(Al Jazeera English: 0900 PST, February 23, 2011) A day after Muammar Gaddafi threatened protesters with death in a televised speech, an army commander tells Al Jazeera that his forces are with the people, not the Libyan leader.
The town of Misurata, in western Libya, has reportedly fallen to the opposition, and much of the east seems to be controlled by pro-democracy protesters. Laurence Lee reports on the latest events.
(Al Jazeera English: 0600 PST, February 23, 2011) Egyptians on the road fleeing Libya report fighting in towns along the way, and the situation remains chaotic. One man says there had been a "bloodbath." Mercenaries, some French-speaking and allegedly from Chad, roam during the night. Eyewitnesses say police have fled or are in hiding, and that opposition forces control the east of Libya up to the city of Benghazi.
Hoda Abdel Hamid reports from the city of Tobruk, around 140km west of the border with Egypt.
(Al Jazeera English: 1000 PST, February 22, 2011) In a lengthy televised address, Muammar Gaddafi variously blamed the media, the U.S., the UK, Italy, and hallucinogenic drugs forced on young protesters for causing the trouble in his country. The Libyan leader tried his hardest to appeal to anti-colonialist sentiment in the country but behind all the anger there seemed to be one key message: he has created Libya, and will never leave.
But pressure on Gaddafi is mounting. Several major cities across Libya are under the control of the opposition and the deadly crackdown on protesters seems to have been hardening the popular resolve. Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports.
(Al Jazeera English: 0400 PST, February 22, 2011) The future of Libya appears to be a knife-edge, as airforce fighter jets have bombarded the capital, Tripoli, reportedly on the orders of leader Muammer Gaddafi. Witnesses in Tripoli say that mercenaries are roaming the streets, firing at anyone they see in a bid to dissuade people from demonstrating against Gaddafi.
High-level diplomats from Gaddafi's government, meanwhile, have been resigning or disavowing themselves from his leadership across the world. Al Jazeera's Laurence Lee reports.
(Al Jazeera English: 0430 PST, February 22, 2011)Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal reaches the Egyptian side of the border with Libya and begins to receive reports from those fleeing the country in revolt.
Civilians have rushed to the Al Jazeera team with memory sticks, telling him they contain images of "horrific scenes": planes and helicopter gunships firing indiscriminately, and mercenaries breaking into homes and "slaughtering" people.
(Al Jazeera English Headlines: 0330 PST, February 22, 2011) Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader of 42 years, appeared briefly under an umbrella to tell viewers that he had planned on sleeping among protesters in Tripoli, the capital, but couldn't because of the rain. State television then went on to broadcast video of an orchestra and singers.
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