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Khamis Gaddafi has been killed in the Bani Walid siege,
Libya’s National Congress has confirmed. The body of Colonel Gaddafi’s youngest
son has reportedly now been transferred to a hospital in Misrata.
A spokesperson from the Congress said that the 28-year-old
was killed “in battle,” while Deputy PM Mustafa Abushagur wrote on
Twitter that his body had been found in a Misrata hospital.
Earlier, conflicting reports on Twitter said that Khamis
Gaddafi was apprehended in Bani Walid by government forces and later died in
their custody.
Khamis Gaddafi was said to have been killed by a NATO
airstrike in August 2011, but this was never able to be verified. During the
past year various militia groups and government forces have claimed to have
killed Khamis Gaddafi.
Meanwhile, Moussa Ibrahim, Muammar Gaddafi's former
spokesman, reportedly posted an online audio message denying earlier reports of
Khamis Gaddafi's death and his capture by government forces.
The news follows the office of the Libyan Prime Minister stating
that “Moussa Ibrahim has been arrested by forces belonging to the Libyan
government in Tarhouna and he is being transferred to Tripoli to begin
interrogation.”
It comes amidst the ongoing assault of the stronghold of
Bani Walid by the Libyan army, which is looking to win over the remaining
Gaddafi loyalists in the town.
Violence has been ongoing in Bani Walid for over a
fortnight, with Mohammed Megaryef, Libya’s de facto head of state, saying that
the fight for control is not over yet.
"The campaign to liberate the country has not been
fully completed," Megaryef, the head of Libya's national assembly, said on
state television on Saturday. He cited the “corruption and weakness” of
some government bodies as the root cause for the “state of discontent and
tension among different segments of society.”
The Bani Walid assault followed the kidnap, shooting and
torture in Bani Walid of Omran Ben Shaaban, credited with capturing Gaddafi
last year. Shaban died of his injuries last month while undergoing treatment in
Paris. It is widely believed he was killed by Gaddafi loyalists.
Syrian Army soldiers have killed a Saudi military officer
during a mop-up operation in the northwestern province of Idlib.
The officer, identified as Mohammad Salem al-Harbi, was killed in fierce
clashes between foreign-sponsored insurgents and Syrian soldiers in the western
town of Ma'arrat al-Numan, situated 73 kilometers (45 miles) south of the
flashpoint city of Aleppo, on Saturday, the Arabic-language news network
Al-Alam reported.
The report added that several foreign militants of Turkish nationality were
also killed in the battle.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.
Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are
the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition
accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside
the country and accuses Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey of arming the
opposition.
A Yemeni security official has been shot dead while on the
way to the US embassy in the capital Sana'a, an official says.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on Qassem Aqlan on Thursday while he was
driving along the capital’s Sittin avenue, the official also said.
The assailants managed to escape the scene of the attack. No group has so far
claimed responsibility for the deadly incident.
Meanwhile, a US diplomat said that Aqlan was coordinating a Yemeni and US
investigation of an attack on the US embassy in Sana’s by anti-US demonstrators
angry over a blasphemous anti-Islam film produced in the United States.
Yemenis staged several demonstrations outside the US embassy in Sana’a and
other cities across the country to voice their outrage over the film that
insults Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Yemeni security forces clashed with protesters many times, firing warning shots
and using water cannons to prevent angry protesters from approaching the
embassy building.
Washington deployed over 100 Marines from the Fleet Anti-terrorism Security
Team (FAST) to Yemen to help protect its embassy during anti-American protests.
Iran’s Press TV claimed its Damascus correspondent was
killed Wednesday by a rebel sniper while reporting on bombings in the Syrian
capital. Two car bombs struck the Syrian Army’s command headquarters, setting
one of the buildings on fire.
Maya Nasser, a 33 -year-old Syrian national, was killed
while reporting from the scene, Press TV said. Hussein Murtada – Press TV’s
Damascus bureau chief and head of the Arabic-language Al-Alam TV network – was
also reportedly injured in the attack.
In recent months, Nasser reported from the frontlines of
the Syrian conflict. His video reports from war-torn Aleppo were a valuable source
of on-the-ground information.
“Maya Nasser was a true professional, and his help to me
was priceless while I was reporting from Syria,” RT’s Oksana Boyko said,
recalling how Nasser gave her advance warning of which conflict zones were
particularly dangerous.
Nasser maintained excellent relations with foreign
journalists working in Syria, and was often cited by colleagues as the only
source of reliable information on the conflict.
“In private he always stressed that it is the hardship of
war that had fallen on the Syrian people is what disturbed him the most,” Boyko said. “Maya
always stressed that ordinary people are those who suffer the most in the
conflict.”
Nasser never hid his identity, and frequently debated
political opponents on his Twitter account. Though he was threatened on the Web
more than once, he was remembered as always being fearless about his work.
Journalists
in Syria killed in spate of rebel violence
French journalist Gilles Jacquier was killed in January
by 81mm mortar fire from a rebel-held area.
On June 27, seven journalists and four security guards
were killed in a rebel attack on the pro-government Al-Ikhbaria TV station in
the town of Drousha, south of Damascus. One building in the complex was nearly
demolished.
Syrian state TV host Mohammed al-Saeed was kidnapped and
executed on July 19; a militant Islamist group claimed responsibility for the
killing.
Two more Syrian journalists were kidnapped on August 4:
Talal Jinbakly, a camera operator for Syrian state TV, and Mohammad Ali
Hussein, who worked for an educational channel in Syria. That same day, Syrian
rebels attempted to seize a state-run radio and TV broadcasting complex in
Aleppo, and reportedly raised a rebel flag on top of the building.
Three TV journalists and their driver were kidnapped
while reporting from a Damascus suburb on August 10.
On August 11, the head of Syrian news agency SANA was
killed in Damascus.
In a mid-August statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry
condemned the “terrorist attacks against journalists” who “ensure
the democratic rights of people to receive objective information, freedom of
speech and opinion.”
Syrian Army soldiers have killed scores of foreign-backed
insurgents fighting government forces in the flashpoint city of Aleppo.
The armed men were killed during intense clashes with Syrian troops in the
al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo on Saturday, the SANA news agency reported.
Syrian troops also destroyed a weapons cache in the Sayyed Ali neighbourhood of
the violence-plagued city, which is located 355 kilometers (220 miles) north of
Damascus, and killed all the insurgents at the site, the Syrian military
announced.
Meanwhile, the Syrian Army inflicted heavy losses on foreign-sponsored
insurgents in Aleppo’s Darat Izza district on Saturday and destroyed 10 pickup
trucks equipped with Dushka machine guns.
Syrian soldiers also attacked insurgents who were driving down the
al-Atareb-Oroum al-Soughra highway in dozens of vehicles equipped with Dushka
machine guns, killing a large number of them.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011.
Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are
the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition
accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside
the country and accuses Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey of arming the
opposition.
The US voices outrage at the Syrian Army’s success in clearing
Syria’s largest city of Aleppo of anti-Damascus armed groups.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday that the
government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has lost all legitimacy by
attacking the armed groups in the city.
"If they continue this kind of tragic attack on their own people in
Aleppo, I think it ultimately will be a nail in Assad's own coffin,"
Panetta told reporters.
"What Assad has been doing to his own people and what he continues to do
to his own people makes clear that his regime is coming to an end. It's lost
all legitimacy," he added.
This is while Syrian security forces are clearing more areas across the country
of militants.
The US official made the remarks ahead of a weeklong trip to the Middle East
and North Africa.
The United States has said it is enlarging its assistance to Syria's fractured
opposition. Also, according to Reuters, the White House will soon authorize
greater covert assistance to the armed gangs.
Washington has already thrown its support behind Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and
Turkey for arming the Syrian opposition.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. The country says outlaws,
saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and
deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being
behind the killings.
Western states have been calling for Assad to step down. However, Russia and
China are strongly opposed to the Western drive to oust the Syrian president.
Damascus says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country.
There are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign
nationals.
Syrian security forces have attacked a militant hideout in
the al-Hasakah countryside in the far northeast corner of the country.
Clashes continue between the Syrian Army and armed groups as
security forces are clearing more areas of militants across the country.
The fighting is still underway in the northern city of Aleppo and the Syrian
army regained control of the city's Sallaheddin neighborhood.
In the southwestern city of Dara’a, a large number of armed men were arrested
while many other militants were killed, when they tried to cross into Syria
from neighboring states of Jordan and Turkey.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Sunday reiterated that several
countries in the region are aiding the anti-Syria militants.
"Syria is the target of a global plot whose agents are the countries in
the region," Muallem said.
“We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight
the government… and they will definitely be defeated,” he added.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws,
saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and
deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being
behind the killings.
Western states have been calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step
down. However, Russia and China are strongly opposed to the Western drive to
oust Assad.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside
the country. There are reports that a very large number of the armed militants
are foreign nationals.
Syrian security forces have killed a large number of
terrorists attempting to enter the country from neighboring Turkey.
The development comes as clashes continue between Syrian
troops and foreign-sponsored armed gangs in the northwestern city of Aleppo.
The security forces have also foiled infiltration attempts by terrorists from
Jordan, reports say.
In Aleppo, there has been fierce fighting in the southwestern neighborhoods of
Salahuddin and Hamdaniya and the eastern neighborhood of Sakhour.
The Syrian army began a major operation on Saturday from the southwestern
outskirts of Aleppo to clear the city of armed gangs.
On Sunday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said,
“We believe that all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight
the government… and they will definitely be defeated.”
Muallem made the remarks in a joint press conference with
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in Tehran.
Meanwhile, nearly 150 militants were killed during clashes with Syrian troops
in the suburbs of the western city of Homs on Sunday.
Over the past few days, Syrian troops have reportedly inflicted heavy losses on
militants in the southwestern city of Dara’a, about 114 kilometers (70 miles)
south of the capital, Damascus.
The anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but Russia and China remain strongly
opposed to the Western drive to oust Assad.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on July 28, “Our
Western partners… together with some of Syria’s neighbors are essentially
encouraging, supporting and directing an armed struggle against [the Syrian
government].”
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says three detained suspects have confessed to their involvement in a metro bombing in the capital Minsk that killed a dozen people on Monday.
"Today ... the crime was solved. The [state security service] KGB and police needed just one day ... to carry out a brilliant operation and detain the perpetrators," Reuters quoted Lukashenko as saying on Wednesday.
"We must look into statements made by political actors...Maybe these actors from the 'fifth column' will open their cards and point to the one who ordered (the attack)," he added.
The remarks came on a day that the ex-Soviet republic held mourning ceremonies for the victims of the April 11 metro blast in Minsk, which reportedly killed 12 people and wounded 150 others.
Chairman of the State Security Committee of Belarus Vadim Zaitsev said earlier that a man in his mid-20s was arrested and confessed to being involved in the bombing. He also stated that two other suspects have also confessed to their involvement in the subway attack.
Meanwhile, the Belarusian president said that the three suspects were also behind a bomb blast at a concert in Minsk in July 2008, which wounded about 50 people, and two other bombings in September 2005 that wounded more than 45 people in the city of Vitebsk.
"The detained criminals have confessed not only to carrying out the terrorist act in the Minsk metro. They are also responsible for the previous Independence Day and Vitebsk terrorist acts," Lukashenko noted.
The UN Security Council on Wednesday condemned in the strongest terms the attack at the subway station, saying "any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable."
At least 11 people have been killed and more than 100 injured by an explosion in a subway station near Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's office in Minsk.
Smoke was seen rising from the Oktyabrskaya metro station in the city center on Monday and casualties were being taken out to the surface, AFP reported.
"Eleven people died as a result of the explosion," Interfax quoted Lukashenko as saying.
The Belarusian president blamed anonymous political opponents for the deadly incident in an emergency security session.
"I warned you that they won't let us live a calm life," said Lukashenko. "We have been presented with a serious challenge. We need an adequate response -- and it must be found."
While he said he could not rule out a foreign hand in the attacks, Lukashenko added, "I do not exclude that this is a present from abroad but we must look at home too."
The blast came amid severe economic conditions that have made the Belarusian government execute partial currency devaluation.
A Press TV survey reveals that almost half of the public think the brutal crackdown and tight security measures in Saudi Arabia will not safeguard the Kingdom against collapse.
According to the public opinion poll, some 51.6 percent of people think that crackdown will result in a massive bloodshed and the collapse of the Saudi kingdom.
The poll indicates that 13.04 percent of people believe that the issue will only result in massive bloodshed, while another 18 percent said the strict security measures will just not be enough to save the kingdom from falling.
An estimated 17.36 percent of the voters went for the choice that said the crackdown will eventually discourage the public in its revolutionary drive.
The survey also found that the voters from the United States topped the list of participants by 26.3 percent of the votes, while 11.4 percent were from the United Kingdom.
Voters from Canada made 6.3 percent, along with Australians and the Dutch, with 2.6 and 1.6 percent respectively.
Some 51.8 percent of the votes were also from other countries.
The poll was conducted while hundreds of people have recently protested peacefully in Saudi Arabia, calling on the country's military to end its incursion into Bahrain.
Moreover, hundreds of anti-government Saudi protesters took to the streets in Qatif and surrounding villages in eastern Saudi Arabia on March 25, demanding the immediate release of what they called forgotten political prisoners. The protesters said the prisoners were being held unjustly and without trial, some as long as 16 years.
Demonstrators also called for political freedoms and an end to sectarian discrimination by the Wahhabi monarchy.
Political observers have compared the crimes committed by Saudi Arabia to those of Israel amid Riyadh's military invasion of Bahrain to help quell the anti-government protests.
On March 14, Saudi Arabia dispatched troops to Bahrain to crush Bahraini protesters who have been demanding the downfall of the al-Khalifa dynasty in the small Persian Gulf kingdom.
The move has prompted political observers to look back at the crimes of the Saudi regime throughout history and pose the question, “How different are the Saudi and Israeli regimes?”
Israel invaded Palestine and changed its name to “Israel,” and the Saudi dynasty invaded Hijaz and put its family name on the territory, calling it “Saudi Arabia.”
Israeli regime invaded Lebanon and Gaza under the pretext of establishing security; Saudis launched an onslaught on Bahraini civilians to prevent anti-government protests from spreading to their territory.
Israel violated international rules of engagement and used non-conventional weapons against the Lebanese and Gazans; Saudis used live ammunition and nerve gas in their attacks on defenseless Bahraini protesters.
Israel targeted residential areas, hospitals and schools during its assaults; Saudis hit ambulances and raided hospitals in crisis-hit Bahrain.
Israel resorts to kidnapping, bombing and other terrorist operations in other countries to maintain its hegemony; Saudis have set up al-Qaeda to continue their dominance and sent terrorist groups to Iraq to massacre innocent people in the war-ravaged country.
Now the question remains: “Between Israeli and Saudi regimes, which one is more criminal and which one enjoys more US support?”
Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's long-standing ruler, has reportedly lost control of more cities as anti-government protests continue to sweep the African nation despite his threat of a brutal crackdown.
Protesters in Misrata said on Wednesday they had wrested the western city from government control. In a statement on the internet, army officers stationed in the city pledged "total support for the protesters".
Much of the country's east also seemed to be in control of the protesters, and an Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from the city of Tobruk, 140km from the Egyptian border, said there was no presence of security forces.
"From what I've seen, I'd say the people of eastern Libya are the ones in control", Hoda Abdel-Hamid, our correspondent, said.
She said there were no officials manning the border when the Al Jazeera team crossed into Libya.
'People in charge'
"All along the border, we didn't see one policeman, we didn't see one soldier and people here told us they [security forces] have all fled or are in hiding and that the people are now in charge, meaning all the way from the border, Tobruk, and then all the way up to Benghazi.
"People tell me it's also quite calm in Bayda and Beghazi. The do say however that "militias" are roaming around, especially at night. They describe them as African men, they say they speak French so they think they're from Chad."
Major General Suleiman Mahmoud, the commander of the armed forces in Tobruk, told Al Jazeera that the troops led by him had switched loyalties. "We are on the side of the people," he said.
Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, was where people first rose up in revolt against Gaddafi's 41-year long rule about two weeks ago. The rebellion has since spread to other cities despite heavy-handed attempts by security forces to quell the unrest.
With authorities placing tight restrictions on the media, flow of news from Libya is at best patchy. But reports filtering out suggest at least 300 people have been killed in the violence.
But Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said there were "credible' reports that at least 1,000 had died in the clampdown.
Defiant Gaddafi
Despite the reverses, a defiant Gaddafi has vowed to quash the uprising.
He delivered a rambling speech on television on Tuesday night, declaring he would die a martyr in Libya, and threatening to purge opponents "house by house" and "inch by inch."
He blamed the uprising in the country on "Islamists", and warned that an "Islamic emirate" has already been set up in Bayda and Derna, where he threatened the use of extreme force.
He urged the Libyans to take to the streets and show their support for their leader.
Several hundred government loyalists heeded his call in Tripoli, the capital. on Wednesday, staging a pro-Gaddafi rally in the city's Green Square.
Fresh gunfire was reported in the capital on Wednesday, after Gaddafi called on his supporters to take back the streets from anti-government protesters.
But Gaddafi's speech has done little to stem the steady stream of defections from his side.
Libyan diplomats across the world have either resigned in protest at the use of violence against citizens, or renounced Gaddafi's leadership, saying that they stand with the protesters.
Late on Tuesday night, General Abdul-Fatah Younis, the country's interior minister, became the latest government official to stand down, saying that he was resigning to support what he termed as the "February 17 revolution".
He urged the Libyan army to join the people and their "legitimate demands".
On Wednesday, Youssef Sawani, a senior aide to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons, resigned from his post "to express dismay against violence", Reuters reported.
Earlier, Mustapha Abdeljalil, the country's justice minister, had resigned in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters, and diplomat's at Libya's mission to the United Nations called on the Libyan army to help remove "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi".
A group of army officers has also issued a statement urging soldiers to "join the people" and remove Gaddafi from power.
Reports say Gaddafi has reportedly ordered security forces to bomb oil pipelines to disrupt crude supplies to the Mediterranean countries.
A source close to the Gaddafi regime says Libya's embattled ruler has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities, Time Magazine reported.
The forces loyal to Gaddafi will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off the flow to the Mediterranean ports, he added.
Meanwhile, shipping groups have announced that all Libyan ports and terminals are temporarily closed due to the ongoing violence.
Many top Libyan officials, including Interior Minister Abdul Fattah Younis, have quit Gaddafi's government.
In the meantime, protesters have overrun the eastern province of Cyrenaica, despite a deadly crackdown on pro-democracy rallies. Soldiers in the coastal town of Tobruk have said that Gaddafi's forces have lost control of the region.
This comes after Tripoli's Deputy Ambassador to the UN said Gaddafi's statements have served as a signal to his supporters to engage in genocide against the Libyan people.
Gaddafi has rejected calls to step down, threatening instead to crush the popular revolution. The government has even used air raids to suppress the demonstrations.
Some 1,400 people have been killed by Libyan security forces in bomb attacks against pro-democracy demonstrators in the North African country, reports say.
Several Western countries have been accused of turning a blind eye to the deadly crackdown in Libya in order to safeguard their economic interests.
Gaddafi's ties with the West have had ups and downs, but relations between Italy and Libya have warmed over the last few years.
Libya currently provides about 20 percent of Italy's oil imports. It has developed cordial relations with Britain, France and the United States as well.
Experts say Western countries have turned a blind eye to crimes being committed against Libyan people by Gaddafi's autocratic regime due to economic interests
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has ruled Libya for more than four decades.
Some 1,400 people have been killed by Libyan security forces in bomb attacks against pro-democracy demonstrators in the North African country.
Reports say planeloads of armed foreign mercenaries have landed in Tripoli to target peaceful pro-democracy protesters.
This is while government forces are losing grip on the country amid the ongoing revolution in Libya
Soldiers in the coastal town of Tobruk, which lies close to the Egyptian border, say Gaddafi's forces have lost control of the region.
They say they no longer back the Libyan ruler. Protesters have over-run the eastern province of Cyrenaica.
Meanwhile, military defectors in eastern Libya are reported to be mobilizing to defend the people against possible attacks by Gaddafi's forces.
The dictator's military forces have even used air raids to suppress demonstrations.
Many governments and international bodies across the world have reacted strongly to the crisis in Libya.
Reports widely indicate that government-led violence in the country has left at least one thousand protesters dead over the past several days.
The crews of two Libyan warships have mutinied and are refusing to obey Muammar Gaddafi's orders to attack the eastern port city of Benghazi.
This development comes as more reports are coming in about Libyan troops defecting to the side of the people seeking to overthrow Gaddafi, the longest serving ruler in the Arab world.
However, thousands of soldiers have been deployed to the city of Sabratha where protesters have reportedly clashed with security forces.
Meanwhile, Libyan Interior Minister Abdel Fatah Yunes has resigned from his post in solidarity with the pro-democracy protesters.
The Libyan deputy ambassador to the UN, Ibrahim Dabbashi, has strongly criticized the crackdown, saying he will not support a government that kills its own people, and has asked Gaddafi to resign.
However, in a televised address on Tuesday, Gaddafi said he had no intention of stepping down. He also threatened to step up the crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, saying, “We have not used our power yet."
Pundits say the Libyan regime's heavy-handed clampdown on the people seems to have seriously backfired since the anti-government demonstrations have actually gained momentum across the country.
At least 1,000 people were killed in Tripoli on Monday by airstrikes conducted by the Libyan military in a desperate move meant to quell the popular uprising, according to some reports
Muammer Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, remains defiant in the face of mass protests calling for his resignation, saying that he intends to remain in power as parts of the country's state structure appear to be disintegrating around him.
Some fear that Libya's state apparatus, once seen as a powerful and coherent entity, is facing collapse as key officials quit the government, with some joining the protesters, and as international isolation mounts.
Speaking in a televised address on Tuesday evening, Gaddafi vowed to fight on and die a "martyr" on Libyan soil. He called on his supporters to take back the streets on Wednesday from protesters who are demanding that he step down.
He also claimed that he had "not yet ordered the use of force", warning that "when I do, everything will burn".
Gaddafi, who termed the protests an "armed rebellion", said that security cordons set up by police and the military would be lifted on Wednesday, telling his supporters to "go out and fight [anti-government protesters]".
He blamed the uprising in the country on "Islamists", and warned that an "Islamic emirate" has already been set up in Bayda and Derna, where he threatened the use of extreme force.
"I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end," Gaddafi, who has been in power for 41 years, said.
Several hundred people held a pro-Gaddafi rally in central Tripoli on Tuesday night, cheering the Libyan leader as he made his speech.
Demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi, which is now controlled by anti-government protesters, angrily threw shoes at a screen showing the address.
'Indications of state collapse'
While Gaddafi has insisted that the country is stable, however, international leaders have warned that the growing violence and increasing numbers of government and military renouncements of Gaddafi's leadership indicate that the state structure is in critical danger.
William Hague, the British foreign minister, has said that there are "many indications of the structure of the state collapsing in Libya".
"The resignation of so many ambassadors and diplomats, reports of ministers changing sides within Libya itself, shows the system is in a very serious crisis," he said.
Libyan diplomats across the world have either resigned in protest at the use of violence (including the alleged use of warplanes on civilian targets) against citizens, or renounced Gaddafi's leadership, saying that they stand with the protesters.
Late on Tuesday night, General Abdul-Fatah Younis, the country's interior minister, became the latest government official to stand down, saying that he was resigning to support what he termed as the "February 17 revolution".
He urged the Libyan army to join the people and their "legitimate demands".
Earlier, Mustapha Abdeljalil, the country's justice minister, had resigned in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters, and diplomat's at Libya's mission to the United Nations called on the Libyan army to help remove "the tyrant Muammar Gaddafi".
A group of army officers has also issued a statement urging soldiers to "join the people" and remove Gaddafi from power.
Protesters 'take' towns
Swathes of the country now appear to be out of Gaddafi's control. Benghazi, the country's second largest city, was "taken" by protesters after days of bloody clashes, and soldiers posted there are reported to have deserted and joined the anti-government forces.
Several other cities in the country's east are said to be under the control of protesters, including Tobruk, where a former army major told the Reuters news agency: "All the eastern regions are out of Gaddafi's control ... the people and the army are hand-in-hand here."
The Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights says that protesters also control Sirte, Misrata, Khoms, Tarhounah, Zenten, Al-Zawiya and Zouara.
The Warfalla tribe, the largest in the country, has also joined calls from other tribes for Gaddafi to stand down.
The country is also facing growing international isolation, and late on Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council expressed "grave concern" at the situation in the country, condemning the use of force against civilians.
A statement signed by all 15 members of the council said that the UNSC "deplored the repression against peaceful demonstrators, and expressed deep regret at the deaths of hundreds of civilians".
The council called for "steps to address the legitimate demands of the population".
On Tuesday, Peru severed diplomatic ties with Gaddafi's government, while several countries, including Britain, the United States, Italy, France, Turkey, India, Sri lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Greece have put into place arrangements for the evacuation of their citizens from the country.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, said on Tuesday that the use of violence was "completely unacceptable", while Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said it "amounted to [Gaddafi] declaring war on his own people".
Violence rages
The UNSC's statement stopped short of declaring Libyan airspace a no-fly zone, after diplomats called for the step to be taken following reports that warplanes had been used throughout Monday to bomb civilian targets in Tripoli.
Violence has continued to rage in Libya since an anti-government crackdown on demonstrations began on February 17. Human Rights Watch, a US-based rights watchdog, says that at least 295 people have been killed since violence began.
Naji Abu-Ghrouss, an interior ministry official, said 197 civilians and 111 in the military have been killed in violence so far.
Witnesses in Tripoli and other cities have reported that foreign mercenaries have been patrolling the streets, firing indiscriminately on those they encounter in a bid to keep people off the streets. In addition, air strikes have also been reported against civilian targets.
The government claims that while warplanes have been used in recent days, they were targeting arms depots and that the targets were not in residential areas.
On Tuesday, Navi Pillay, the UN's high commissioner for human rights, said that widespread and systematic attacks against civilians "may amount to crimes against humanity".
Protesters and tribesmen in Ajdabiya, a key city near the country's oil fields, say they are protecting facilities and fields.
On Tuesday, two international oil companies - Italy's Eni and Spain's Repsol-YPF - shut down operations, while Royal Dutch Shell said that it was preparing to evacuate employees.
Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has vowed to fight on and die a "martyr", calling on his supporters to take back the streets from protesters demanding his ouster, shouting and pounding his fist in a furious speech on state TV.
Gaddafi, clad in brown robes and turban, spoke on Tuesday from a podium set up in the entrance of a bombed-out building that appeared to be his Tripoli residence hit by US air raids in the 1980s and left unrepaired as a monument of defiance.
"I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end," he said.
"Muammar Gaddafi is the leader of the revolution, I am not a president to step down ... This is my country. Muammar is not a president to leave his post."
"I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired ... when I do, everything will burn."
He called on supporters to take to the streets to attack protesters. "You men and women who love Gaddafi ...get out of your homes and fill the streets," he said. "Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs ... Starting tomorrow the cordons will be lifted, go out and fight them."
Gaddafi said "peaceful protests is one thing, but armed rebellion is another".
"From tonight to tomorrow, all the young men should form local committees for popular security," he said, telling them to wear a green armband to identify themselves. "The Libyan people and the popular revolution will control Libya."
The speech, which appeared to have been taped earlier, was aired on a screen to hundreds of supporters massed in Tripoli's central Green Square.
At times the camera panned out to show a towering gold-coloured monument in front of the building, showing a fist crushing a fighter jet with an American flag on it - a view that also gave the strange image of Gaddafi speaking alone from behind a podium in the building's dilapidated lobby, with no audience in front of him.
Speech highlights
Shouting in the rambling speech, Gaddafi declared himself "a warrior" and proclaimed: "Libya wants glory, Libya wants to be at the pinnacle, at the pinnacle of the world".
Among the other points made by Gaddafi in his speech:
He called on the people to catch what he called drugged young people and bring them to justice.
He called on the people to "cleanse Libya house by house" unless protesters on the streets surrendered.
He warned that instability in Libya "will give al-Qaeda a base".
He cited the examples of attack on Russian parliament and China's crushing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, saying that the international community did not interfere.
He said he could do the same in Derna and Bayda.
He offered a new constitution starting from Wednesday, but this would come with dialogue, not by collaboration with the enemy.
He blamed the uprising on Islamists who wanted to create another Afghanistan, and warned that those in Bayda and Derna had already set up an Islamic Emirate that would reach Benghazi.
He said that the country's youth was drugged and did not know anything; they were following the Islamists' leader and their leaders would be punished with death in accordance with the Libyan law.
Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are fighting a bloody battle to keep him in power, with residents reporting gunfire in parts of the capital Tripoli and other cities, while other citizens, including the country's former ambassador to India, are saying that warplanes were used to "bomb" protesters.
Nearly 300 people are reported to have been killed in continuing violence in the capital and across the north African country as demonstrations enter their second week.
Witnesses in Tripoli told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that fighter jets had bombed portions of the city in fresh attacks. They said that "mercenaries" were firing on civilians in the city.
Residents of the Tajura neighbourhood, east of Tripoli, said that dead bodies are still lying on the streets from earlier violence. At least 61 people were killed in the capital on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeeera.
Protests in the oil-rich African country, which Gaddafi has ruled for 41 years, began on February 14, but picked up momentum after a brutal government crackdown following a "Day of Rage" on February 17. Demonstrators say they have now taken control of several important towns, including the city of Benghazi, which saw days of bloody clashes between protesters and government forces.
There has been a heavy government crackdown on protests, however, and demonstrators at a huge anti-government march in the capital on Monday afternoon said they came under attack from fighter jets and security forces using live ammunition.
"What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast.
"Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car, they will hit you."
Ali al-Essawi, who resigned as Libyan ambassador to India, also told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that fighter jets had been used by the government to bomb civilians.
He said live fire was being used against protesters, and that foreigners had been hired to fight on behalf of the government. The former ambassador called the violence "a massacre", and called on the UN to block Libyan airspace in order to "protect the people".
'Genocide'
The country's state broadcaster quoted Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan leader, and widely seen as his political heir, as saying that armed forces had "bombarded arms depots situated far from populated areas". He denied that air strikes had taken place in Tripoli and Benghazi.
The government says that it is battling "dens of terrorists".
Earlier, Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said Gaddafi had started a "genocide against the Libyan people".
During Monday's protests, gunfire was heard across the capital, with protesters seen attacking police stations and government buildings, including the offices of the state broadcaster.
Witnesses told the AFP news agency that there had been a "massacre" in Tajura district, with gunmen seen firing "indiscriminately".
In Fashlum district, helicopters were seen landing with what witnesses described as "mercenaries" disembarking and attacking those on the street.
Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist who has been in touch with residents, said that snipers have taken positions on roofs in an apparent bid to stop people joining the protests.
Several witnesses who spoke to the Associated Press news agency said that pro-Gaddafi gunmen were firing from moving cars at both people and buildings.
State television on Tuesday dismissed allegations that security forces were killing protesters as "lies and rumours".
Death toll at least 294
Benghazi, Libya's second city which had been the focal point of violence in recent days, has now been taken over by anti-government protesters, after military units deserted their posts and joined the demonstrators.
According to the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (IFHR), protesters are also in control of Sirte, Tobruk in the east, as well as Misrata, Khoms, Tarhounah, Zenten, Al-Zawiya and Zouara.
On Sunday, the US-based rights group Human Rights Watch said that at least 233 people were killed in the violence. Added to that are at least 61 people who died on Monday, which brings the toll since violence began on February 17 to at least 294.
The Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations has called on the country's ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, to step down and face trial over "war crimes and genocide."
"He has to leave as soon as possible. He has to stop killing the Libyan people," Ibrahim Dabbashi told CNN on Monday.
"The Libyan people have been patient enough for the last 42 years and I think he has to give up and he has to leave the country as soon as possible," Dabbashi added.
Speaking to the state-funded BBC, the Libyan official also said, "I think it is the end of Colonel Gaddafi, it is a matter of days, whether he steps down or the Libyan people will get rid of him anyway.”
"Certainly the best scenario is to have him before the court, to prosecute him and to know from him everything about the crimes he committed before…or the genocide he is committing now or the disappearance of certain important personalities... and all the other crimes he has committed during the 42 years in power,” he went on to say.
The Libyan mission staff at the United Nations has already written a letter, calling on Gaddafi to renounce power, Dabbashi said.
"I call on all countries of the world also to not permit Gaddafi to escape inside their territories and I call on them to watch carefully any amount of money which may be flown outside of Libya," he urged.
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