libyan security forces were "deeply disturbing". It fears tens of thousands could be displaced if fighting between forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and protesters intensifies.
Eyewitnesses interviewed by media outlets have said that children were killed in violence in Benghazi, the charity said.
A new video gives an insight into the level of violence that has left many dead since the anti-Gaddafi protests began.
The film, much of it amateur footage, shows the bloody aftermath of the struggle against forces loyal to Gaddafi, with anti-government protesters purportedly seizing control of Tobruk airport.
Warning: contains graphic footage.
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Reuters has just filed an interesting piece from Benghazi. Here are the key points:
• Zawiyah, a coastal town west of Tripoli, is under the control of protesters.
• Prosecutor-general Abdul-Rahman al-Abbar has become the latest senior official to resign and join the opposition.
• Navi Pillay, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said "thousands" may have been killed or injured and called for international intervention to protect civilians.
• Despite calls by text message (see 11.46am) and via Facebook for mass demonstrations in Tripoli today, it seems the capital is still firmly under the control of Gaddafi's troops. Residents say they are staying inside unless forced to search for supplies.
• In Adjabiya, in the east, the army and police have told al-Jazeera that they had withdrawn from their barracks and joined the opposition.
• The cities freed from Gaddafi's control are being ruled by committees of lawyers, doctors, tribal elders and army officers - with little sign of Islamist involvement. Benghazi, the country's second city, is being ruled by a group called the February 17 coalition. One member said the rebels controlled nearly all oil fields east of the key Ras Lanauf terminal, and another said oil deals with foreign firms that were "legal and to the benefit of the Libyan people" would be honoured. But Bank of America Merrill Lynch said crude production in Libya was likely to shut completely and could be lost for a long time.
Reuters also reported on WikiLeaks revelations that "Gaddafi's grip on power could depend in part on the performance around Tripoli of an elite military unit led by one of his younger sons". The news agency reports:
Libya's 32nd Brigade, led by Gaddafi's son Khamees, is the most elite of three last-ditch "regime protection units" totalling about 10,000 men. They are better equipped and more loyal to Gaddafi than the rest of the military, which has seen heavy desertion, officials said.
Britain has been paying bribes to Libyan officials, Nicholas Watt writes.
This morning it was reported the UK had paid bribes to get Britons out of Libya. The Foreign Office strongly denied it had bribed anyone, saying instead it had paid "increased landing charges".
But Nick writes that "senior government figures confirmed that payments had been made – in an apparent breach of strict British government anti-bribery rules".
Sources claim that Britain has been forced to pay higher bribes at Tripoli airport than other countries as punishment for the UK's tough rhetoric against Libya since the violent response to the protests.
However, the Foreign Office strongly denied paying bribes. A spokesman said: "We categorically deny accusations earlier that British officials have paid bribes to Libyan officials. Officials at Tripoli airport charge fees for services, such as aircraft handling. These charges are applied to all countries and carriers seeking to fly in or out of Tripoli airport.
"In the current situation, these fees have increased. Like those countries and carriers, we have had to pay them – the alternative being to leave hundreds of British nationals stranded in Tripoli. Paying charges levied by the authorities at a foreign airport is not bribery."
But other government sources said the increase in the fees referred to in the FCO statement amounted to a bribe. The payment of bribes is strictly forbidden under government guidelines on how to deal with foreign crises. Britain believes that paying bribes can encourage unlawful action against its citizens.
Reuters are reporting that tens of thousands of supporters and opponents of Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh have held rival demonstrations in the capital Sanaa.
Protesters outside Sanaa University are calling for the President to resign, chanting: "The people demand the downfall of the regime."
About 4 km (2 miles) across town, rival loyalists have been shouting support for their leader. "The creator of unity is in our hearts. We will not abandon him," they chanted.
In the city of Taiz, 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital, about 10,000 people staged an anti-government protest.
According to latest reports, 17 people have died in protests in the past 9 days.
An Interior Ministry statement late on Thursday ordered security forces to "raise their security vigilance and take all measures to control any terrorist elements" who might take advantage of the protests to infiltrate Sanaa.
Witnesses said police were present at both demonstrations in Sanaa to prevent either group marching to confront the other.
Outside the university, Saleh's opponents held an auction to raise money for their campaign, selling a car and a watch, which fetched 600,000 riyals ($3,000).
Pro-Saleh loyalists wielding clubs and daggers have often sought to break up opposition protests in Sanaa and elsewhere.
Saleh has said he will not give in to "anarchy and killing".
Tom Finn in Yemen reports an "unprecedented number" of people outside Sana'a university.
I'd say at least 50,000, certainly the biggest the Saleh regime has faced in a decade. Largely peaceful, though at time tense, at one point riot police tried to arrest a protester and had to fire guns into the air to dispel angry protesters. At least 10,000 pro-Saleh supporters are also gathered in Tahreer square in the centre of town where food is being being given out to demonstrators and state media is out in force. Things have quietened down a bit now though are expected to pick up again this evening.
Tom filmed this video of Friday prayers taking place at the university.
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There are reports from Tripoli of militia loyal to Gaddafi firing on anti-Gaddafi protesters. With communications with Libya extremely difficult, the Guardian cannot verify this at the moment. Earlier AP reported that militia loyal to Muammar Gaddafi have fired in the air to try to break up protest marches in the capital, but since then numerous Twitter reports suggest that protesters were actually fired on.
From AP's report:
One witness said protesters demanding Gaddafi's exit marched out of a mosque in central Tripoli on Friday, chanting. He said troops and gunmen in civilian clothes flooded in and fired in the air, sending some protesters running. The witness said he hasn't seen any wounded.
Other residents say gunfire is being heard in other neighbourhoods of the capital as well.
Anti-Gaddafi protesters had called for residents to pour out of mosques following Friday prayer – the first attempt at a major protest since deadly clashes Tuesday. Militia loyal to Gaddafi blocked off mosques and set up checkpoints in the streets this morning.
Earlier the Al Arabiya news station tweeted:
@AlArabiya_Eng #Gaddafi forces open fire on protesters in several areas of capital: witnesses #Libya #alarabiya
While the two-time Pulitzer prize winning journalist Nick Kristof posted:
@NickKristof Lots of accounts now that #Qaddafi forces opened fire 30" ago on protesters in Tripoli, #Libya. Toll uncertain.
The Libyan Youth Movement is filing similar reports on Twitter.
@ShababLibya BREAKING: Confirmed: Gun shots now fired, mass protesters headed to martyrs square, women also part of the protests #Libya #Feb17
More unconfirmed reports of anti-Gaddafi protesters being fired on by the Libyan leader's supporters.
Reuters reports that "at least five people were killed" when security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters, citing a Tripoli resident who asked not to be named.
"Gaddafi forces are shooting at the protesters in Janzour ... Between 5 to 7 protesters are believed to killed in Janzour demonstrations about 15 minutes ago," the resident told Reuters.
The Mutiqa airbase in Libya has announced it has joined the anti-Gaddafi protesters, Al Jazeera is reporting.
My colleague Miriam Elder writes from Moscow, where Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has issued his first official statement on events in Libya, saying Russia is "seriously concerned".
"Russia condemns the use of force against civilians, sanctioned by the leadership of the country," Medvedev said in a statement, according to state news agency RIA-Novosti.
"We call decisively on the current Libyan leadership, all responsible political officials of the country, to use restraint so that the situation does not further worsen to the annihlation of the civilians population. Anything otherwise will be qualified as a crime, with all the consequences of international law that entails."
My colleague James Meikle writes:
The UK has added its condemnation of Libya at the emergency meeting in Geneva of the UN human rights council (see 12.46pm).
Diplomats on the 47-nation council are considering what would be an unprecedented suspension of a member state. Peter Gooderham, Britain's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, said: "We are appalled by the levels of violence unleashed by the Libyan government. The use of military force against civilians and the attacks on funeral processions have caused deep anger throughout the country and across the world.
"We are also deeply disturbed by reports of Libyan planes being ordered to bomb their own people and by Gaddafi's public threats of violence in order to hold on to power ... We have to ask ourselves a serious question: should a state that has such blatant disregard for the right to life be allowed to sit on the human rights council?
Earlier we heard reports that the Mitiga airbase had defected to anti-Gaddafi supporters. Martin Chulov tweets to confirm:
@martinchulov The Mitiga air base is confirmed to have fallen in Tripoli. #Libya. #Ghaddafi. Planes that strafed citizens took off from here.
Ian Black, the Guardian's Middle East editor, gives some context as to how much of a blow this could be for Gaddafi and his supporters:
If Mitiga air base near Tripoli is confirmed as having gone over to the Libyan popular uprising it would be a serious blow for the regime close to the heart of the capital. The military base is adjacent to a civilian airport used for domestic and some short-haul international flights.
Mitiga has figured before at dramatic moments in Libyan history. It was a primary target of the US bombing in 1986 — retaliation for Libyan involvement in alleged terrorist attacks on US servicemen in Europe. Soviet personnel were based the during the cold war. Until shortly after Gaddafi's 1969 revolution June 1970, the US air force used the facility, then known as Wheelus air base.
The Associated Press has just sent this line:
Most senior remaining Libyan diplomat in Geneva quits post in public session.
Photograph: Jack Shenker for the Guardian
Jack Shenker sends this from Cairo, where, America-style, capitalism has grabbed hold of the revolution with both hands.
A few weeks ago, the road from Talaat Harb to Tahrir Square formed the bloody no man's land between pro-change demonstrators and state-backed thugs, both hurling rocks at each other's front lines. Today anyone walking this stretch of downtown Cairo has to run through a very different gauntlet: the endless lines of hawkers peddling their own unique brand of protest kitsch. From T-shirts to facepaints, car license plates to martyrs' pendants, Egypt's revolution has well and truly been merchandised.
China may have tried to restrict its citizens' web access to news about the anti-government uprising in Tahrir, but that hasn't stopped its factories from making a fast buck out of the toppling of Hosni Mubarak. All of the Egyptian flags on sale originate from China, and with many wishing to express solidarity with rebellions in nearby Libya, Yemen and Bahrain, the street vendors are doing a roaring trade in pan-Arab flags as well.
It's worth pointing out that it's not just Cairo's market traders who are jumping on the revolutionary bandwagon: almost every major corporation in the country has launched large billboard advertising campaigns in recent days emblazoned with patriotic slogans congratulating the country's youth on their success and featuring their own brand logo cleverly entwined with Egypt's national colours. Those of a more cynical bent will remember that few of these companies ever spoke up about human rights or political freedoms before – indeed some, including Vodafone Egypt (whose post-revolutionary slogan is "Our power lies in each and every one"), actually helped temporarily prop up Mubarak's dictatorship (in Vodafone's case by cutting off communications networks at the height of the protests and sending Vodafone-labelled pro-Mubarak messages to mobile phones – something which the company insists it had no choice over).
Pro-revolutionary merchandise in Cairo today. Photograph: Jack Shenker for the Guardian
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Six demonstrators have been killed in Iraq on the country's "day of rage", according to Associated Press.
Iraq has experienced its largest anti-government protests so far since demonstrations began in the Middle East.
The news agency said that three people were killed in the northern city of Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, after a crowd tried top break into the city's municipal building.
Three more were killed in Mosul, also in the north of Iraq, when guards opened fire on hundreds of protesters gathered infront of the provincial council building, AP said, quoting police and hospital officials.
There are believed to be some 3,000 people protesting in Baghdad, while there were reports of 4,000 people demonstrated in Basra, Iraw's second largest city.
The entire Libyan mission to the UN in Geneva has quit, reports AP. Its second secretary asked the human rights council – discussing the possible suspension of his country for Gaddafi's war on its citizens – to stand for a moment of silence to "honour this revolution".
Council members gave him a standing ovation for what they called an act of courage. Most of Libya's delegation at the UN in New York abandoned the regime and called on Gaddafi to step down on Monday.
Libya's ambassadors to France and Unesco, the UN's Paris-based educational, scientific and cultural organisation, have also quit and condemned the violence.
Here is footage of Saif Gaddafi's speech earlier saying his family will live and die in Libya (see 11.46am).
The Libyan delegation to the Arab League in Cairo has renounced links to Muammar Gaddafi and said it now represented the will of the people, Reuters is reporting.
"We have joined our people in their legitimate demands for change and the establishment of a democratic system," the Libyan delegation to the Arab League said in a statement, condemning "the heinous crimes against unarmed citizens".
The Libyan delegation to the Arab League has changed its name to "the representative of Libyan people to the Arab League", Ahmed Nassouf, deputy director of protocol, told Reuters.
Here is the latest from Martin Chulov in Benghazi.
Clashes have continued on the outskirts of Tripoli for a third consecutive day as Muammar Gaddafi's loyalists attempt to shore up the capital from a rampant anti-government revolution.
Demonstrators at a large opposition rally in Libya's second city, Benghazi, today received numerous phone calls from frantic relatives in Tripoli who relayed details of ongoing battles nearing the centre of the city.
There were unconfirmed reports today of a major airbase in Tripoli having fallen into opposition hands. If true, it would be a serious blow to the Libyan leader's attempts to cling to power in the capital. In much of the rest of the country, the battle already appears lost.
Opposition activists have been striving to get their hands on military bases and ammunition, seeking to further weaken the regime of the veteran dictator who has already been ousted from eastern Libya and much of the centre of the country …
Benghazi has remained calm since Sunday, with most residents insisting that the last remnants of the dictator's old guard have fled the region. "They can never return," said Khadija Begaigy, who lives in the city. "It is finished for them, and now onwards to Tripoli!"
My colleague John Hooper has news from Tripoli, courtesy of an Italian journalist from the news agency Ansa.
In the party of Italian journalists invited to Libya by the authorities is a correspondent of the news agency Ansa. A short while ago he reported that an "imposing" pro-Gaddafi demonstration was under way:
"7-8,000 people have gathered in Green Square with photos of the Libyan leader and the green flags of the Jamahiriya. Ansa was able to verify this on the spot. The square is being watched over by a small number of police."
Ominously, just a few minutes earlier, the agency filed a dispatch from Rome quoting an eyewitness in Tripoli as saying that Green Square was also the destination of an anti-Gaddafi protest.
Ansa's correspondent earlier watched as police dispersed a protest in the centre of Tripoli."Shortly after the end of prayers, about 200 demonstrators gathered in front of the mosque in Algeria Square and began shouting Islamic and anti-Gaddafi slogans. Police in uniform and militiamen in plainclothes immediately surrounded the area and numerous shots were heard, though it was unclear whether they were in the air or aimed at the demonstrators."
One of the protesters managed to reach the party of Italian journalists and told them that "demonstrations like that were planned at all the mosques in the capital."
More eyewitness reports from Tripoli. Here's an Audioboo recording, with English translation, from a protester in the Libyan capital. "We were alarmed when we were met with live ammunition in the street," the unnamed protester says. "We dispersed, and there was some back and forth between us and the security forces and then they shot tear gas at us, but thank god, the bullets didn't hit anyone."
The man says protests are heading to Green Square.
Photograph: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP/Getty Images
Protests have rocked Iraq too today, as we reported earlier (see 3.30pm).
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush was arrested in Baghdad yesterday, my colleague Mona Mahmoud reports.
Muntadar Al-Zaidi (above left) arrived from Baghdad from Beirut on Monday to take part in today's "day of rage" demonstration against the Iraqi government, and had been due to hold a press conference in Abu Haifa mosque in Adhamiyia, north Baghdad, a stronghold for Iraqi Sunni resistance.
According to the Al-Zaidi charity organisation spokesman Hussein Al-Rubaiee, Al-Zaidi was welcomed as a hero with people gathering around him, hugging and kissing him and saluting him for what they saw as his brave act against Bush in 2008. People were chanting "Muntadher took revenge to our martyr sons of Bush" and "May God keep you safe."
Al-Zaidi was supposed to hold his conference in one of the coffee shops in Adhamiyia but was prevented from doing so by security forces.He was later arrested by a large group of police and taken away.
Al-Zaidi, 31, was a correspondent for Iraqi local satellite Al-Baghdadiyia before throwing his shoes at the then-US president and shouting: "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog" while Bush was holding a press conference with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Al-Malki in Baghdad in December 2008. He was jailed for nine months and tortured by Iraqi forces.
He took refuge in Lebanon where he now works as news editor for Al-Tajdid satellite TV in Beirut.
Rowenna Davis is following around 200 protesters as they march from the Bahraini embassy, past the Libyan embassy, to Downing Street.
She says there is a passionate atmosphere among a mixed crowd, waving banners with anti-Gaddafi sentiments.
In the audio Rowenna reports that there is no visible counter-demo – predictably as soon as we had finished recording one turned up.
Rowenna tweets with a picture:
Counter anti-democracy demonstration in Wilton Place "Sharia for Libya!" Only about 10 of them. http://yfrog.com/h22ujocaj
Giles Tremlett emails with a curious side-effect of the Libyan protests: Spain is to lower motorway speed limits, cut train ticket prices and use more biofuel under an emergency energy-saving initiative because of soaring oil prices brought on by unrest in Libya.
Reuters reports that an aircraft chartered by the Canadian government left Tripoli empty on Friday after no Canadians or citizens from other western countries were waiting at the airport, a government spokeswoman said.
Gaddafi is addressing crowds live in Green Square.
"We will continue to fight. We will defeat them. We will die here on Libyan soil," he says.
"Life without dignity is hopeless," Gaddafi says. He appeared at the top of a wall beside the square. The crowd massed there appear to be all Gaddafi supporters, waving green flags and chanting.
"You the youth, dance, sing, stay up all night, live a life of dignity," the Libyan leader orders, gesticulating enthusiastically.
"Dance and sing, joy and rejoice."
The pictures are from Libyan state TV. The cameraman self-consciously just focused on a clock, presumably in a bid to prove the images are live.
Here's a translation of some of Muammar Gaddafi's Green Square remarks, courtesy of Jan25voices, one of the Egyptian pro-democracy campaign groups. The embattled Libyan leader said:
I came today to greet you, all of you, and to be with you in Green Square. I am not a president but I came to support the Libyan people who defeated the Italians, grandchildren of Omar Mokhtar.
He went on to praise the revolution that brought him to power:
This revolution that made Italy apologise to Libya, and that made Libya the leader not only to the third world but the whole world.
He also said: "If my people and the Arab people don't love Gaddafi I don't deserve to live." As the UN security council prepares to meet in New York, he warned: "We will defeat any outside intervention like we did before."
Our diplomatic editor, Julian Borger, reports that at the United Nations security council in New York, the British and French delegations are drafting a strong resolution under chapter seven provisions, which would identify the situation in Libya as "a threat to peace" and make the measures mandatory. He says:
The measures proposed in the draft are strictly non-military - targeted sanctions, including an asset freeze, aimed at Gaddafi and his family, and an arms embargo. They will stop short of ordering a no-fly zone over Libya, because of doubts over whether it would be enforceable but mostly because the Russian and Chinese delegations on the security council would not support it.
The wording of the resolution will be published later this evening, which will be followed by discussions over the weekend. It's unlikely there would be a vote before next week, though. The wheels of UN diplomacy grind slowly.
In a sign of the worsening situation in Tripoli the US is considering closing its embassy in the capital amid violence between Gaddifi supporters and anti-government protesters, a US official has told Reuters.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the move was being considered but no decision had been made.
The BBC's John Simpson has interviewed the former Libyan interior minister Abdul Fattah Younis al-Abidi, who resigned on Tuesday and went over to the opposition. In an extract of the interview, which has just been broadcast, he called on Gaddafi to resign. Simpson added that the former minister told him that Gaddafi was "probably insane" and thought that he would last more than a few days. Simpson reporter the former minister as predicting Gaddafi would not commit suicide, but would instead go down fighting, which would be a "form of suicide".
Abdul Fattah Younis al-Abidi was one of Gaddafi's closest aides - probably the minister closest to him. He also told Simpson that he believed Gaddafi ordered the Lockerbie bombing personally.
Here is an evening summary.
• Muammar Gaddafi has appeared in Tripoli's Green Square to address supporters. The embattled Libyan leader told the crowds: "We will continue to fight. We will defeat them. We will die here on Libyan soil." (See 4.54pm.) Earlier Gaddafi's son Saif vowed his family will "live and die in Libya".
• The entire Libyan mission to the UN in Geneva has quit, its second secretary calling for a moment of silence to "honour this revolution" (see 3.32pm). Most of Libya's delegation to the UN in New York had already abandoned the regime. The Libyan delegation to the Arab League in Cairo has renounced Gaddafi and condemned his attack on "unarmed citizens" (see 3.41pm). Libya's ambassadors to France and Unesco quit and condemned the violence. Prosecutor-general Abdul-Rahman al-Abbar became the latest senior official to resign and join the opposition.
• There are reports of troops firing on protesters in Tripoli (see 4.11pm and 4pm). There were unconfirmed reports of a major airbase in the capital falling into opposition hands (see 3.58pm), a potentially crushing blow for Gaddafi.
• In much of the rest of the country, Gaddafi seems to have lost power and the Libyan leader's forces have been driven out. "They can never return," one resident of Benghazi told the Guardian's Martin Chulov there. Zawiyah, a coastal town west of Tripoli, is under the control of protesters. In Adjabiya, in the east, the army and police have told al-Jazeera that they had withdrawn from their barracks and joined the opposition. The cities freed from Gaddafi's control are being ruled by committees of lawyers, doctors, tribal elders and army officers – with little sign of Islamist involvement.
• Britain has been paying bribes to Libyan officials to get its citizens out of the country (see 12.51pm). Its rescue operation has been much criticised.
Muammar Gaddafi addresses his supporters in Tripoli's Green Square this evening. Photograph: Reuters
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John Hooper sends news from Tripoli that contrary to earlier reports the huge Mitiga airport is still in government hands. Ansa's correspondent in Tripoli has visited the airport and reports that it was "surrounded by soldiers and police".
Mitiga includes the Okba Ben Nafi air base, which was operated by the Americans and known as Wheelus before independence. But it is also a civilian airport with both internal and some international connections.
This live blog will now end and my colleague Richard Adams will take over here.