Libya uprising – Tuesday 8 March as it happened

This live blog has now ended. Coverage continues here • Gaddafi forces in ‘final battle’ for rebel-held Zawiyah •  Witnesses say onslaught has ‘flattened’ the town • Opposition calls on Gaddafi to quit in 72 hours • New airstrikes near oil port of Ras Lanuf • Read the latest summary of today’s events 8.45am: Good morning. Welcome to the Guardian’s coverage of the uprising in Libya and the protests across the Middle East and north Africa. Here’s a summary of the latest developments: • International support for a no-fly zone in Libya is gathering momentum . Britain and France have made progress in drafting a resolution at the UN calling for a no-fly zone triggered by specific conditions, rather than timelines. Barack Obama said the US and Nato allies are considering a military response to violence in Libya, with the list of options including arming the rebels. • Muammar Gaddafi’s forces launched multiple strikes on opposition fighters near the oil city of Ras Lanuf over the past 24 hours , in a counterattack designed to halt the rebel advance on the Libyan leader’s hometown, Sirte. • One of Gaddafi’s sons, Saadi, said in an interview with al Arabiya television that his father had not yet thrown his army into full battle against the rebels because he wanted to to shield Libya against foreign attack and protect “sensitive sites”. “The tribes are all armed, there are forces from the Libyan army and the eastern region is armed. The situation is not like Tunisia or Egypt,” said Saadi. “If something happened to the leader, who would be in control? A civil war would start.” • The fallout continues over the botched SAS diplomacy mission in Libya . The UK foreign secretary, William Hague, was accused of “serial bungling” over the mission to make contact with rebels in Libya, which saw the arrest of two MI6 officers and six SAS members. 8.56am: Al-Jazeera is reporting that the Libyan National Council, which now apparently has its own website and Twitter account (although neither has been confirmed as official to date), says it may not pursue Gaddafi for crimes if he gives up power (via @SultanAlQassemi ). 9.15am: Gaddafi has sent a representative to the Libyan National Council in Benghazi to discuss stepping down, al-Jazeera is reporting. The news organisation says a rebel council member confirmed contact has been made but Libyan state TV is denying that any such meeting has taken place. This might sound more dramatic than it actually is, even if a meeting did take place. Given Gaddafi’s defiance so far and the heavy counteroffensive against the opposition seen in recent days, the prospect of him going quietly seems remote at the moment. The Libyan leader might just be testing the water. 9.21am: Libyan warplanes have launched two new airstrikes near opposition positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf, the Associated Press reports. It says there has been no word on casualties Additionally, a witness has told the news agency that Zawiyah has been retaken by troops loyal to Gaddafi : The witness, speaking to the AP by phone, said Gaddafi’s tanks and fighting vehicles were roaming the city 30 miles west of Tripoli and firing randomly at homes. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal. 9.33am – Yemen: There is some interesting news from Yemen, where the country’s foreign minister has urged international donors to channel up to $6 billion (£3.7bn) into state coffers over the next five years to help meet the demands of anti-government protesters. Tens of thousands of protesters are camped out in major Yemeni cities, demanding President Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. He has rejected a plan for a transition this year, insisting that he will see out his current term, which expires in 2013. “What we need is really development and economic growth because the present political crisis is really as a result of the economic situation in Yemen,” Abubakr al-Qirbi told Reuters after meeting Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) foreign ministers late on Monday in Abu Dhabi. Qirbi said Yemen would present a five-year development plan later this month to the Friends of Yemen, a group of donor nations that includes European and Gulf Arab allies as well as the United States. “The deficit in the budget for the five-year plan is about $6 billion,” Qirbi said. “We hope that the GCC countries with the other donors will contribute really to the development plan and to finance the deficit in the government budget,” he said. 9.47am – Yemen: There’s more on Yemen from the Associated Press, which reports that about 2,000 inmates have staged a revolt at a prison in the capital, taken a dozen guards hostage and joined calls by anti-government protesters for Saleh to step down: The official says the unrest in the Sana’a prison erupted late Monday when prisoners set their mattresses ablaze and occupied the facility’s courtyard. He says the guards fired tear gas and gunshots into the air but couldn’t subdue the prisoners. The official said Tuesday that troops have beefed up security outside the prison. He says a number of inmates were hurt in the unrest. 10.04am: China has given a cool response to the proposal for a no-fly zone in Libya. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference: Whether in the next step, the security council takes action and what that action would be mainly depends on whether it helps Libya to return to stability as soon as possible… In the decision-making process, we believe, Libya’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence should be respected. She said China wants countries to focus on implementing the current UN security council resolution on Libya and to “urge all sides involved to settle the conflict and calm the situation through dialogue and other peaceful means”. 10.39am – Iran: News of a blow to the reformist movement in Iran as former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has lost his position as the head of a powerful clerical body charged with choosing or dismissing Iran’s supreme leader. The Associated Press reports : Rafsanjani is a bitter enemy of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and tacitly supported his rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in Iran’s bitter dispute over the 2009 presidential elections. Hardliners and supporters of Ahmadinejad had lobbied hard in recent weeks to push Rafsanjani out of the post and supported Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kani to replace him as the head of the Assembly of Experts. Kani is a moderate conservative not seen as a supporter of the opposition. Rafsanjani’s daughter, Faezeh, who has appeared at opposition protests in the past, was briefly detained last month while allegedly trying to cause unrest by chanting anti-government slogans in one of the main streets of Tehran. Faezeh was confronted by several hardline vigilantes last month and verbally insulted for supporting the opposition. 10.46am: An update on the botched UK diplomacy mission to engage with the opposition leaders in Benghazi has been posted by my colleague Andrew Sparrow on the politics live blog : In the Commons yesterday William Hague failed dismally to explain why the MI6/SAS team sent to Libya decided to land by helicopter at night, instead of just turning up at the rebel HQ in office hours, in the way that journalists have been doing. But Frank Gardner, the BBC’s security correspondent, has got the answer. On the Today programme he said that the team were carrying “sensitive communications equipment” and that they did not want everyone in Benghazi to see it. Gardner said he does not know whether the equipment was for the rebels, or to establish a link with British assets in Libya. He also explained why the team got arrested. The British had been in contact with the rebels before they arrived. But, when they arrived, they were caught by a different group of rebels who did not know they were coming. It was “a complete mess-up” said Gardner. You can listen to Gardner’s report on the Today website; it’s in the second half of this 4min 22sec clip . 10.51am: Gaddafi’s forces have launched a fresh artillery bombardment on Zawiyah and surrounded the town in western Libya, Al Jazeera reports. 10.54am: A spokesman for the opposition-led National Libyan Council told Reuters it has spurned an overture from Gaddafi’s camp for talks on him relinquishing power. Mustafa Gheriani said: We are not negotiating with someone who spilled Libyan blood and continues to do so. Why would we trust the guy today? 11.12am: Two leading members of the Libyan opposition are going to the European Parliament to explain the situation on the ground, AP reports. Mahmoud Jebril and Ali Al-Esawi, from the opposition’s transitional national council have been invited by the alliance of liberals and democrats for Europe (ALDE), the third largest political group in the EU parliament. ALDE leader Guy Verhofstadt says he will meet the pair today. The EU parliament will debate how to address the bloody uprising in Libya tomorrow before EU government leaders hold a special summit on the situation on Friday. The UK shadow foreign secretary, Douglas Alexander, is calling for Friday’s meeting to become a joint emergency summit held with the Arab League . 11.21am: Two hotels housing reporters have been targeted by bombs, al-Arabiya is reporting , citing its correspondent in Benghazi. It has not said when the bombs were dropped. It also says an airstrike hit a block of flats in Ras Lanuf , citing AFP. 11.46am: There have been at least four airstrikes on areas in and around the oil town of Ras Lanuf today, with one striking a residential area, according to Reuters: “An air strike hit a house in a residential area of Ras Lanuf. There is a big hole in the ground floor of the two-storey home,” Reuters correspondent Alexander Dziadosz said, adding that it was at least the fourth strike on Ras Lanuf on Tuesday. “A massive plume of smoke and dust flew up in the area from the strike. Men rushed to the area shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is greatest),” he said, adding that many homes including the one hit appeared to be evacuated. He said there were no reports of casualties in that strike. – 11.57am: The Guardian’s Chris McGreal is in Ras Lanuf and says the airstrikes seem to be aimed at breaking the less experienced opposition fighters in the oil port (apologies for the background noise in the audio, it is obviously very windy there at the moment). There have been airstrikes against one of the main rebel military posts here, which is closer to the centre of the town, rather than the frontline itself. That seems to be an attempt by Gaddafi forces to break what looks to be the weaker of the rebel lines. The more experienced fighters are right up at the frontline but the rebel forces have been filling out at the back of the town and they’re less experienced, they’re the young men who have flown out from places like Benghazi towards the front who are armed but not particularly experienced or particularly well disciplined. The airstrikes seem to have been aimed at breaking those forces. It’s not clear whether Gaddafi’s military intends to push through Ras Lanuf on the ground. – 12.09pm: A Libyan foreign ministry official has described the reports that Gaddafi offered to step down in negotiations with the opposition as “absolute nonsense”, according to Reuters. 12.15pm: Reuters reports tanks firing at the opposition in Zawiyah. It has spoken to a Libyan exile who said he spoke to a friend in the city, 50km west of Tripoli, today: My friend said it’s miserable. He described that Gaddafi forces are trying to destroy the city. Many buildings are completely destroyed, including hospitals, electricity lines and generators. People cannot run away, it’s cordoned off. They cannot flee. All those who can fight are fighting, including teenagers. Children and women are being hidden. They tried to evacuate. Their (Gaddafi forces’) tanks are everywhere, firing. They (rebels) are fighting back. Gaddafi’s army is not in control. The fighting is continuing. A government spokesman, Mussa Ibrahim, said the government was in control of the city, adding however that a small group of fighters was still putting up resistance. “The situation is very difficult. There are still pockets of resistance, maybe 30-40 people, hiding in the streets and in the cemetery. They are desperate,” he told Reuters in Tripoli. 12.24pm: The Guardian’s security editor, Richard Norton-Taylor, has been assessing the options for Gaddafi’s forces and writes that one view is the Libyan dictator might leave the capital exposed by taking the fight to the rebels: Gaddafi’s commanders face a key dilemma – whether to deploy elite forces now surrounding Tripoli further east to attack the rebels or continue to concentrate their forces around the capital, according to a leading land warfare analyst. The danger of leaving the capital, Gaddafi’s “centre of gravity”, exposed, was spelled out to me by Brigadier Benjamin Barry, a former British army officer attached to the respected International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). Since the 1993 coup attempt Gaddafi has deprived the army of resources, instead putting them into “elite regime forces within 50 miles of Tripoli’s centre” said Barry. That reflected a classic nature of dictatorship, he observed. He added that the rebels appeared to have an unlimited supply of small arms, light weapons and anti-aircraft guns. “Their light infantry force is more than enough to sustain them for some time”, he said. The regime had no shortage of armour but it faced the problem of taking its forces out of the Tripoli area reducing its “critical mass” there. Taking on the fight to Misrata and Ras Lanuf, coastal towns to the east of the capital, could erode the regime’s combat power, said Barry. He also noted that the rebels had not yet attempted to mount terrorist attacks on Tripoli – nor had Gaddafi ordered his air force to bomb Benghazi and Tobruk. Barry was speaking as the IISS launched its latest Military Balance annual survey. 12.34pm: The UNCHR says there remains a shortage of flights to repatriate people who have fled Libya in the past two weeks. It says more than more than 215,000 people, mainly migrant workers, have fled the country. Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees told a news briefing: At both borders, Tunisia and Egypt, most of those awaiting evacuation are Bangladeshi single men. There remains a critical shortage at present of long-haul flights to Bangladesh, other parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. He also said that people trying to flee Libya faced military road blocks where mobile phones are confiscated: “We can’t account for the decrease in numbers. There are many roadblocks, making it difficult to get out. We heard from one group of Vietnamese that they passed through 65 checkpoints along the way.” 12.38pm: Arab foreign ministers will meet on Friday at the Arab League in Cairo for an emergency meeting to discuss the Libya crisis, Reuters reports. 12.44pm: The Guardian’s Ian Traynor writes that Gaddafi’s regime has invited the EU to send teams of monitors to Libya to undertake an “independent evaluation” of the situation: Leading diplomats from the eight EU countries with embassies still operating in Libya are strongly in favour of the “evaluation mission”, which could be performed jointly with the United Nations. But other officials in Brussels are sceptical, suspecting a ruse by the Libyan regime aimed at weakening European and US demands that Gaddafi step down. Agostino Miozzo, an Italian doctor who heads the EU diplomatic service’s crisis management office, returned on Monday from a 48-hour trip to Tripoli where the regime offered the monitoring mission. “Libya’s Europe minister suggested a UN or EU independent evaluation in Libya as soon as possible,” said a senior EU official. The Libyans promised full support with logistics, organisation and security, and pledged that the monitors would be free to go anywhere in the country, the official said. All remaining EU ambassadors in Tripoli – which include the Italian, but not the German, French or British – strongly supported the offer, the official said. Miozzo is also in favour, although other officials pointed out that he does not have a political mandate. 1pm: Here’s a summary of events so far today: • There have been multiple airstrikes in the eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf , held by the opposition. AP reports that there have been five airstrikes. Some appear to be aimed at opposition lines but at least one hit a residential area, according to Reuters, which said a house was struck. Al-arabiya reported that bombs were dropped on two hotels used by foreign journalists and that a block of flats was hit. There have been no casualties reported from the airstrikes so far. • In the west of the country, Zawiyah, 50km from Tripoli, has come under fierce attack from Gaddafi forces and the government claims to have retaken the city, although that could not be confirmed. A Libyan exile in contact with someone in the city said fighting was ongoing and Zawiyah was not under Gaddafi’s control yet. Government forces have reportedly been using tanks and have destroyed buildings including hospitals. Al-Jazeera said the city is surrounded by troops loyal to the Libyan leader. • The Libyan National Council in Benghazi, set up by the opposition, claims Gaddafi sent a representative to negotiate a peaceful exit for the Libyan leader , which would see him retain assets and avoid prosecution. A spokesman for the council said it would not negotiate with “someone who spilled Libyan blood and continues to do so”.But a Libyan foreign ministry official described the reports as “absolute nonsense”. 1.09pm – Kuwait: A planned day of protest in Kuwait has seen a peaceful start with Kuwaitis handing out watermelons to MPs heading into parliament. The Associated Press explains: The significance was not spelled out, but in local parlance, a person who has a lack of understanding or holds an unrealistic point of view sometimes is called a watermelon. In Kuwait, six members of the Kuwaiti youth group Kafi (Enough), gave watermelons to a few lawmakers as a signal of their political dissatisfaction in a country that has the most outspoken parliament in the Gulf Arab region. The demonstration marked a tempered start to a planned day of unauthorised protests by youth groups demanding the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, and greater political freedom. A potentially larger rally was expected later, inspired by spreading Arab protests that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt before sparking the insurrection in Libya and spreading to other Gulf countries including Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia. 1.33pm – Yemen: Al-Jazeera says one inmate has been killed and dozens injured at Sana’a prison, where prisoners have rioted and joined calls for President Saleh to stand down. Thousands of protesters have been camped out for weeks in the captial Sana’a. AP reports on demonstrations in the south of the country : A crowd of women joined a demonstration Tuesday in the southern port city of Aden after a young protester was critically wounded by a bullet to the head during a rally there the previous day. Local officials said 25 protesters were arrested during Monday’s demonstration. Also, tens of thousands took to the streets in the cities of the southern Ibb province on Tuesday, calling on the government to bring to justice those responsible for a deadly attack there Sunday by what opposition activists said were “government thugs” who descended on protesters camped out on a main square. One person was killed in that violence and 53 people were hurt. 1.35pm: Gaddafi will not be pursued by the opposition when he leaves power if he leaves within 72 hours and stops the bombing , the head of Libya’s transitional council, Mustafa Muhammad Abdul-Jalil, has said, al-Jazeera reports. 2.11pm – Bahrain: Three Bahraini hardline Shia Muslim groups, including the leading Haq movement, said today they have created a new movement aiming at converting Bahrain’s monarchy into a republic, Reuters reports. Protests against the ruling Sunni government began in the middle of last month. The three groups said in a joint statement: This tripartite coalition adopts the choice of bringing down the existing regime in Bahrain and the establishment of a democratic republican system. 2.18pm: The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont writes about the lie of the Libyan government’s claim that “No restrictions are imposed on the foreign media.” The reality is that journalists cannot operate freely in Tripoli at all, despite repeated promises from individuals including Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, and the deputy foreign minister, Khalid Khayem. In recent days the Guardian has been held twice for testing this promise, once for six and a half hours outside the town of Zawiyah – which included a visit to an intelligence barracks. During that episode, journalists were told they would be blindfolded and taken to an undisclosed location. On the second occasion, the Guardian reporter was held for three hours by paratroopers at a checkpoint with three other British journalists, among 24 who were detained across Tripoli on a single day. Other nationalities – all with permission to work as reporters in the country – have been subjected to far harsher treatment: some have been held overnight, physically assaulted by militia or threatened with loaded weapons. 2.28pm: Arab foreign ministers will meet on Saturday at the Arab League in Cairo to discuss the situation in Libya, Reuters reports (it was reported earlier that they would meet on Friday). 2.40pm: Reporters in Tripoli are waiting for the arrival of Gaddafi at a hotel where he is due to give a press conference/interview with a Turkish TV station. The Guardian’s Peter Beaumont tweets that journalists have been warned not to disobey instructions: – 2.56pm: The criticism aimed at UK foreign secretary, William Hague, over the botched diplomatic mission to Benghazi has not stopped him speaking out about the prospect of a no-fly zone in Libya. In a joint press conference with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in London, he said: It is a realistic possibility and it is a practical possibility. It has to have a clear legal base, it has to have the necessary international support, broad support in the region itself. 3.06pm: The first delivery of food aid into Libya since the fighting began is due to arrive in Benghazi tonight after a convoy of trucks entered the country from Egypt last night, the UN World Food programme said . It said the convoy is carrying 70 metric tonnes of high-energy, fortified date bars. Additionally, a shipment of 1,182 metric tonnes of wheat flour which was turned back from Benghazi last Thursday amid security concerns, set sail for Libya again today. 3.21pm: Benghazi’s Tahrir Square has seen its first wedding ceremony since the start of the uprising, al Arabiya reports : Faisal, the groom, does not find it strange to marry in such circumstances and thinks that his ceremony will not be the last. “Come everyday to the square and you will witness more wedding ceremonies,” he told Al Arabiya. The bride’s father, Ali Saleh, agrees with his son-in-law and expects joy to spread all over Libya. Followers of the Guardian’s Middle East blogs over the past few weeks might recall an an Egyptian couple marrying in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the heart of the Egyptians’ revolution . 3.31pm – Iran: Footage has been posted on YouTube said to be of police beating protesters in Tehran today: – 3.42pm – Egypt: There are signs that a “million woman march” being held in Cairo to coincide with International Women’s Day is turning ugly. Women are demanding female input on the drafting of Egypt’s constitution (the committee drawing up amendments is all male) and legislative changes that will guarantee complete gender equality but there is a counterprotest. @pakinammer is tweeting from the protest . Here’s a selection from her recent updates: A guy now is schooling us on how women should stay home and raise men who can become presidents =) #Tahrir A physical scuffle broke out now now. I think I’m leaving. This can get disgusting, easily. #Tahrir #Women #Protests One man, carried on shoulders, shouting: “A woman’s place is her house.” Some women arguing back. No point if you ask me. #Tahrir #Sick Also tweeting is @ElFoulio Three women attacked, army stepped in This is fucking disgusting The counter-protesters attacked the womens’ march 3.54pm: Here’s al-Jazeera’s interview with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil in which he gave Gaddafi 72 hours to step down: – 5.13pm: This is Matt Wells taking over from Haroon. Sky News is broadcasting a much-anticipated special report on Zawiyah. Sky is one of the few media organisations to have had a correspondent in the disputed city, Alex Crawford. 5.17pm: In her dramatic report, Alex Crawford described how the she and her crew were trapped in Zawiyah as the Libyan army loyal to Gaddafi moved in to crush the rebels. In her accompanying web report, Crawford writes : We saw ambulances being driven at high speed to pick up the first casualties and they too were fired on. It was mayhem at the Zawiyah teaching hospital, as dozens of people were stretchered in by friends, colleagues and strangers. The injuries were appalling. She quotes a doctor at the hospital who said there was a “shoot-to-kill” policy. Crawford, who was in Zawiaya from midday on Friday to Sunday afternoon and says “the people were under almost constant attack” in that time. And her eyewitness report gives the lie to Gaddafi’s claims that his forces have not fired on peaceful fellow Libyans. We have seen with our own eyes Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s forces firing on peaceful protesters. 5.28pm: Reuters has filed a new update of the fighting in Libya. It reports a Gaddafi-led “onslaught” on Zawiyah, as well as attempts to retake the eastern oil port of Ras Lanuf. In besieged Zawiyah, the closest rebel-held city to Tripoli, trapped residents cowered from the onslaught on Tuesday. “Fighting is still going on now. Gaddafi’s forces are using tanks. There are also sporadic air strikes … they could not reach the centre of the town which is still in the control of the revolutionaries,” a resident called Ibrahim said by phone. In the east, much of which is under rebel control, warplanes bombed rebel positions around the oil port of Ras Lanuf. Rebel euphoria seemed to have dimmed. “People are dying out there. Gaddafi’s forces have rockets and tanks,” Abdel Salem Mohamed, 21, told Reuters near Ras Lanuf. “You see this? This is no good,” he said of his light machinegun. 5.32pm: Our own Peter Beaumont has just filed a detailed report on the battle for Zawiyah, which we are preparing for publication. He describes it as the regime’s “final assault” on the rebel town. Here are some extracts. The Gaddafi regime has cut all mobile and landline communications with the town in the last days, and accounts of today’s fighting had to be phoned through from a witness who had driven out of the area of the fighting. Residents described a hail of bullets with women and children being killed and families trapped within their homes by the ferocity of the fighting. Peter has pieced together a picture of a horrifying situation in the town. He goes on: Those few who have managed to get inside have described horrific scenes including the targeting of a large protest march and firing on civilians. “Zawiyah has been torn down to ashes,” said one source. A second said the town had been “flattened”. 5.48pm: Here is a summary of events so far today. • Forces loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have launched what is being described as a “final assault” on the town of Zawiyah, 50km from the capital, Tripoli. Accounts from the town report a sustained battle, and there are reports of significant damage and many injuries. • Sky News, whose correspondent Alex Crawford and her crew were trapped in Zawiyah over the weekend, said it witnessed Gaddafi forces firing on unarmed civilians and ambulances. These accounts were corroborated from Tripoli by the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont, who reports: “Residents described a hail of bullets with women and children being killed and families trapped within their homes by the ferocity of the fighting.” • The Libyan National Council in Benghazi, set up by the opposition, claims Gaddafi sent a representative to negotiate a peaceful exit for the Libyan leader, which would see him retain assets and avoid prosecution. A spokesman for the council said it would not negotiate with “someone who spilled Libyan blood and continues to do so”.But a Libyan foreign ministry official described the reports as “absolute nonsense”. •  In Egypt, a march by women to mark international women’s day and to call for greater female participation in post-revolution political developments, was marred by a counter-demonstration by men. The scenes at the Cairo march turned ugly, and there were reports of scuffles. 6.13pm: This live blog has now finished. Coverage continues here . Arab and Middle East protests Libya Muammar Gaddafi Oman Saudi Arabia Egypt Tunisia Bahrain Yemen Protest Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk

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