Good morning and welcome to the Guardian's live blog of the thirteenth day of turmoil in Libya where, Muammar Gaddafi's regime is clinging on despite international condemnation at the UN and moves to form an interim government in the east.
Here are the main developments overnight and so far this morning.
Foreign Office revokes diplomatic immunity of Gaddafi and his family, as Foreign Secretary William Hague urges the Libyan leader to step down.
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More than 150 workers rescued from the Libyan desert as two RAF Hercules aircraft – backed by the SAS – pulled off a high-risk evacuation of British and other citizens. Some 200 to 380 Britons remain.
The UN Security Council last night voted unanimously to impose sanctions on Libya. It has imposed an arms embargo and asset freeze while referring Gaddafi to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.
The Gaddafi is showing western journalists round the Tripoli area as it tries to portray to the world that it is still in control of at least the capital.
The Libyan regime is doing its best to show that it retains some semblance of control in the Tripoli area at least, so it has flown in a number of international journalists into the country, including the Observer's Peter Beaumont. I spoke to him a few moments ago as he is being taken to a town 30 kilometres from Tripoli where the opposition is said to control. (Turn off auto-refresh button at the top to listen).
We arrived last night to chaotic scenes at the airport, there's a lot of people trying to flee, people sleeping on rugs outside. In fact at the hotel most of the staff have fled and that goes for some of the other big hotels... We're here at the invitation of the Libyan government to show that Tripoli is safe and not as bad as reported. The traffic is moving freely and it is relatively calm, but there are queues for food and there are queues for banks...
Peter Beaumont has just phoned in with news that has come straight from Catch-22. In the Audioboo, he told me me Libyan minders were taking him to the town of Zawiyah, presumably to show that it's still under government control. That has not turned out to be the case as Peter has been busy interviewing rebel forces who have taken over the town. He can confirm that Zawiyah, some 30 miles from Tripoli is under rebel control. The people he talked to in the town centre said they are now under "Benghazi government" control. In the background there are people chanting "Down with Gaddafi" and "We want change". So the regime's PR campaign has got off to a shaky start to say the least as the minders have taken foreign journalists to a town in rebel hands. Pity those minders, not exactly what the regime had in mind.
Mourners protest against the regime at the funeral of an anti-govenment protester who was killed on Friday in the Tajoura district of eastern Tripoli.
Mourners protest against the regime at the funeral of an anti-govenrment protester who was killed on Friday in the Tajoura district of eastern Tripoli, Libya. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP
My colleague James Meikle has the latest on the attempts to rescue British oil workers stranded in remote camps in the Libyan desert.
Up to 380 Britons are thought to still be in Libya as a navy frigate returned to rebel-held Benghazi to rescue more of those trapped for days by the revolution. Oil workers from many countries were travelling in buses from desert sites towards the coast as Foreign Office officials appealed for trapped UK citizens who had not made contact and those who had already fled the country without government assistance to let them know.
Anti-government protests have now spread to Oman, which Reuters describes as a normally sleepy gulf state. Al-Jazzera reports that two people have been killed in demonstrations today. Here is an extract from the Reuters despatch.
Omani police fired tear gas on at stone-throwing protesters in the industrial city of Sohar who were demanding political reforms as regional Arab unrest spread to the Gulf sultanate, witnesses said.
"There is a big demonstration and there are clashes between protesters and police," said one witness, who gave his name only as Mohammed, adding the police were using tear gas and batons to disperse protesters who gathered in a main square.
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, trying to ease tensions in the normally sleepy Gulf Arab state, reshuffled his cabinet on Saturday, changing six ministers a week after an earlier protest in the capital Muscat calling for political reform. Witnesses said at least 1,000 protesters had gathered for a second straight day in Sohar on Sunday before clashes erupted. Protests were also taking place in the southern town of Salalah where demonstrators have been camped out since Friday near the office of a provincial governor.
Here is the audio with Peter Beaumont from Zawiyah, only about 30 miles from Tripoli. If this government-sponsored trip is supposed to show that the regime has some semblance of control, it has backfired spectacularly. The noose seems to be tightening around Gaddafi, although Peter points out that he seems intent on fighting to the last.
Libyan fighters patrol a street in Benghazi, which is emerging as the alternative government centre to Tripoli.
Libyan fighters patrol a street in Benghazi. Photograph: Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images
Further confirmation - if needed - that Zawiyah is in rebel hands. This from Reuters.
Armed men opposed to the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are in control of the city of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital Tripoli, a Reuters reporter in the town said. The red, green and black flag of Libya's anti-Gaddafi rebellion was flying from a building in the centre of the town and a crowd of several hundred people was chanting "This is our revolution," the reporter said.
Apologies for the technical problems on the last Audioboo, where Peter Beaumont's voice has not come through. We'll try and sort this out.
The Associated Press is reporting at least one death in Oman, where security forces clashed with hundreds of protesters demanding political reforms.
Witnesses say police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters Sunday in Sohar, about 120 miles (200 kilometres) northwest of the capital Muscat. The police official says at least one person was killed in the clashes.
Reuters has more from Zawiyah, a town only 30 miles from Tripoli, now in opposition hands.
The red, green and black flag of Libya's anti-Gaddafi rebellion was flying from a building in the town centre and a crowd of several hundred people was chanting "This is our revolution."
One man in the centre, called Mustafa, said seven people were killed in the latest clashes with pro-Gaddafi security forces and many more were wounded.
"But Zawiyah is free like Misrata and Benghazi. Gaddafi is crazy. His people shot at us using rocket-propelled grenades," Mustafa said.
Another man, called Chawki, said: "We need justice. People are being killed. Gaddafi's people shot my nephew."
"We need help from outside. We will never use force or harm anyone. We just want our civil rights...He (Gaddafi) has to go. There is no other way."
The town bore the marks of heavy fighting, with buildings in the centre burnt and pockmarked with bullet holes, and burned-out vehicles left in the streets.
As I'm having trouble with Audioboo, I'm going to have to convey what Peter Beaumont told me the old-fashioned way. Here's what he just said.
We've just come from a mosque which has been turned into a makeshift first-aid post. It is more or less agreed that 24 people were killed in the fighting. While the town is in rebel hands, the outlying areas are in the hands of the Libyan military and they are not letting villagers in to join the opposition. We saw two young captured Chadian-Libyan soldiers. They are 17, obviously very frightened, but they are being treated very well and word is being sent to their parents to come and fetch them. The rebels have a lot of heavy equipment and if the government troops try and retake the town, it will be quite a bloody confrontation. When I said to our minders that I was baffled that they should take us to a rebel-held town, they said: "We don't want you to think we're hiding anything."
The Foreign Office has issued this statement. It is basically saying this will be the last boat from Benghazi.
HMS Cumberland will be leaving Benghazi at 1500 (Libya time) on Sunday 27 February. All British nationals who are in or close to Benghazi are advised to make their way to the port immediately. At the port, make contact with the British Warden. Alternatively, when the boat is alongside, make yourself known to the Foreign Office officials who are travelling with the boat. There are no immediate plans for further assisted departures from Benghazi.
Here's a lunchtime summary.
Anti-Gaddafi forces have seized control of Zawiyah, a town 30 miles west of the capital Tripoli. The red, green and black flag of Libya's anti-Gaddafi rebellion is flying from a building in the town centre. Doctors say at least 24 people died in the fighting. Libyan government troops still control outlying areas.
The Foreign Office believes "very few" Britons remain in the capital Tripoli and second city Benghazi - where HMS Cumberland returns today to pick up any more evacuees. But upwards of 300 are thought still to be in remote desert oil areas - with fresh military-based rescue missions thought to be planned.
One or two people thought to be dead in the Omani town of Sohar after police clashed with more than 2,000 protesters demanding reforms in the gulf Arab state.
Egypt's ruling military council plans to hold a snap referendum next month on constitutional amendments, says a lawyer who helped draft them.
The UN security council unanimously imposed travel and asset sanctions on Gaddafi and close aides. It also adopted an arms embargo and called for the possible prosecution of anyone responsible for killing civilians.
AP has been in Zawiyah as well. It reports that anti-government forces appear to be bracing themselves for an expected offensive by Gaddafi troops.
An Associated Press reporter who reached Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli, confirmed the anti-government rebels are in control of the centre of the city of 200,000. They have army tanks and anti-aircraft guns mounted on pickup trucks deployed. But on the outskirts, they are surrounded by pro-Gaddafi forces.
There were at least six checkpoints controlled by troops loyal to Gaddafi on the road from Tripoli to Zawiyah. Each checkpoint was reinforced by at least one tank, and the troops concealed their faces with scarves.
Zawiyah, a key city close to an oil port and refineries, is the nearest population centre to Tripoli to fall into the opposition hands. Police stations and government offices inside the city have been torched and anti-Gaddafi graffiti was everywhere. Many buildings are pockmarked by bullets.
The charred skeletons of many cars littered the city and most streets were blocked by palm tree trunks or metal barricades. "Free, Free Libya," chanted members of the anti-government forces at the city centre.
Gadaffi loyalists remain in control of nearby Tripoli, which was reported to be quiet early Sunday, with most stores closed and long lines outside the few banks open for business. Traffic in the city was close to its normal levels.
The Foreign Office says Turkish boats will be arriving in Libya tomorrow. Two are due to arrive in Tripoli at 0900 local (0700 GMT), one at Ras Lanouf at 0400 local (0200 GMT) and one at Misratah at 0200 local (0000 GMT).
"British nationals wishing to leave Libya on these boats should make themselves known to the Turkish officials at the relevant ports on arrival," says the FO.
The Italian foreign minister thinks Gaddafi is finished. "We have reached, I believe, a point of no return," Frattini told Sky Italia television. Asked whether Gaddafi should leave power, he said: "It is inevitable for this to happen." Italy has the closest ties to Libya among EU countries, but Frattini says a friendship and cooperation treaty between Libya and Italy was "de facto suspended".
A rebel army officer teaches the use of a AK-47 to civilians who have volunteered to join the rebel army in Benghazi.
Photograph: Suhaib Salem/Reuters
I've been in touch with Peter Beaumont again, who has been taken to a pro-government demonstration - the stuff the Gaddafi regime wants foreign journalists to see. But as he tells me, the message the regime wants to get out - that things aren't as bad as reported - backfired spectacularly when foreign journalists saw with their owns eyes the city of Zawiyah clearly under control of the opposition. (Turn off the auto-refresh button to listen to the audio.)
Noel, a Filipino male nurse, has called from Misurata (also spelled Misratah), Libya's third city, 130 miles east of Tripoli on coast. He says the centre is now in the hands of the opposition after gun battles broke out between rebels and government forces on Friday, especially near the airport. He says fellow Filipinos and other nationals, about 1,000, are now desperate to get out, and are anxious to get on the Turkish boats heading over to Libya to evacuate foreign nationals. "We are afraid to go out and food supplies are running low,' says Noel. He is hoping that the Turkish ship heading to Misurata will take all foreign nationals.
Some clarification from anti-Gaddafi forces in Benghazi, where the revolt began, on that interim government. They say the National Libyan Council they have formed is not an interim government but the "face of the revolution". At a news conference, they said an interim government announced by the former justice minister was his own "personal view". Reuters reports that a spokesman for the new council said he saw no room for any negotiation with Gaddafi's government. One of Gaddafi's son's, Saif al-Islam, has offered to start talks with the opposition.
Despite the successful rescue of British oil workers by British special forces, the Labour opposition is not about to let the government off the hook. The shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, is calling on David Cameron to come to the parliament tomorrow to do some explaining.
"I am calling on David Cameron to come to the House of Commons on Monday, not just to explain why the Foreign Office got its evacuation plan so badly wrong at the start but how Britain can be a leader and not a follower in the efforts to increase the pressure on Gaddafi to stand down."
AP has just reported that Tunisia's prime minister has announced his resignation on state television.
A bit more on the resignation of the Tunisian prime minister from AP.
Tunisian Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi has announced his resignation after a renewed outbreak of street violence in the North African country in the past few days.
Ghannouchi was a longtime ally of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and had pledged to guide the country until elections can be held this summer. Ben Ali fled the country on Jan. 14 amid massive protests.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi has given an interview to ABC News' Christiane Amanpour, insisting that much of Libya is calm.
"The whole south is calm. The west is calm. The middle is calm. Even part of the east," he said. His remarks bring to mind those of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahha, Saddam Hussein's information minister, who said there were no US forces near Baghdad even as US tanks wended their way into the city.
The Foreign Office is tweeting on where to get on planes or ships to get out of Libya.
#Libya We're aware of a German Ferry service CO Ferrostall is now boarding from Rasnaluf Brits may be able to board 00218928073973
#Libya We're aware of an Italian C130 aircraft leaving Tripoli airport in approx 1 hour with capacity for British nationals
You can see lots of photographs of happy anti-Gaddafi protesters in Benghazi on this Facebook page of the Libyan Youth Movement, an opposition group.
Here's a spoof video of Gaddafi, putting parts of his 75-minute speech on Tuesday to music, complete with dancing girls.
Our picture desk has put together this photo gallery. It includes one of rebel fighters resting in a hotel lobby in Benghazi, not dissimilar to pictures of Cuban rebels resting in hotels in Havana after they drove out Fulgencio Batista.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, is on her way to Geneva for talks on Libya. Before leaving she told reporters: "We are reaching out to many different Libyans in the east as the revolution moves westward there as well ... It is too soon to see how this is going to play out."
In Iran, anti-government protests ended very differently to those in Egypt and Tunisia and opposition leaders there continue to have a hard time. Reuters is reporting that Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have been moved secretly from their homes where they had been under virtual house arrest for calling on supporters to protest against the government.
Gaddafi is trying to buy popular support - literally. This picture show people registering at a branch of BNP Paribas bank for a sum of 500 dinars (approximately £248) per family unit, promised by the government in Tripoli.
People gather around a clerk while trying to register at a branch of BNP Paribas bank for a sum of 500 dinars (approximately $400) per family unit, promised by the government in Tripoli. Photograph: Chris Helgren/Reuters
Our graphics team has put together this interactive map showing how the net is closing in on Gaddafi as more of towns and cities fall into rebel hands.
The Obama administration muted its criticism of Muammar Gaddafi earlier on for fear of sparking a hostage crisis, writes the Guardian's Dominic Rushe in New York.
Last week Obama called the bloodshed "outrageous" and "unacceptable." "So are threats and orders to shoot peaceful protesters and further punish the people of Libya," said Obama. But his earlier statements on the crisis, while condemning violence, avoided direct criticism of Gaddafi.
US officials told the Washington Post that administration officials were concerned that "certain kinds of messaging from the American government could endanger the security of American citizens" and that Americans could be taken hostage.
The American embassy in Tripoli and other diplomatic posts were guarded by Libyans, not the US marines usually posted outside US embassies. Officials warned the president that staff were vulnerable to abduction or worse and that aggressive language could worsen their situation.
"Overruling that kind of advice would be a very difficult and dangerous thing to do," Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, told the Post. "Frankly we erred on the side of caution, for certain, and at the cost of some criticism. But when you're sitting in government and you're told that ignoring that advice could endanger American citizens, that's a line you don't feel very comfortable crossing."
An estimated 6,000 US citizens were registered at the embassy in Tripoli and the US has recommended they leave immediately. The US chartered aircraft and a ferry last week to evacuate their citizens and other nationalities. The ferry had been delayed by bad weather.
Obama's political opponents were quick to attack his delay in criticising Gadaffi. Sarah Palin, former Alaskan governor and potential 2012 presidential candidate, said on her Facebook page: "There was a statement on the horrible earthquake in New Zealand, and certainly our hearts go out to all those affected by this horrible natural disaster, But nothing on the slaughter in Libya?"
Pictures are now coming in from the city of Zawiyah, from where Peter Beaumont spoke to me earlier on. It's only 30 miles from Tripoli but has fallen into rebel hands although pro-Gaddafi forces do control the outlying areas. Here is a picture of a Libyan army tank surrounded by protesters.
A Libyan army tank is surrounded by protesters in the city of Zawiya Photograph: Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters
Miriam Elder in Moscow has just filed about the latest desertion to hit Muammar Gaddafi - his voluptuous Ukrainian nurse.
Galyna Kolotnytska arrived in Kiev early Sunday on a Ukrainian defence ministry aircraft that evacuated 185 people from the country, Ukraine's Segodnya newspaper reported.
Kolotnytska, 38, was described in US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks in December as a "voluptuous blonde" that acted as one of the eccentric Libyan leader's closest confidantes and possible lover.
"Libyan protocol staff emphasised to multiple Emboffs [embassy officials] that Gaddafi cannot travel without Kolotnytska, as she alone 'knows his routine'," read the 2009 cable from Gene Cretz, the US ambassador to Libya. He reported rumours that Gaddafi and Kolotnytska, one of four Ukrainian nurses who serve him, might be romantically involved. Cretz was pulled from the country after the document's release.
Kolotnytska's daughter Tatyana told Segodnya that before quitting Tripoli, her mother sounded calm amid growing unrest. "She told about what's happening now in Tripoli. There is shooting, fights," she said. "She spoke in a calm voice, and asked that we don't worry, that she would be home soon."
Segodnya released a photograph of the nurse, showing a smiling rosy-cheeked woman, her shoulder-length blonde hair held back by sunglasses. Kolotnytska's daughter said her mother had been working in Libya for nine years, as one of several Ukrainian nurses serving Gaddafi. "For some reason, he doesn't trust Libyan women with that," she said.
The French foreign minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, has resigned after mishandling the crisis in Tunisia. "I ask you to accept my resignation," Alliot-Marie wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by Reuters. President Nicolas Sarkozy, due to make a televised address later today, is expected to replace her with the defence minister, Alain Juppe, a veteran conservative who served as prime minister and foreign minister in the 1990s.
Germany has rescued 132 people from the Libyan desert during a secret military mission. Guido Westerwelle, the foreign minister, said two German military planes landed Saturday at a runway in the Libyan desert that belongs to a private German company Wintershall. He said 22 Germans were among those evacuated and the planes landed safely on Crete later Saturday night. Westerwelle said around 100 German citizens are still in Libya and the government is trying to get them out as quickly as possible.
Jack Shenker, who covered the protests in Tahrir square for the Guardian, has the latest on on the post-Mubarak era. Here's a snippet from his piece.
Egypt's ruling generals have unveiled a package of far-reaching constitutional reforms, following mounting criticism of the way in which the military is handling the country's post-Mubarak transition period. A committee of legal experts appointed by the interim government has proposed changes to eight articles of the Egyptian constitution, which will be put to a national referendum next month. The amendments would create new term limits on the presidency, make it easier for Egyptians to run for president, ensure stronger judicial oversight of elections, and restrict the government's power to maintain emergency laws – all ahead of a general election expected later this year. Committee member Sobhi Saleh, a lawyer who has previously represented the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement in parliament, described the amendments as a historic achievement. "I am very satisfied," he said.
A tweet from the Libyan Youth Movement, but unconfirmed.
BREAKING: The Broadcast station in Misrata providing information on behalf of the protesters is under attack from the air #Libya #Feb17
LibyanYouthMovement
ShababLibya
In Jordan, promises of reform are not going down well with the opposition. This from AP.
Prime minister Marouf al-Bakhit, appointed by the king earlier this month, said he is serious about reforms. "I'm not opting for a temporary containment policy, but real reform is a gradual process," he said.
The prime minister said he needs time for a public dialogue about new legislation.
However, Islamist opposition leader Zaki Bani Ersheid said al-Bakhit's speech was "pathetic, disappointing and frustrating.""Reform isn't gradual and won't take a year. It must be immediate and I mean within one month at the latest," said Bani Ersheid of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, Jordan's largest opposition group.
"We're not willing to take promises anymore," he said. "It's not only laws that must be amended, but there must also be constitutional changes that would allow for the prime minister and the cabinet to be elected."
Here is an evening summary
Anti-government forces control the city of Zawiyah, only 30 miles from Tripoli. They have tanks and anti-aircraft guns mounted on pick-up trucks. But pro-Gaddafi forces control the outlying areas.
The Tunisian prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, has resigned after a renewed outbreak of in the past few days. Ghannouchi, an ally of the ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali had pledged to guide the country until elections can be held this summer.
Omani security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters demanding political reforms, killing at least one person. The clashes mark a significant escalation in two days of protests in Oman, a gulf state thought to be trouble-free.
Britain revokes diplomatic immunity of Muammar Gaddafi and his family and calls on the Libyan leader to step down.
Turkish boats will be arriving in Libya tomorrow. Two are due to arrive in Tripoli at 0900 local (0700 GMT), one at Ras Lanouf at 0400 local (0200 GMT) and one at Misurata at 0200 local (0000 GMT) to evacuate foreign nationals.
Venezuela's top diplomat has called for a peaceful dialogue between supporters of Gaddafi and the growing opposition movement.
Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said: "We hope they know how to find the paths toward national dialogue, that they know how find the paths toward national reconciliation."
Details of another secret military rescue mission in the Libyan desert have emerged. The German foreign minister says the country's air force evacuated 132 people from the desert on Saturday when two planes landed on a private runway belonging to the Wintershall AG company and evacuated 22 Germans and 112 others.
Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle told AP planes took the workers to the Greek island of Crete. Another 18 German citizens were rescued by the British military in a separate military operation Saturday that targeted remote oil installations in the Libyan desert, Westerwelle said.
Around 100 other German citizens were still in Libya and the government was trying to get them out as quickly as possible, he added.
"I want to thank the members of the Germany military for their brave mission," Westerwelle said.
The German foreign ministry refused to name the exact location location of the company and the site where the evacuation took place.
The German mission was similar to a secret raid by British Special Forces that plucked 150 oil workers from the remote Libyan desert.
The British government has frozen the UK-held assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and members of his family with immediate effect, Chancellor George Osborne said.
We are expecting the full story from my colleague Nicholas Watt shortly.
Gaddafi has given a new interview according to Reuters. However his defiant message appears to be unchanged.
Talking to Serbian television he vows to stay in Libya and blames foreigners and al-Qaida for the unrest that is threatening his 41-year rule.
The interview has yet to be broadcast but journalists at the Pink station in Belgrade said it was conducted via phone with Gaddafi at his office in Tripoli.
During the interview the Libyan leader condemns the United Nations security council for imposing sanctions and launching a war crimes inquiry -- the council, Gaddafi said, could not see Tripoli was secure.
Here is more from Nicholas Watt on the British government's decision to freeze UK-held assets of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Britain froze the assets of Muammar Gaddafi and his five children on Sunday evening at an emergency meeting of the Privy Council at Windsor Castle presided over by the Queen.
As £900m of Libyan currency was impounded in Britain in a separate cloak and dagger operation, the chancellor George Osborne acted to freeze Gaddafi's assets amid reports that the Libyan leader moved £3bn to Britain last week.
Ministers, who announced earlier in the day that they had stripped Gaddafi and his family of their diplomatic immunity in Britain, froze the Libyan leader's assets at a special meeting of the Privy Council at 5.15pm on Sunday.
The meeting approved an Order in Council which froze the assets of Col Gaddafi; his son Saif al-Islam, who is a well known figure in Lord Mandelson's social circles; the Libyan leader's three other sons, Hannibal Muammar, Khamis Muammar, Mutassim; and his daughter Aisha Muammar. Britain moved after The Times reported on Saturday that Gaddafi had deposited £3m with a Mayfair-based private wealth manager last week.
The chancellor said: "I have today taken action to freeze the assets in the UK of Col Gaddafi and his family or those acting on their behalf so that they cannot be used against the interests of the Libyan people. This follows the UN Security Council Resolution tabled by the UK and France. I decided to implement this UN resolution in the UK as quickly as possible, before the financial markets reopened. This is a strong message for the Libyan regime that violence against its own people is not acceptable."
A few more details of the interview Gaddafi has given to Serbian television have emerged.
During the phone interview, that journalists at the Pink station in Belgrade said was conducted via phone, Gaddafi said:
• "The UN is not allowed to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries, unless a country is attacking another state."
• The UN was "making decisions on the basis of news reports" and said a UN commission should investigate the situation in Libya.
• "The people of Libya support me. Small groups of rebels are surrounded and will be dealt with."
• "Military and police traded fire with those individuals, those bands but few people were killed." He denied there was any fighting going on, saying: "Currently there are no incidents, Libya is absolutely peaceful."
Gaddafi repeated that he would not quit his country: "I am here, I am not leaving."
Here is a quick round-up of burgeoning protest movements - and subsequent crackdowns - in Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
My colleague John Hooper has been in touch to say there has been a second successful rescue mission involving three RAF Hercules that have picked up 150 civilians from the Libyan desert and brought them back to Malta.
John Hooper has also pointed us in the direction of this story that has just landed on Reuters.
A Libyan Arab Airlines plane refused permission to land in Malta this week was carrying pilots to fly back to Libya two fighter jets flown to the island by defecting pilots, Malta's premier said on Sunday.
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi told a press conference that Malta had rejected a Libyan government request to return the Mirage fighter jets, flown to Malta last Monday. They remain under armed guard at Malta airport.
The pilots, both colonels, told authorities in Malta they and been ordered to bomb demonstrators protesting against the 41-year rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
They have sought political asylum and their request is under consideration, Maltese officials said.
A general in eastern Libya who has mutinied against Gaddafi has told Reuters that his forces stood ready to help rebels fighting in Tripoli if called on to do so, but he rejected any need for foreign assistance.
"Our brothers in Tripoli say: 'We are fine so far, we do not need help'. If they ask for help we are ready to move," said General Ahmed el-Gatrani, one of most senior figures in the army in Benghazi which is supporting the anti-Gaddafi movement.
Our correspondent Martin Chulov, who is in eastern Libya, will have more on this in his report due to go online soon.
Here are some more details on the latest RAF rescue mission from my Nicholas Watt.
SAS troops were involved in a highly complex operation on Sunday
involving three RAF C130 Hercules aircraft to evacuate 150 people,
including a large number of British citizens, from the desert in
eastern Libyan.
The three aircraft, which landed in the Maltese capita Valletta on
Sunday evening, landed in numerous locations as the SAS continued its
mission to evacuate oil workers scattered across the Libyan desert.
The Hercules, with SAS forces on board, all took off from Valletta at
the same time. They then flew to separate parts of the eastern desert
to pick up stranded oil workers of all nationalities. The Hercules,
which flew without the permission of the Libyan authorities, made
multiple landings in the desert before heading back to Valetta.
Here is a summary of the latest developments.
• Groups of revolutionaries are starting to move towards western Libya in an attempt to link up with opposition militias near Tripoli, setting the stage for a final assault on the capital – perhaps within weeks.
• A general in eastern Libya who has sided with anti-Gaddafi forces has told Reuters his forces stood ready to help rebels fighting in Tripoli if called on, but he rejected any need for foreign assistance.
• The RAF backed by British special forces have carried out a second successful rescue mission picking up 150 civilians from the Libyan desert and bringing them back to Malta.
•Chancellor George Osborne has announced that the British government has frozen the UK-held assets of Gaddafi and members of his family with immediate effect.
• Gaddafi has given a new interview in which he reiterated his defiant message, vowing to stay in Libya and again blaming foreigners and al-Qaida for stirring up the opposition movement.
This live blog is being wrapped up now. Extensive coverage of the situation in Libya will continue at the guardian.co.uk