by Joseph W
Reuters repeats Al Jazeera’s claim that military aircraft have been firing on protesters in Tripoli today.
Some graphic videos: This one shows Bengazi protesters exposed to gunfire. This one apparently shows Gaddafi’s forces having burned down an army barracks, after soldiers refused to fire on protesters.
Various people on Twitter are reporting that mercenaries have been set loose attacking protesters.
Meanwhile, two Libyan air colonels have sought asylum in Malta. Gregg Carlstrom tweets:
Libyan ambassadors in Poland and Bangladesh have also stepped down.
Russia has ordered Russian citizens in Libya to be evacuated. The USA has told its citizens to get out asap. Thousands of Turks are waiting in Benghazi’s football stadium, hoping to return to Turkey soon.
Al Jazeera reports that the London School of Economics is reviewing its ties with Gaddafi.
ALEC MACPH ADDS – a group calling itself the Libyan Youth Movement has a Facebook page, offering a rolling-update of events.
Saif Gaddafi, formerly the LSE’s favourite PhD researcher, also has a fanpage. Maybe because his brother turned-off the Internet, he has not posted any status updates over the past days.
Gene adds: British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Monday: “About whether Col. Gaddafi, is in Venezuela, I have no information that says he is although I have seen some information that suggests he is on his way there.”
British officials stressed that Mr Hague was referring “not to media reports but information from other channels”. “This is credible information,” said a diplomat.
However Gaddafi later appeared briefly on state TV and announced he was still in Libya. Daniel Duquenal sardonically noted: “I think that the British secret service needs to clone back 007 urgently.” Or maybe Austin Powers.