Gaddafi's glamorous blonde lawyer daughter joins soldiers on the front line



Fleeing rebels pushed out of Ras Lanuf



Ragtag opposition seems incapable of holding ground without air strikes

David Cameron says he has not ruled out arming rebels

Five Libyan diplomats expelled from the UK



Officials downplay 'flickers' of Al Qaeda involvement in rebel forces



'Claudia Schiffer of North Africa' rallies troops

Colonel Gaddafi has unleashed his latest weapon against Libya's revolutionaries - his glamorous blonde daughter.

The tyrant today continued to press home a counter-attack in the east of the county, pushing fleeing rebel forces back out of Ras Lanuf - a town they had only regained with the help of international air strikes a couple of days ago.



And he now hopes to rally fresh support among weary troops with the help of his pretty 34-year-old daughter Aisha.

Woman of war: Colonel Gaddafi's glamorous daughter Aisha, 34, wears a veil and waves her father's flag as she conjures support among Libyans weary from weeks of conflict

The lawyer - who once represented Saddam Hussein - has been pictured in Tripoli waving the leader's green flag and dressed in a veil.



The traditional costume is a far cry from her usual look caked in make-up and wearing the latest designer clothes. The flashy outfits have earned her a reputation as 'the Claudia Schiffer of North Africa'.

She has reportedly been spurred on to take part in the fight to seek revenge over the reported death of her younger brother Khamis.

The 27-year-old is believed to have been killed by a kamikaze fighter pilot during air strikes earlier this month. However Libyan state TV yesterday claimed he was alive.



It came as Gaddafi's forces today launched a heavy bombardment that had rebel forces fleeing Ras Lanuf - as the opposition seems incapable of making any headway, or even holding ground, without constant air strikes.



The rapid reverse comes just two days after the rebels raced westwards along the all-important coastal road in hot pursuit of the government army that had its tanks and artillery demolished in five days of aerial bombardment in the town of Ajdabiyah.



Aisha has become known as the 'Claudia Schiffer of North Africa' for her love of designer clothes and her high-flying career as a lawyer which saw her work for Iraq tyrant Saddam Hussein



Family: Aisha was reportedly spurred on by the death of her brother Khamis Gadaffi (left). He is said to have been killed when a rebel jet crashed into his compound. Right, U.S. aircraft deployed above Libya



Gaddafi's army first ambushed the insurgent pick-up convoy outside the dictator's hometown of Sirte, then outflanked them through the desert, a manoeuvre requiring the sort of discipline entirely lacking in the rag-tag rebel force.

On the offensive, government tanks and artillery have unleashed a fierce bombardment on towns and cities which has usually forced rebels to swiftly flee. That tactic appears to have worked once again in Ras Lanuf, an oil terminal town, 230 miles east of the capital Tripoli.



'Gaddafi hit us with huge rockets. He has entered Ras Lanuf,' said rebel fighter Faraj Muftah. The rebels also claimed French aircraft were bombing Gaddafi's forces around the town.



There is mounting speculation that Western forces will arm the rebels, as U.S. President Barack Obama today said he would not rule the move out.



Speaking in the Commons David Cameron also said supplying weapons had not been ruled out, but that no final decision had been taken.



He also announced that five Gaddafi loyalists at the Libyan embassy in London had been expelled from the country amid concerns that they pose a 'security risk'.



Any decision to supply arms will worry analysts who yesterday said the 'flickers' of Al Qaeda and Hezbollah involvement had been detected in the rebel movement - but British officials denied any link.



Aisha, who married her cousin in 2006, still bears a resentment of the West after her adopted sister Hanan, nine, was killed by a U.S. raid on Tripoli during the last bombardment of the oil-rich state.

She said at the time: 'I woke up to the screams of my sister, with blood splattered all over me.'

Aisha has supported the IRA and worked as a lawyer for Saddam Hussein. In an interview in October last year she told of the charity work that she does in Libya for women's rights.

Fans: Aisha was mobbed by supporters of her father when she made the public appearance at the Bab Al Azizia compound in Tripoli

Chants: Aisha shouted to the crowd that her father was a 'great man and leader' as coalition air strikes on the dictator's strongholds continued across the country

Asked about human rights abuses in the country's justice system she said that 'criticisms are completely groundless' and she 'can't understand why people say that'.

She also defended her support of Saddam Hussein and the IRA and said her love for her father was 'beyond description'.

'People forget that before he is a great man and leader, he is also my father, my friend and my brother. He is very close to me, and I feel so safe when I am with him,' she told the Daily Telegraph.

Since the Libyan protests started Aisha has been stripped of her role as a UN Goodwill Ambassador due to her support of her father's massacre of thousands of Libyan's in the country's brutal civil war.

Plumes of smoke and fire could be seen in the air yesterday as missiles rained down over the Taiura suburb of Triopoli, near one of the Libyan dictator's residences.

In addition to the attack on the Libyan leader’s home, since Monday afternoon the U.S. has launched 22 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the Mediterranean at Gaddafi’s military targets.

Resistance: Hundreds of resurgent Libyan rebels gather near Nofilia, 62 miles from Sirte yesterday as Gaddafi forces pushed them back further east