Good morning, welcome to rolling coverage of events in Libya and throughout the Middle East and north Africa. Here's a summary of the latest developments.
• Two explosions have rocked Tripoli this morning. One appeared to be a tanker on the bridge near the Rixos hotel and the other was towards the coast. A witness suggested on Twitter that the former was the result of a traffic accident but it will heighten nervousness in the capital, one of Muammar Gaddafi's few remaining strongholds.
• Forces loyal to Gaddafi have retaken at least two towns near the capital, according to the Associated Press. One of those apparently retaken was the strategic mountain town of Gharyan, the largest in the Nafusa Mountains.
• Two US warships are on their way to the Mediterranean but the prospect of western military action has receded after the Obama administration publicly distanced itself from David Cameron's suggestion that Nato should establish a no-fly zone over the country and that rebel forces should be armed.
• Libya has been suspended from the UN human rights council after a unanimous vote by the UN general assembly. UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said the decision, along with the rights panel's decision to set up an inquiry to investigate human rights abuses in Libya and the security council's referral of Libya to the international criminal court showed "that those who commit crimes against humanity will be punished, that fundamental principles of justice and accountability shall prevail".
• Fears are mounting of a humanitarian crisis at Libya's border with Tunisia after a stark warning from the UN high commissioner for refugees. The UNHCR said 140,000 people have fled Libya – half crossing into Egypt, and half into Tunisia. There is a backlog of 20,000 people on the Libya side of the border with Tunisia, according to the UNHCR
Marsa El Brega, about 200km south-west of Benghazi, and Gharyan and Sabratha, both near Tripoli, have all apparently been retaken by Gaddafi forces. The Associated Press has a report on events in Gharyan and Sabratha:
Gaddafi's regime has retaken at least two towns and threatened a third, while rebels repulsed attacks on three other key areas Misrata to the east, Zawiya to the west, and the mountain town of Zintan to the south of the capital.
One of those retaken was the strategic mountain town of Gharyan, the largest in the Nafusa Mountains, which overlooks Tripoli, a resident said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government retaliation. The town fell after dark Friday in a surprise attack, and the government troops detained officers who defected to the rebels and drew up lists of wanted protesters and started searching for them, the resident added.
Gaddafi supporters also have said they were in control of the city of Sabratha, west of Tripoli, which has seemed to go back and forth between the two camps in the past week.
But witnesses in Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of the capital, said rebels shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great) for our victory," and carried an air force colonel who had just defected after six hours of overnight gunbattles failed to dislodge anti-Gadhafi forces who control the city.
Ajdabiya is coming under air attack, according to the Associated Press.
This news coupled with that of the three towns retaken by Gaddafi forces (see 8.42am) suggest a concerted attempt at a counterattack by the Libyan leader.
It appears that both Brega and Ajdabiya (see 8.48am post) have come under air attack. Brega was retaken as a result. Reuters reports:
"It's true. There was aerial bombardment of Brega and Gaddafi's forces have taken it," Mohamed Yousef, an officer in the town of Ajdabiyah which is about 75 km (47 miles) from Brega, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Two other officers in the east confirmed there had been attacks on Brega and one of them also said Gaddafi's forces had taken control of it.
The Guardian's Martin Chulov confirms that Brega, an oil refinery town in the east of Libya, has been re-taken from protesters by Gaddafi forces.
"We're told this morning by multiple sources that Gaddafi forces have come up the highway, they have retaken Brega, they've started with the airport, they're now in control of Brega itself," Martin says.
Brega is 250km south of Benghazi - the demonstrators' stronghold. Martin says there have been reports of clashes, but Brega "seems to have fallen very easily".
"That's two towns in two days - that's a 200km advance," Martin says, adding that there are "plenty of worries in Benghazi".
The effective frontline seems to be at a place called Ajdabiyah, which is a reasonably large town 160km south of Benghazi. That's where opposition people are massing, there are very large weapons dumps there, there have been a couple of attempts to bomb one of those dumps in recent days, and that town will not be taken without a fight."
But so far this is suggestive of a Gaddafi rearguard, this does tend to indicate that after the europhia of the first week, in which the tide seemed unstoppable, things are slowly tipping towards Gaddafi again.
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Here's a picture of the petrol tanker that exploded in Tripoli this morning. The cause of the explosion has not been confirmed, with some reports that it was a result of a traffic accident (see 8.19am).
People gather at the site where a petrol tanker exploded near the compound of Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi in Tripoli Photograph: Antoine Lambroschini/AFP/Getty Images
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More on the bombing of Ajdabiya - about 75km from Brega which has already been retaken - from the Associated Press:
The witnesses told The Associated Press they saw two warplanes bomb the eastern part of the town of Ajdabiya at 10am (8am GMT) local time Wednesday. They also said that pro-Gaddafi forces were advancing on the town, some 470 miles (750km) east of the capital Tripoli.
Ahmed Jerksi, manager of the Sirte oil company which runs the facility in the eastern town of Brega, said pro-Gaddafi forces retook control of the facility, south-west of Ajdabiya.
According to posts on Twitter, 14 people were killed in fighting in Brega, which has been retaken by Gaddafi forces, but rebels are heading to the town from nearby Ajdabiya:
Al Arabiya: 14 dead in clashes between revolutionaries & Gaddafi forces in town of Brega, 670 km east of Tripoli. #Libya
Rebels in ajdabiya say the're reading for counter-assault to take bregga 90km south. #libya #feb17
While Gaddafi forces mount a counteroffensive, Peter Beaumont reports on two explosions in Tripoli, which remains a government stronghold. One of the explosions involved a petrol tanker:
The people there said there had been an accident, it wasn't clear what kind of accident it was. There seemed to be another plume of smoke which we went off and chased. We couldn't find it but the people we spoke to said there has been a gasoline accident or nothing at all...
If you want to take the more dramatic explanation, rather than the official explanation that it was an accident, what's happening today about 1km from where the tanker was on fire is the general people's congress, and there's some expectation that Muammar Gaddafi may appear at that today.
It may just be that the tanker was set on fire to say 'Look, life isn't as normal as the regime is trying to tell people.'
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Given the new offensive by Gaddafi troops a report in the New York Times that says rebel leaders in Benghazi are debating whether to ask for Western airstrikes under the UN banner, takes on added significance. Interestingly, one of the people it quotes as possibly supporting airstrikes is Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga, a spokesman for the Libyan national transitional council, who, on Monday, said the council was "against any foreign intervention or military intervention". But the Times says Ghoga made clear, "if it is with the United Nations, it is not a foreign intervention":
In a sign of mounting frustration among rebel leaders over Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's diminished but unyielding grip on power, rebel leaders here are debating whether to ask for Western airstrikes under the United Nations banner, according to four people with knowledge of the deliberations.
By invoking the United Nations, a council of opposition leaders made up of lawyers, academics, judges and other prominent figures is seeking to draw a distinction between such airstrikes and foreign intervention, which the rebels said they emphatically opposed.
Al Jazeera is reporting that rebels say they have retaken Brega, according to Reuters. We can't confirm this at present.
The Guardian's Martin Chulov tweets that the rebel council in Benghazi has asked the UN for airstrikes (see also 9.44am).
Screengrab from Twitter
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Here's a quick recap of events so far this morning:
• Gaddafi's forces have reclaimed the previously rebel-held town of Brega, 250 km south of Benghazi. It's difficult to get hard news from the oil refinery town, but there are reports that 14 people were killed in fighting there early this morning. Rebels were said to have moved to the city of Ajdabiya, described by the Guardian's Martin Chulov as the potential "frontline" between Gaddafi forces and the demonstrators. In the last few minutes there have been some reports from al-Jazeera that rebels have retaken Brega, but we cannot confirm this at present.
• Ajdabiya, 75km from Brega, has reportedly been targeted by Gaddafi's airforce this morning. A weapons dump was targeted to the south of the city. "Opposition people are massing," Martin Chulov reports, but he adds that the "town will not be taken without a fight.""
• Gharyan and Sabratha, both near Tripoli, have also reportedly been retaken by Gaddafi forces.
A rebel coalition has told Reuters Brega is under its control:
"We are probably going to call for foreign help, probably air strikes at strategic locations that will put the nail in his (Gaddafi's) coffin," Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel February 17th coalition, told Reuters.
"They tried to take Brega this morning, but they failed. It is back in the hands of the revolutionaries. He is trying to create all kinds of psychological warfare to keep these cities on edge," he said.
About Ajdabiyah, he said the town was " basically stable and our people are grouping to deal with any major assault. For now, it is still just hit and run."
Al-Arabiya reports that Gaddafi's forces are only in control of Brega airport but not the town itself.
A worker at the Brega oil facility has just told al-Jazeera English that the rebels are indeed in control of the town. He was clearly emotional and gave a breathless account of clashes with Gaddafi forces who he said had been repelled but were still at the airport. He said 15 people had been killed. At one point he shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is the greatest) and people with him joined in the chanting. When asked who was in control of Brega, the unnamed man said:
"The locals, the revolutionaries, it's us. Allahu Akbar. We are controlling Brega now."
The Arab League will consider a resolution rejecting foreign military intervention in Libya at a meeting in Cairo today, Reuters reports. Ahmed Ben Helli, deputy secretary general of the Arab League, said:
The Arab League, at the level of permanent delegates, on Tuesday introduced a resolution to be submitted to the ministers of foreign affairs during their meeting ... to reject any foreign military intervention in Libya.
Spain has joined the growing list of countries, which have frozen Gaddafi's assets, al-Arabiya reports.
The excellent Feb17voices has interesting audio from a woman in Zintan, about 90 miles south of Tripoli. She says about 40 people are missing from the city, unaccounted for:
The last three days the army has attacked the city three times, all of which were repelled by the residents. The army was put to flight leaving weapons and cars behind...
Today and yesterday ,42 to 43 mercenaries were captured who were trying to enter the city. Thank God the youths are in control of the city. Government battalions keep attacking but each time the residents captured soldiers and weapons thank God...
The youth have also established a military council to manage the affairs of Zintan which is made up also of some of the older officers who have defected from Gaddafi.
The Guardian reported this morning that the Obama administration has publicly distanced itself from David Cameron's suggestion that Nato should establish a no-fly zone over the country and that rebel forces should be armed.
Nick Watt, the Guardian's chief political correspondent, has analysed the response of the international community to Cameron's suggested policies on Libya so far and what we've learnt about the prime minister over the past few days.
In his speech to the Kuwait parliament last week, he made it clear he didn't want to take the 'George Bush Jnr' approach, which he said is "dropping democracy out of a plane at 40,000ft', but neither does he want to take the George Bush Snr approach, which was essentially after the first Gulf War to watch as the Shias were massacred by Saddam Hussein. In other words there are times when you should intervene. He's in a sense trying to steer a middle course, neither George Bush Jnr nor George Bush Snr, but that's a new approach and I think he's struggling to fashion exactly where that philosophy's going to take him.
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Some lines have emerged from the Arab League meeting in Cario.
The Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, has called on the Libyan leadership to take "brave stands" and respect the demands of the people.
He also told his counterparts that what is happening in Libya is an Arab affair to be determined by Arab people. [If anyone should know about western intervention the Iraqis should].
A one minute silence has been held for the "martyrs" of reform in the Arab world.
The secretary general, Amr Moussa, a possible future presidential candidate in Egypt, said the situation in Libya is "tragic" and "We cannot accept it".
The situation in Brega remains unclear. Libyan state TV is reporting that Gaddafi's forces are in control of the airport and seaport, contradicting rebel accounts that they have been repelled. An al-Jazeera correspondent in Ajdabiya (75km from Brega) said thousands are gathering there to prepare to help out their fellow rebels in Brega. People in Ajabiya could be heard firing their weapons, apparently to test them in preparation.
Gaddafi has just began speaking in Tripoli, following a lengthy fawning introduction from one of his supporters.
He extends his congratulations to the Libyan people for the creation of the people's authority on this day in 1977. He said it marks the day he rid the country of colonial powers, citing the US and the UK, and handed the power to the people.
The people's authority represents a "true democracy" without any parliament or elections (!), says Gaddafi.
"Authority and power is in the hands of the people and only the people."
We give no power to any king or president, he says.
The Libyan system "is not comprehended by the world".
"I carried out a revolution in the 70s, handed over power to the people and then rested."
People come to me for advice and "cultural influence", says Gaddafi.
He's talking about the formation of the Libyan bar association (for lawyers) for some reason, saying he did not want to interfere in its formation.
Talking about himself in the third person: "Muammar Gaddafi has no power, he is not president."
He's interrupted by chants of support. "The people improvised these chants [the implication being they haven't been told to shout support for him] and voiced them. Millions of the Libyan people marched chanting my name."
"The whole Libyan people have told me they are willing to die for me."
More chants...
The crowds are chanting: "We swear by God, we can never abandon our leader."
Gaddafi says: "These chants are newly authored by the Libyan people." Once more he tries to emphasise the show of support is not staged!
Gaddafi says: "Libya was just like Lebanon and Liberia (chosen for alliteration?) but now it is free."
"How come Muammar Gaddaffi bought Italy to its knees...forced Italy to apologise to the Libyan people?"
He says Libya forced the Americans out.
After more chanting Gaddafi asks people: "Please be calm"
If you look at the protests shown by the foreign media you would imagine the whole world wants to label Gaddafi as a criminal, he says, but how come all the people on the ground support him.
Back onto a familiar ground as Gaddafi accuses al Qaida of being behind the violence in Libya.
Operatives have settled in certain areas and formed dormant cells.
"Suddenly this dormant cell in al Bayda launched an attack against the battalion. They attacked the police station."
Gaddafi says this is how the protests started. "When the assault was launched the battalion received orders not to return fire."
The Libyan leader says people then took arms and took control of al Bayda.
"The same infection has spread over to Benghazi, the birthplace of martyrs, of Omar Mukhtar."
Again he says he told the battalion to abandon the camp and go home.
I decided that all weapons depots should be destroyed to avoid them falling into the hands of "terrorists", says Gaddafi.
"The whole world knows about al Qaida."
It is an "absolute lie" that peaceful demonstrations are being fired upon.
"Libya does not like foreign correspondents," says Gaddafi, explaining why none were in the country before the uprising began.
"There were no peaceful demonstrations at all in Libya, as I told you it was a terrorist attack."
"The terrorist operatives are wreaking havoc, raping woman on a daily basis."
He says the "terrorists" freed people from jail and handed them weapons (which is exactly what he has been accused of doing, as well as employing foreign mercenaries).
At prime minister's question time at the House of Commons in London, Labour leader Ed Miliband has just drawn attention to prime minister David Cameron's supposed flip-flipping over a no-fly zone for Libya. Andrew Sparrow is covering it all live here.
Muammar Gaddafi addressing loyalists during a public rally in Tripoli today. Photograph: AFP/Libyan TV
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There are no peaceful demonstrations at all, Gaddafi says. It is a conspiracy to control Libya's oil.
We will fight to the last drop of blood to defend Libyan territory inch by inch, he says.
Libya will stop producing and exporting oil, Gaddafi says.
Gaddafi speaking in 1977. Photograph: Sipa Press/Rex Features
If the demonstrations in Libya were peaceful, Gaddafi asks, why would foreign countries be withdrawing their citizens and companies their workers?
This – the withdrawal of foreigners – is clear proof that what is happening is attacks launched by armed gangs against these companies, Gaddafi claims.
They depicted Libya as fallen, he says. Libya will live on and it is them that will fall.
The crowds start chanting: "If we are abandoned by the whole world, we will not abandon our leader."
In Bayda and Benghazi committees should be formed to find out who killed whom, Gaddafi says. The UN can send fact-finding committees to prove we did not fire a single bullet against peaceful civilians, he says.
He attacks the idea of the UN handing down resolutions based only on media reports.
The Daily Mirror's Kevin Maguire has just tweeted this about prime minister's questions in London:
Cameron admits "facilitation payments" to get people out of Libya. Bribes!
This is Andrew Sparrow's take on the matter:
Labour's Tom Blenkinsop asks Cameron why he told journalists in a private briefing on his tour of the Middle East that the Foreign Office had to pay "bribes" to land planes at Tripoli. The Foreign Office subsequently denied this.
Cameron jokes about being happy to answer this question. The Foreign Office had to pay enhanced fees, he says. He says, with a hint of sarcasm, that he is sure the payments were "entirely proper".
Back to al-Qaida. They do not have demands. They are limited in number. Their slogan is: "Killing, killing, killing." They do not compromise. Gaddafi wishes they had demands so they could negotiate.
Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb are operatic from a mosque or "snake hole" brainwashing the youth, Gaddafi claims. That's different from Egypt and Tunisia, he says.
Unfortunately, al-Jazeera has lost the feed of Gaddafi's speech.
Here is a lunchtime summary from Adam Gabbatt:
• There have been clashes in Brega, with reports suggesting that the town has been retaken by rebels after pro-Gaddafi forces took control of it this morning. Although Libyan state TV is reporting that Muammar Gaddafi's forces are in control of the airport and seaport, contradicting rebel accounts that they have been repelled, an oil worker told al-Jazeera English that the rebels are indeed in control of the town.
• In Ajdabiya, 45 miles away and described by the Guardian's Martin Chulov as a potential "frontline" of clashes between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces, there has reportedly been a failed bombing attempt on an arms dump to the south of the city. "Opposition people are massing," in Ajdabiyah, Martin reports, adding that the "town will not be taken without a fight".
• Gaddafi, speaking at the general people's congress in Tripoli, has given another lengthy address repeating many of his more outlandish claims. The Libyan leader accused al-Qaida of being behind the violence in Libya, and said the "terrorist" protesters had released prisoners from jails and handed them weapons – exactly what Gaddafi himself has been accused of doing.
• A petrol tanker was ablaze in Tripoli this morning, with no clear signs of any accident to cause the fire. The Guardian's Peter Beaumont is in the capital, and said "it may just be that the tanker was set on fire to say: 'Look, life isn't as normal as the regime is trying to tell people.'"
More from prime minister's questions in London. David Cameron was asked if he was confident that a government would be ready to take over in Libya if Gaddafi stepped down. The British prime minister said the government was making contact with the Libyan opposition.
Back to Gaddafi's speech. He talks about opponents in Dirna wishing to establish an empire within Libya "like the Vatican". Let them try, he says.
Let al-Qaida establish an Islamic government in Dirna, he says. How will people feel when women are raped there every day, asks Gaddafi.
Gaddafi talks about Britain freezing his assets. He says:
I'll put my fingers in Cameron's eyes if I keep assets abroad.
His salary is only 465 dinars, he claims.
My colleague Adam Gabbatt tells me Gaddafi's salary of 465 dinars is £232 or $378. This is presumably per month. The minimum salary in Libya is 130 dinars a month, according to Wikipedia.
He can't imagine anybody in Libya could insult or vilify Muammar Gaddafi, he says. As he speaks, al-Jazeera is showing pictures of protesters in Benghazi holding up anti-Gaddafi banners.
We are not like Darfur or Iraq, Gaddafi says; we do not need foreign aid. Anyone who talks about that will be considered a traitor who has committed high treason. That would open the door to colonialism. We have enough supplies.
Al-Jazeera has cut away from the speech again to speak to its correspondent in Benghazi, the stronghold of the anti-Gaddafi forces. Responding to Gaddafi's claims that al-Qaida is running the opposition, she says the protesters are made up of religious people, people in ordinary clothes, people speaking Arabic, people speaking foreign languages, women and children ... a mixed group.
Brega's airport is back in the hands of Gaddafi's opponents, Libya's former interior minister, Abdel Fattah Younes al Abidi, has told al-Arabiya TV. Abidi stood down from the government in order to join the movement seeking to oust the Libyan leader. Libyan state TV reported earlier (see 11.23am) that the airport was in control of Gaddafi forces after their attempts to retake the town from rebels.
A rebel holds up a knife on the outskirts of Ajdabiya, Libya, on the road leading to Brega. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/Reuters
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Protesters in Yemen are planning a "Friday or warning" this Friday in opposition to Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president.
France and the UK have both announced operations to rescue Egyptians trying to get out of Libya, the Associated Press reports. Amid concerns about a humanitarian crisis at the Libya-Tunisia border David Cameron said the UK will be sending aircraft, while France said its operation says would involve large airliners and a French Navy ship heading to the region. The French said its operation will allow the evacuation of at least 5,000 people over the course of a week.
The 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference said it will set up two fully equipped field hospitals and provide ambulances on the Tunisian and Egyptian sides of their borders with Libya.
The moves come after a warning from a UN committee responsible for monitoring racial discrimination that sub-Saharan Africans, foreigners, migrant workers and other minorities must be protected. There are fears some are being targeted because they are being mistaken for mercenaries. The committee's 18 independent human rights experts, who oversee a 1969 treaty that is the main international legal instrument protecting against discrimination on the basis of race, formally alerted the world's nations to "the risk of inter-ethnic violence and divisions which might worsen the deteriorating situation in Libya". Human Rights Watch said African workers fleeing the violence are "particularly under threat due to popular anger" over Gaddafi's mercenaries.
Below is a video of refugees from Libya stranded on the Tunisian border.
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The Guardian's Martin Chulov in Brega has just tweeted news of another air attack against the town which has been the scene of fierce fighting between pro and anti-Gaddafi forces (who are believed to still be in control of Brega):
Large smoke plume billows from rebel position just bombed by ghaddafi jet.
An al-Jazeera correspondent just said a bomb was dropped about 60m from where he is outside Brega. He said there are around 300 government fighters in the town but they are surrounded.
Yemen's opposition have presented President Ali Abdullah Saleh with a road map for a smooth transition of power this year, while street protests demanding he stand down now continue, Reuters reports:
The opposition which, just two days ago, had said it would not retreat from demands that Saleh leave power immediately, agreed with religious and tribal leaders to ask him to take steps towards a transition.
These included changing the constitution, rewriting election laws and removing his relatives from leadership positions in the army and security forces, all while guaranteeing the right of peaceful protest.
"What was presented was a road map for departure within a time frame of a month or two, or six months," said Mohammed al-Sabry, a spokesman for Yemen's main opposition coalition which includes Islamists and leftists.
"As for the people's demand for the departure of the regime, there is no going back on that," he added
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Samia al-Aghbari, a student leader in Sana'a, said: "The agreement bypasses the youth revolution and is not acceptable. Our demand is one: The departure of the regime."
The Guardian's Libya interactive has been updated to take account of the counteroffensive by Gaddafi forces today. You can also now zoom in on Brega, where fighting continues.
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Two US warships have passed through the Suez Canal on their way to the Mediterranean Sea and closer to Libyan shores after orders from US defence secretary Robert Gates, Associated Press is reporting.
It said the amphibious assault ships USS Kearsarge and USS Ponce entered the canal earlier in the day from the Red Sea, quoting Egyptian officials. The officials said the USS Kearsarge is carrying 42 helicopters.
Peter Beaumont has just returned from listening to Muammar Gaddafi's three hour speech to the Libyan People's Congress. Peter says that the Libyan leader's tone was more conciliatory today than in his previous speeches, Gaddafi offering an amnesty for those who took up arms and promising that they'll be forgiven. He also said "we are sorry" for the deaths on both sides and said he believes there should be an investigation. Listen to the interview in full here.
There are other goodies allegedly on offer for the Libyan people if the rebellion comes to an end. He says now that he has no objection if the people want private newspapers and also says he son Saif has told he people want a constitution, for which he has no objection – if that's what the people want.
Gaddafi also said he understands people's concerns and blames the violence not on the young people but on a few old Al Qaeda hands who he says are actually serving the west's interests.
[...]
One thing is pretty clear, however. A lot of what we heard about today is what his son Saif has also been trying to push and the speech appears to have been heavily influenced by his ideas.
He had a message too for David Cameron over claims he has billions squirreled away. He says if Cameron can find a single million he will "stick his finger in his own eye."
The international criminal court has announced it is opening an investigation in Libya. It said that "following a preliminary examination of available information, the prosecutor has reached the conclusion that an investigation is warranted".
The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, will hold a press conference in the Hague tomorrow where he will "present an overview of the alleged crimes committed in Libya since 15 February 2011 and preliminary information as to the entities and persons who could be prosecuted and put them on notice to avoid future crimes".
The next step is for the prosecutor to present his case to ICC judges who will then decide whether or not to issue arrest warrants based on the evidence.
From the Guardian's Julian Borger:
Pro-Gaddafi forces retake control of border post on the frontier with Tunisia. They arrived by motorcade, honking their horns, ran up the green national flag and began distributing juice to refugees, tossing cartons over the border fence to those who had already crossed into Tunisia, in what appears to be a publicity stunt to emphasise Gaddafi's control of borders and state institutions, according to aid workers on the scene.
Haroon Siddique just spoke to a British woman who has recently returned from Tripoli, where she was born and brought up, and was shocked by what she saw. She is very worried about her identity being revealed as she has relatives still there she believes are in danger. She said:
Literally after I arrived people were gathering to organise a big protest, peaceful protests, walking out in the streets, saying: "We want to change the regime." They were completely unarmed. They [Gaddafi's forces] shot at people in a barbaric way. A close friend came out to get her kids to come back in and got shot in the head and died. They were throwing tear gas at the protesters. It's a crime against humanity on the biggest scale. They tried to get the loyalty of people by giving them money and guns if they are willing to go with them. The international community is not doing enough. Is this the end now? Gaddafi is regaining power.
Martin Chulov, who was in Brega earlier when it was bombed, says when he left it was still not clear who was in control (the audio ends abruptly as Martin was cut off but he is fine):
We were leaving town, we reached the first of two big checkpoints, a jet swept in, it bombed a rebel position five kilometres to the right. We decided to leave town as soon as possible. We hit the highway, I saw a Mig [jet] sweeping in from the south towards us very, very low. I didn't anticipate that it would be dropping a bomb but it did, just in the sand about 150 metres from us which is where rebels were massed ...
As the sun starts to set here now the battle was still raging, particularly in the area around the university, which is a giant area in the industrial zone there. Gaddafi forces had brought in jets, there was a lot of heavy weaponry being used, and by sunset who is actually in control of Brega was not clear.
Here is a video on the Arab League rejecting foreign intervention in Libya.
Here is a story on Muammar Gaddafi's forces fighting to retake rebel-held areas of the country.
Forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, have been fighting to retake areas seized by rebel forces, as international efforts grow to address the humanitarian crisis.
Rebels said they had successfully defended the oil export terminal of Brega after bombing raids by the Libyan air force.
Anti-Gaddafi forces have been firmly in charge of eastern Libya up to Brega, and some areas beyond, since soon after anti-government protests erupted in mid-February.
Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel February 17 Coalition, told Reuters: "They tried to take Brega this morning, but they failed. It is back in the hands of the revolutionaries. He [Gaddafi] is trying to create all kinds of psychological warfare to keep these cities on edge."
Libyan state television said Gaddafi forces still controlled the airport and seaport at Brega, contradicting rebel accounts.
Photographer Sean Smith sends this picture of a bomb being dropped by the Libyan air force on the outskirts of Brega.
Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
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Here is an evening summary from Paul Owen.
• Forces loyal to the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi, have been fighting to retake areas seized by rebel forces, including the oil export terminal of Brega, which the opposition said it had successfully defended (see 4.53pm). State TV denied this. Pro-Gaddafi forces also retook a border post on the frontier with Tunisia (see 3.38pm). In Ajdabiya, 90 miles from Benghazi and described by the Guardian's Martin Chulov as a potential "frontline" of clashes between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces, there has reportedly been a failed bombing attempt on an arms dump to the south of the city. Brega and Ajdabiya are the furthest west points in the large swath of eastern Libya extending all the way to the Egyptian border that has so far fallen to the opposition. A petrol tanker was ablaze in Tripoli this morning, with no clear signs of any accident to cause the fire.
• Two US warships have passed through the Suez canal and closer to Libya (see 2.58pm). But the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, told a congressional committee that establishing a no-fly zone would have to begin with an attack on Libyan territory, in order to destroy Muammar Gaddafi's air defence weapons. He noted that the overall military effort would require more planes than are available from a single US aircraft carrier, but said if Barack Obama wanted a no-fly zone established, the Pentagon could do it. However, the idea has been rejected by Russia, which holds a veto-wielding seat on the UN security council. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said she was worried Libya would descend into chaos and become "a giant Somalia" ie a haven for al-Qaida
• In a speech on state TV, Gaddafi repeated his determination to "fight to the last man and last woman" and blamed al-Qaida for unrest in the country (see 12.35pm). He invited the UN to send fact-finding committees to prove his forces had not fired on peaceful civilians (see 12.28pm), and warned that thousands of Libyans would die if US and Nato forces intervened in the conflict. The Guardian's Peter Beaumont said conciliatory gestures in the speech – such as allowing private newspapers and a national constitution – showed the influence of his son Saif (see 3.17pm).
• The international criminal court has announced it is opening an investigation into Libya (see 3.34pm). Earlier Libya was suspended from the UN human rights council.
• The UK has launched an operation to airlift 6,000 Egyptian refugees stranded on the Libyan-Tunisian border back to their home country (see 1.37pm). France said it would send aeroplanes and a ship.
• In Yemen, the opposition have presented the president with a road map to transfer power (see 2.07pm), and plan a "Friday of warning" this Friday.