Live Blog - Libya Feb 22

(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)

February 22

7.12pm: Gaddafi's speech has finally finished. He gets his hand kissed by a loyalit and waves to what appears to be about half a dozen senior officers still listening. State TV now showing thousands of people cheering...

7.07pm: Talking about Gaddafi's address on state television, Ibrahim Jibreel, a Libyan political analyst told Al Jazeera
"there was no substance to this.. There was really no message to this besides the threats".

"The interesting thing is that Libya has no constitution but he has threatened the death penalty for people who fail to follow the constituion," Jibreel said.

6.55pm: Carlos Latuff posted this image of "courageous Libyan people" on Twitpic:

6.52pm: Britain said it planned to send a charter plane to Libya to bring out British nationals and was dispatching a Royal Navy frigate to waters off Libya in case it was needed to help Britons.

6.50pm: French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Tuesday said he was "horrified by the explosion of violence" in Libya.

6.48pm: Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from Tunisia that 4000 people crossed the border at Ras Jedir on Tuesday, according to Tunisian border police, the majority of them Tunisians.

6.45pm Social networks were a-buzz during Gaddafi's speech on state television. Here are some responses recorded on Twitter:

Mona Eltahawy @monaeltahawy

The "head of the Popular Revolution" is being overthrown by the real Popular Revolution in #Libya. I love it. #Gaddafi desperation beautiful

Jeel Ghathub @Libyan4life

#Gaddafi doesn't mean dignity

sunnkaa @sunnkaa

#gaddafi wants civil war. he wants #libyans to kill libyans

Shadi Hamid @shadihamid

If there was any doubt before, there is no longer: Qaddafi has unequivocally declared intention to massacre his own ppl #Libya

Libyan Dude @ChangeInLibya

Guys, can you see the irony? What he's telling people to do is what is being done AGAINST HIM... What a madman... #libya #feb17

Ali Abunimah @avinunu

We can laugh, but never forget this is a sinister man who is threatening Libyans with even more massacres if they don't do his bidding.

6.20pm: In his second television address since the start of the current unrest, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi says he will not leave Libya and will die a martyr. He criticised 'Arab media', saying it painted an insulting picture of Libyans.

Gaddafi says Libya has resisted Britain and the US previously, and it will not surrender now.

He also said:

Muammar Gaddafi is not the president, he is the leader of the revolution. He has nothing to lose. Revolution means sacrifice until the very end of your life

We challenge America with its mighty power, we challenge even the superpower

Muammar Gaddafi is not a normal person that you can poison.. or lead a revolution against

I will fight until the last drop of blood with the people behind me

I haven't even started giving the orders to use bullets - any use of force against authority of state will be sentenced to death

They are just imitating Egypt and Tunisia

Protesters want to turn Libya into an Islamic state

If you love Muammar Gaddafi you will go out and secure Libya's streets

Watch Al Jazeera's Livestream and follow @AJELive on Twitter.

5.59pm: Muammar Gaddafi gives a speech on Libyan State Television:

Watch Al Jazeera's Livestream for more.

5.49pm: Qassem Najaa, a former Libyan airforce colonel, tells Al Jazeera that the country's army has been oppressed by Gaddafi for years, and is now turning against him.

5.39pm: Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, says international sanctions against Libya will be inevitable if the country's regime continues to put down protests violently.

5.32pm: Libyan soldiers in Tobruk told Reuters news agency that protesters are now in control of the city.

This map, posted on yfrog apparently shows other areas under citizen control:

5.28pm: Libyan anti-government protesters from across the UK have gathered outside Downing St in London. Protesters are angrily calling for Gaddafi to step down. One protester, Mohamed Maklouf, commented on the "hypocricy" of the West:

They don't care about the Arabs, they don't care about the Libyans, they only care about the oil."

5.17pm Al Jazeera's Cal Perry reports from Malta that the Italian navy is monitoring a Libyan naval vessel stalled in waters just off the coast of Malta. There are possible allegations that the vessel may have defected. More details are being sought.

"Malta has become a departure point and entry point for people trying to flee Tripoli [Libya's capital]," Perry said, "As the situation develops, it's also becoming a place perhaps where we'll see more and more Libyan officials coming here to defect, because it's just geographically close."

5.08pm The Italian Foreign minister has condemned the events in Libya, saying: "I strongly deplore, all violence against the demonstrators and the deaths of civilians in Libya".

I call for, as does the Council of the European Union, an immediate end to the use of force against the demonstrators. And I underscore that the Libyan authorities must respond, through dialogue, to the legitimate aspirations and demands for reform voiced by the people. A dialogue that must be open, full, significant and national, and which must lead to a constructive future for the country and for its people.

The country's defence minister, Ignazio La Russa, has also denied the news reported on some blogs and social networking sites of alleged raids by Italian fighter planes in Libya. He said:

I can deny the allegations in the firmest manner. Somebody is clearly not aware of the ethics of the Italian Government and Armed Forces

4.58pm: Ibrahim Jibreel, a Libyan political analyst, spoke told Al Jazeera the international community needs to take active steps in protecting the rights of the Libyan people.

"[Gaddafi] needs to feel the heat from the international community in one way or another," he said.

He added that a no-fly zone around Libya was a good thing, but it was not enough. "We need troops on the ground to protect the people, and also to record what is happening on the ground."

4.52pm: Libya's side of the border with Egypt is in the hands of anti-government protesters. Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal at Sidi Barani, a town on the Egyptian side of the border reports that hundreds of Egyptians living in Libya continue to flee the country.

4.44pm Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is expected to speak shortly. Watch Al Jazeera's Livestream for more.

4.25pm Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, spoke to Al Jazeera about the recent events in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, saying:

The events in each country have been up to the people of that country ...

From the standpoint of determining their own future, of meeting their needs in the future, that is principally up to the people in each country".

He added:

The US, as every country throughout the world, would look to how to engage to see how we can support this kind of change in a way that is meaningful, but it is up to the people of the country to make the decisions about their own future.

URL du billet: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/africa/2011/02/22/live-blog-libya-feb-22