Tunesia, Egyt and now Yemen: a domino effect in the Middle East?

Casualties were reported as 50 tanks and 120 pick-up trucks launched three attacks on the rebel-held town 50km (30 miles) west of the capital, Tripoli.

"I don't know how many are dead - they tore Zawiya down to ashes," a source in the town told the BBC.

Elsewhere, warplanes fired missiles on residential areas and near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanuf.

Rebels say they have rejected an approach by officials offering to hold talks on an exit for the Libyan leader.

The Libyan leader had not sent anyone himself, but lawyers from Tripoli had volunteered to act as go-betweens, former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, who heads the rebels' Transitional National Council, told AFP.

Col Gaddafi has refused to cede power in the past, arguing that he has no official position and therefore it is impossible for him to resign.

* UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says the situation on Tunisia's border with Libya is now under control;110,000 people have flooded over the border since the crisis began, and some 14,000 Bangladeshis remain to be repatriated
* UK Foreign Secretary William Hague says a no-fly zone over Libya is a practical possibility but needs broad international and legal support, adding that the UK and France were drafting a UN resolution on the issue as a "contingency"
* Libyan state TV broadcasts footage of what is says are confessions from rebels captured in Bin Jawad. The men - blindfolded and with their hands tied - tell the cameras they were "persuaded" to fight, with one saying he went along "convinced that my action will destroy me and destroy Libya"

Col Gaddafi's side believe they are making significant military gains, consolidating their hold on western Libya, says the BBC's Wyre Davies in Tripoli.

Yousef Shakir, an adviser to the Libyan cabinet, said: "The Libyan Army has, for the first time, taken a decision to cleanse the Libyan cities from rebels," he told the BBC. "The Army has already started in Libyan western cities and will move to Benghazi."

In western Libya, Zawiya and the opposition-held town of Misrata are still under siege from government forces.

Following Tuesday's onslaught in Zawiya, a source in the town said children as young as five were among the dead.

On Monday, pro-Gaddafi forces had retaken the town of Bin Jawad, on the road to Ras Lanuf, which the rebels captured late last week.

On Tuesday, using air strikes, helicopter gunships and heavy armaments, they pushed back a rebel advance along the north coast, and more accurate attacks than had been seen previously seemed aimed at dislodging opposition fighters from a crossroads outside Ras Lanuf.

Under these circumstances, it is difficult to see how the Gaddafi regime would be in any mood to compromise or talk about succession, our correspondent says.

A Libyan foreign ministry official described as "absolute nonsense" reports that Col Gaddafi had offered to stand down, Reuters reports.

We have witnessed the regime's tanks shelling residential buildings. We have sheltered in a mosque as the colonel's soldiers fired on the minarets.

Later, we were in the town's Martyrs' Square watching the rebels' celebrations as the authorities in Tripoli told the foreign media they had "liberated" the place.

The Sky News crew of cameraman Martin Smith, foreign editor Tim Miller and I found ourselves trapped in Zawiyah as the Libyan army still loyal to Col Gaddafi moved in to crush them.

The day before, we had joined thousands and thousands of Zawiyah's towns folk as they marched through the streets demanding Col Gaddafi stepped down.

They shouted slogans for change and waved the original Libyan flag as they moved en masse to the army tank lines on the edge of the town.

In the crowds were children, mostly young boys. They looked around eight, maybe 10 years old. "Go Gaddafi, go," the crowd shouted.

We were constantly stopped by the demonstrators. "Tell the UN we need their help," one man said. "Gaddafi is killing Libya. Send your report. We need to show people this."

Then, as the crowd came close to the first tank, near an intersection, the soldiers opened fire.

The crowd appeared to flinch but carried on walking - the firing carried on too. It caused a stampede as people fled. The firing continued.

We saw ambulances being driven at high speed to pick up the first casualties and they too were fired on.

t was mayhem at the Zawiyah teaching hospital, as dozens of people were stretchered in by friends, colleagues and strangers. The injuries were appalling.

One doctor, who we shall call Dr M for his own safety, told us: "This is a shoot to kill policy. Most of the injuries are to the head, chest and neck.

"These are not shots to frighten people, these are shots to kill."

We were in Zawiyah from Friday midday to Sunday afternoon and, in that time, the people were under almost constant attack with repeated military forays into the town centre.

We were shielded by those soldiers who had defected from the army. They had brought with them ammunition, a number of anti-aircraft guns, a few tanks and some guns.

We were told they call themselves the Freedom Fighters Brigade and had set up a 10-man military council headed by a number of high-ranking officers.

"Western plot" creating AIDS to destroy blacks

Rebels set demands for Gaddafi exit
Last Modified: 08 Mar 2011 19:00 GMT

Rebels will not pursue Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over crimes they say he has committed if he steps down from his post in the next 72 hours, the head of the rebel National Libyan Council has told Al Jazeera.

"If he leaves Libya immediately, during 72 hours, and stops the bombardment, we as Libyans will step back from pursuing him for crimes," Mustafa Abdel Jalil, head of the opposition National Council, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday.

He said the deadline would not be extended beyond 72 hours.

"Based on our love for our country we have proposed to the [Gaddafi's] indirect negotiators that a solution can be reached," Jalil told Al Jazeera.

"Conditions are that firstly he stops all combat in the fields, secondly that his departure is within 72 hours; thirdly we may waive our right of domestic prosecution ... for the crimes of oppression, persecution, starvation and massacres.

"We will have to wait and see what the regime's response is."

Libyan state television on Tuesday denied reports that the Libyan leader tried to strike a deal with opposition forces seeking his removal. An official from the Libyan foreign ministry described the reports as "absolute nonsense".

However, a spokesman for the opposition National Council in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi confirmed that a representative had sought to negotiate Gaddafi's exit.

Gaddafi was reported to have sent a representative to Benghazi on Sunday night to discuss a conditional plan to step down, Al Jazeera learned. The offer was provided on the condition that Gaddafi would be able to keep his assets and avoid prosecution.
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Conflicting reports

The Libyan leader is said to be willing to step down in return for having war crimes charges against him dropped and a guaranteed safe exit for him and his family. He also reportedly wants guarantees from the UN that he will be allowed to keep his money.

The US responded to the alleged proposal by rejecting any amnesty for Gaddafi. ....<cont>

10.54pm: It seems that anyone waiting up for a major appearance tonight by Muammar Gaddaffi is likely to be disappointed.

He won't be giving a news conference, as was previously thought, reports the BBC's Wyre Davies in Tripoli.

Instead, Gaddafi will apparently be giving an interview to Turkish and French television crews along the lines of the one he gave last week to the BBC, ABC and the Sunday Times.

10.14pm:
Any no-fly zone over Libya must have international backing and not be a US-led effort, Hillary Clinton has told Sky News.

"We want to see the international community support it," said the US Secretary of State (left).

"I think it's very important that this not be a U.S.-led effort because this comes from the people of Libya themselves. This doesn't come from the outside, this doesn't come from some Western power or some Gulf country saying 'This is what you should do'."

Is he a Big Cheese in the US?

Quote:

Is he a Big Cheese in the US?

According to about 50 Americans yes...most the the rest would ask "WHO?"