Libya

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Iraq's government has expressed support for international efforts to "protect Libyan people," a spokesman said, according to Reuters.

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The Guardian Reports that The German foreign minister has been justifying Berlin's decision not to take part in operations in Libya in an interview with Der Spiegel.

Asked whether inaction made Germany just as guilty as military intervention, Guido Westerwelle answered: "The alternative to military operations is hardly inaction. After examining the repercussions of a military mission, with all of its uncertainties, which could possibly go as far as deploying ground troops and maintaining a military presence for years, I came to the following conclusion: No, we will not take part with German troops, no matter how honourable the motives of our partners who have decided differently."

He also said it is understandable that the rebels have asked for support.

• "But why is it the west that is primarily responsible and not the countries of the region, above all the Arab League? Incidentally, we Germans have already had discussions with the Libyan opposition. But we also asked them if they were looking to introduce a clan-based society or a democratic society with free and fair elections. These are justified questions.

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UN chief Ban Ki-moon, who spoke with Amr Moussa in Cairo today, was mobbed by dozens of pro-Gaddafi demonstrators today, the AFP reports. Ban was going to walk to Tahrir Square, the heart of the Egyptian revolution, but the demonstrators forced his delegation back into the Arab League.

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The Guardian :

• The protests in Yemen seem to picking up momentum with now no less three three top army generals having defected to the opposition.
  
  Brigadier Ali Mohsen Saleh, the head of the north western military zone and the head of the first armoured division, said on Monday that he had deployed army units to protect the protesters.
  
  Two more generals rallied behind Brigadier Saleh soon after.
  
  Addressing a news conference, Brigadier Saleh said: "Yemen today, is suffering from a comprehensive and dangerous crisis and it is widespread. Lack of dialogue and oppression of peaceful protesters in the pubclic sphere, resulted in crisis which has increased each day.
  "And it is because of what I feel about the emotions of officers and leaders in the armed forces, who are an integral part of the people, and protectors of the people, I declare, on their behalf, our peaceful support of the youth revolution and their demands and that we will fulfil our duties."
  
  The announcement came days after scores died when armed men fired at an anti-government protest in the capital Sanaa. Several ministers resigned from the government after Friday''s violence. Abdullah Alsaidi, Yemen''s ambassador to the United Nations, also quit in protest over the killings.

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Arabiya is reporting that revolutionaries in Misrata overcame Gaddafi’s forces in the centre of the city. Some of his forces were dressed in civilian clothes.

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People celebrate atop a destroyed tank belonging to forces loyal to Col Gaddafi after an air strike by coalition forces, along a road between Benghazi and Ajdabiyah Photo: REUTERS

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Meanwhile, the violence continues inside Libya. Rob Crilly, a correspondent for the Telegraph newspaper,tweets that he was halted during an attempt to get into Ajdabiya - south of Benghazi - because rebels in front of him were caught in an ambush and four were killed. Rebels may still be trapped inside Ajdabiya by pro-Gaddafi troops, he says.

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A group of Libyans angry at international intervention in the country harangued UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon following his meeting at the Arab League in Cairo today, AP reports.

• "Ban had finished talks with the Arab League chief Amr Moussa and left the organization's headquarters in Cairo for a walkabout in nearby Tahrir Square, the centerpiece of Egyptian uprising that last month toppled Hosni Mubarak, when dozens of Libyan protesters converged on him and his security detail. The Libyans, carrying pictures of Muammar Gadhafi and banners critical of the United States and United Nation, blocked Ban's path, forcing him to return to the league and leave from another exit.

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BBC An opposition spokesman said that 7 people had been killed yesterday by Gaddafi’s forces. He also says that pro-Gaddafi forces are now bringing civilians from nearby towns to Misrata to use them as a human shield.

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The Guardian newspaper's Chris McGreal was on the road today near Ajdabiya, around 160km south of Benghazi, where Gaddafi troops are still fighting with rebels. That appears to be the current front line. The rebels, he says, view the coalition airstrikes "as part of their campaign." That's not what the West wants to hear; they're trying to keep themselves from becoming embroiled in a full-scale regime change effort.

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Namik Tan, the Turkish ambassador to the United States, has written on Twitter that the four New York Times journalists - two reporters and two photographers - "are on their way to leave Libyan border and will be delivered to US officials."

Since US diplomatic personnel have withdrawn from Libya and the embassy has been shut down, Turkey is serving as the protector of US interests in the country. Tan said they were released this morning after negotiations between Turkey and Libya.

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Hameed al-Qusaibi, a brigadier who stepped down earlier today, tells al-Jazeera, which is live blogging today's fast-moving developments in Yemen, about his fears for the country.

• "I respect the president because he did a lot of good things for the country - but he also brought a lot of problems. My role is to support the protesters and we should try to get the president to turn over his powers peacefully - we do not want our country to turn into a second Libya. There is a danger that it will turn violent because he has some support.

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Here's a summary of events so far today as the international military action against Libya continues.

• Military commanders have insisted that Muammar Gaddafi is not a target in the action being taken against Libya. Liam Fox, the British defence secretary, talked up the possibility of Gaddafi being targeted in interviews on Sunday. But today the UK chief of the defence staff, General Sir David Richards, said Gaddafi is "absolutely not" a target. "It is not allowed under the UN resolution and it is not something I want to discuss any further," he told the BBC.
  
  Western leaders have been trying to hold together the shaky coalition with Arab states over the military action against Libya. David Cameron, the British prime minsiter, has spoken to the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who earlier expressed concern about civilian casualties. A spokesman for Cameron said the pair were "agreed that the protection of civilians was paramount".
  
  Four New York Times journalists being held in Libya have been freed. The paper said the Libyan authorities had released Anthony Shadid, Tyler Hicks, Lynsey Addario and Stephen Farrell. Four al-Jazeera journalists, including a Briton, are still being held.
  
  The latest air strikes on Libya have destroyed a building in the Tripoli compound of Muammar Gaddafi.The Guardian's correspondent in Tripoli, Ian Black, saw smoke rising from the area of Bab al-Aziziya, where Gaddafi is based.

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Al Jazeera Jacob Zuma, the South African president, said on Monday that his country does not support "the regime change doctrine" in Libya, and called for restraint from foreign countries enforcing a no-fly zone.

Zuma said:

• "As South Africa we say no to the killing of civilians, no to the regime change doctrine and no to the foreign occupation of Libya,", one of five heads of state on a high-level African Union panel on Libya.

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Germany on Monday defended its decision not to back Western-led air strikes against Gaddafi, but backed EU in tightening sanctions against the Libyan government, Reuters reported.