5.55pm: Here is a summary of events today:

• The crisis in Libya has deepened with reports that Muammar Gaddafi ordered fighter jets to attack parts of the capital, Tripoli. Salem Gnan, a London-based spokesman for the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, says eyewitnesses in Tripoli have told him the navy has opened fire on parts of the capital.

• Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, "may have gone to Venezuela", British foreign secretary William Hague has said. But sources in the Venezuelan government denied the reports.

• Two Libyan fighter jets and two civilian helicopters have landed in Malta.

• Elsewhere in the Middle East, the Bahrain grand prix has been cancelled because of anti-government protests there. And five people are dead after riots in Morocco.

Follow this live blog for continuing coverage into the evening.

5.59pm: Salem Gnan, a London-based spokesman for the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, says eyewitnesses in Tripoli have told him the navy has opened fire on parts of the capital.

We have just heard that the military ships are bombing an area in Tripoli and many people have been killed although we don't know how many at the moment because people have just called to tell us it is happening.

Gnan said the navy appeared to be bombing a residential area outside the city centre as part of a desperate crackdown by Gaddafi's troops.

He is even turning the ships on his people now. His plan is to use absolutely everything he can to stop what is happening.

Gnan said he had had also had reports of ongoing shooting around Gaddafi's residence in Tripoli and said more people were taking to the capital's streets as darkness fell. "This is going on because if it stops that means it is finished. This will be the last act." He said people were travelling to Tripoli from across the west of Libya for a "final showdown."

I have had calls from people in towns and cities all across Libya. Those in the east can not get out but those in towns and cities in western Libya, everybody is saying: "We are going to Tripoli." The plan is to come from everywhere and go to Tripoli to sack the city, for the finish.

6.04pm: Our Middle East editor Ian Black has been looking at reports that Libyan diplomats are deserting the regime. We are preparing it for publication now, but here's an extract

Libyan diplomats are voting with their feet as the country's crisis deepens, with ambassadors resigning their positions in China, India, Indonesia, Poland as well as from the Arab League in Cairo. But Omar Jelban, head of the London People's Bureau, on Monday flatly denied an al-Jazeera report that he had quit. Jelban was earlier called into the Foreign Office to hear what William Hague called "our absolute condemnation of the use of lethal force against demonstrators." Australia also summoned the Libyan envoy to protest at the bloodshed. Libya's deputy UN ambassador told the BBC that "all the Libyan people want Gaddafi to go." Other members of Libya's UN mission said they were quitting to support anti-government protesters. "We are aware that this will put our families back home in danger, but they are in danger anyway," said Adam Tarbah. In New Delhi Ali al-Essawi accused his own government of deploying foreign mercenaries against the protesters. Three local employees of the Libyan embassy in Stockholm, Sweden said they had quit in protest. "It would be hypocritical to assist the Libyan government while we see them attacking people in the streets," said Sayed Jalabi.

6.08pm: Reuters says the UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon held talks with Muammar Gaddafi on Monday, during which he condemned the escalating violence in Libya and told him it "must stop immediately,"

A UN spokesman said:

The secretary general expressed deep concern at the escalating scale of violence and emphasised that it must stop immediately. He reiterated his call for respect for basic freedoms and human rights, including peaceful assembly and information The secretary general underlined the need to ensure the protection of the civilian population under any circumstances. He urged all parties to exercise restraint and called upon the authorities to engage in broad-based dialogue to address legitimate concerns of the population.

6.17pm: Reuters is reporting that 160 people have died in Tripoli, citing a television channel in the Gulf, although the figure has not yet been independently verified.

Clashes in the Libyan capital Tripoli on Monday have left 160 people dead, Arabiya television quoted eyewitnesses as saying. The Arab satellite channel gave the number in a newsflash, without providing further details.

6.19pm: Libya dominated the headlines on the BBC six o'clock news, which reported: "Libya is burning, and the fire has spread".

In the absence of a team on the ground, like other news organisations, the BBC showed footage from Youtube of the uprising on streets of Tripoli and in other cities.

Reporting from Tunisia, the BBC's Ian Pannell said that Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif, had made a "bizarre and rambling" speech in the early hours of the morning on state television "blaming drug addicts and even the BBC."

The channel also carried a segment from a short interview in Cairo with the Prime Minister, David Cameron, in which he said that condemned the violence of the Libyan regime and said that aspirations for greater rights should be met with reform.

6.27pm: Signs that the Gaddafi regime is being abandoned by key officials are growing. They include Libya's entire delegation at the United Nations. The Associated Press news agency reported:

Libya's ambassadors at the United Nations are calling for leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down as the country's ruler. Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi said Monday that if Gaddafi does not relinquish power, "the Libyan people will get rid of him." Dabbashi urged the international community to impose a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent mercenaries, weapons and other supplies from reaching Gaddafi and his security forces.

Dabbashi also said he was not resigning. The diplomat says the Libyan delegation is also urging the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against humanity committed against the Libyan people during the current protests.

6.33pm: The Associated Press news agency has filed some further interesting detail about an apparent defection by the pilots of Libyan airforce jets, which landed earlier in Malta.

Two Libyan air force jets have arrived in Malta and military officials say their pilots have asked for political asylum amid a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters in Libya. The two Mirage jets arrived Monday shortly after two civilian helicopters landed at the airport carrying seven people who said they were French. A military source familiar with the situation said the jet pilots, Libyan air force colonels, were allowed to land after they communicated from the air that they wanted asylum. They had left from a base near Tripoli and had flown low over Libyan airspace to avoid detection. The aircraft remain at Malta's airport while the pilots and helicopter passengers are being questioned by airport immigration officials.

6.38pm: After William Hague said earlier that he had seen information suggesting that Muammar Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela, Libyan state television has carried a denial that he has fled.

The Libyan deputy foreign minister, Khalid Kayem, said: "This news is groundless. It has no basis."

6.53pm: The two Libyan Air Force fighter pilots who apparently defected earlier with their jets to Malta have told Maltese government officials that they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Reuters reports.

7.04pm: An interesting development in London. Krishnan Guru-Murthy of Channel 4 news has just tweeted that the Libyan embassy in London has replaced the official national flag with the pre-Gaddafi era version, favoured by many of those involved in the current uprising.

However, my colleague Amelia Hill spoke earlier to the Libyan ambassador, who insisted that he still held the post.

While he made no mention of Gaddafi, Omar Jelbam told her: "I am still the ambassador. I am still in control. There have been no defections from the Embassy. It is a lie started by the BBC, by a woman who used to work here."

7.16pm: It remains very difficult to get a sense of what is happening on the ground in Libya, but many reports suggest that the violence is intensifying.

Reuters has filed this report about claims that anti-government activists and others in Tripoli are being hit from the air: Tripoli residents gave conflicting reports on Monday, with some saying they could hear gunfire in the Libyan capital and a political activist telling Al Jazeera warplanes were bombing the city. "We don't know what is going on, all we can hear are occasional gunshots," one resident who lives near the city's central Green Square told Reuters. "I just hear gunshots sometimes. I am at home guarding my family because the situation is unstable. No one knows what will happen," another resident said. But Adel Mohamed Saleh, who called himself a political activist in Tripoli, said the aerial bombing had initially targeted a funeral procession. "What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Saleh told al Jazeera television in a live broadcast. "Our people are dying. It is the policy of scorched earth." he said. "Every 20 minutes they are bombing." Asked if the attacks were still happening he said: "It is continuing, it is continuing. Anyone who moves, even if they are in their car they will hit you." There was no independent verification of the report but Fathi al-Warfali, the Libyan activist who heads the Swiss-based Libyan Committee for Truth and Justice, who was taking part in a protest outside U.N. European headquarters in Geneva said he had heard the same reports. "Military planes are attacking civilians, protesters in Tripoli now. The civilians are frightened," al-Warfali told Reuters.

7.24pm: A friend of the Libyan novelist Hisham Matar has passed on some details to the Guardian of what he has been seeing and hearing in Tripoli in the last few hours.

He tells us that eight large carrier helicopters were spotted dropping ammunition from the south of Tripoli to Khamis Military facility in the North East side of Tripoli and passed on unconfirmed rumours that two helicopters had actually been brought down after coming under fire elsewhere.

The man, who will just refer to as 'Ahmed', added:

Though interrupted and random; gunfire remains to be heard in Tripoli with the occasional loud sound of what could be bomb sounds. Around residential areas (understandably) the city roads are completely absent of civilians – everyone is huddled at home or just in front of their houses to avoid possible confrontation with the regime. Shops are shut and mosques are hardly attended during prayer times.

7.38pm: The BBC have just carried an interview with Libyans in Manchester who have taken to the streets there, as in Liverpool and other parts of the north of England, in solidarity with those opposing the regime in Libya.

"There are no other words to describe what is happening in Libya but genocide," said one.

"What we are witnessing is genocide and it will be recorded in history as that."

Another man, identified as Mohamed Abdul Malek, said many Libyans in the UK were looking forward to going home in order to help "build democracy".

Further protests are planned in the UK for Tuesday, according to the BBC, with many Libyans planning to travel down to London from the north.

7.55pm: Through contacts, I've just talked on the phone with one of the organisers in Cairo of a convoy of medical supplies destined for the eastern part of Libya.

He told me that the convoy, which was organised in conjunction with the Arab doctor's syndicate, the Red Crescent and Libyans living in Egypt, has just departed in the last couple of hours carrying antibiotics, needles and other supplies.

It is made up of five ambulance and 30 doctors, according to the man, an engineer with relatives in Libya, who told me: "The hospital system in the east of Libya and in other parts is collapsing."

He added: "The Egyptian government have been very good and have done everything to help facilitate us but we are worried that it is proving difficult to get across the border on the western side of Libya from Tunisia."

7.59pm: We've heard about European countries who have sent planes and ferries to Libya to evacuate their citizens, including many employees of international oil companies.

However, other foreigners awaiting evacuation from Libya include thousands of Turkish workers who have taken refuge inside a football stadium in the eastern city of Benghazi from where they heard gunfire and explosions through the night, according to reports.

Speaking in Ankara earlier today, Turkey's Foreign Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan said looters had attacked Turkish companies, which have projects in Libya worth more than $15 billion, and officials estimated there were 25,000 Turks working there.

Reuters also carried quotes from Hidir Yentur, a logistics manager with a construction company in Al Bayda, eastern Libya, who said workers were forced to move to a safer place after their site was stormed by looters.

"A group attacked our construction site and took computers, but they didn't do anything to us. Our water is running low," Yentur told the news agency by telephone from Libya.

8.05pm: And now to some comments on Libya from another political leader facing problems of his own, Silvio Berlusconi.

The Italian president has enjoyed a close relationship with Muammar Gaddafi and was the subject of intense criticism over the weekend for failing to condemn violence in Libya, when he said he had not called the Libyan leader because he did not want to "disturb" him during the revolt.

Now, Reuters reports that Berlusconi appears to be changing his tune:

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Monday condemned violence by Libyan forces against civilians as "unacceptable" and said he was "alarmed" over the situation in the North African state. The statement by Berlusconi, who has cultivated close ties with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, comes after he was criticised widely for not speaking up earlier on Libya and saying that he did not want to "disturb" Gaddafi during the crisis. Berlusconi also called on the European Union and the international community to do everything to prevent the situation in Libya from degenerating into a civil war.

8.15pm: BBC news have been carrying an interview with Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN. Ibrahim Omar Al Dabashi said Gaddafi's government was carrying out a genocide:

The regime is killing whoever gets out to the street. He (Gaddafi) has his mercenaries everywhere on the streets and whenever any demonstrator appears they just kill them.

8.26pm: The Guardian's Middle East Editor, Ian Black, has put together this piece about Muammar Gaddafi's "famously fractious" family based on the insights provided by the US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks.

They include US assessments of his son Saif al-Islam, who vowed in a television address last night to "eradicate enemies" and warned that the regime would fight on until the last bullet.

8.31pm: There is also more on Saif, whose LSE education and links to the UK have come under the spotlight, elsewhere on guardian.co.uk.

Ian Cobain, Amelia Hill and Kartik Mehta have put together this portrait of "the man the west can no longer deal with".

8.49pm: On Twitter, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi is continuing to emerge as one of the 'must follow' tweeters on the Libyan uprising.

A great monitor and interpreter of the Arab world's media, he's been tweeting here about reports that the regime has been stopping citizens in Tripoli from donating blood to injured demonstrators.

After the apparent defections earlier in the day of two jet figher pilots who landed in Malta, he has also picked up on reports that military pilots have landed in the Libyan city of Benghazi after refusing orders to bomb it.

9.06pm: An interesting development from an unlikely source: the Egyptian Army's Facebook page. It reportedly says that Libyan guards have now withdrawn from the border with Egypt.

Does that mean it's going to be easier for refugees to flee? Or even for medical supplies to get in? This could be good news for that convoy we mentioned earlier.

9.19pm: This could be a particularly ominous development however. Libyan airspace has been closed, the Austrian Army is saying.

One of its transport planes, with some 60 European Union citizens onboard, is believed to be stranded in Tripoli at the moment.

"The entire airspace is currently blocked," an Austrian Defence Ministry employee told the German Press Agency dpa.

9.22pm: A prominent Egyptian cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, has called for a fatwa against Muammar Gaddafi.

He made a public statement tonight that any Libyan soldier who has the opportunity should shoot and kill the Libyan leader.

Al-Qaradawi might be familiar to many in Britain. The government was criticised back in 2008 by moderate Muslim groups after it banned him from entering Britain and branded him an extremist.

Qaradawi (above), who was banned from entering the United States, had previously visited the UK in 2004 at the invitation of the London mayor, Ken Livingstone, sparking protests from Jewish groups and gay people, who regard him as anti-Semitic and homophobic.

However, he is also arguably the most influential Sunni Muslim cleric in the world and has regularly spoken in the past in support of democracy.

9.36pm: Here is another development on those suggestions earlier that Gaddafi could be on the verge of seeking a bolt-hole on the other side of the world, in Venezuela. Reuters reports:

Both Libya and Venezuela on Monday denied reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was seeking asylum as a violent revolt gripped his country and would join his friend President Hugo Chavez in the South American oil producing nation. Fueling rumors in the media, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he had seen information to suggest Gaddafi had fled Libya and was on his way to Venezuela, a fellow OPEC member. But Venezuela's information minister said Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya for more than 40 years, was not coming.

"He is not traveling to Venezuela," Information Minister Andres Izarra told Reuters in Caracas. His comments were matched by the Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalid Kayem, who said the reports were "groundless." Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said in a statement he had spoken by telephone to his Libyan counterpart Moussa Koussa, who told him Gaddafi was still in Tripoli.

9.41pm: OK. This is potentially big news. Al Arabiya is reporting that a speech by Gaddafi is imminent. We'll keep you updated on that.

9.53pm: There are no details yet on what Gaddafi might say. That it is Muammar Gaddafi to speak, rather than his son Saif al-Islam who did so last night, suggests this could be an important announcement.

10.10pm: Here is a summary of events today:

• Al Arabiya is reporting that Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, is to give a televised address tonight. There are no details yet on the content of the speech or whether or not it will be live.

• UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon has condemned the escalating violence in Libya and told Muammar Gaddafi it "must stop immediately". Silvio Berlusconi has joined international condemnation describing violent against civilians as "unacceptable" and said he was "alarmed".

• Libya's ambassadors at the United Nations are calling for leader Muammar Gaddafi to step down as the country's ruler. Libyan ambassadors have aldo resigned in China, India, Indonesia and Poland.

• There are reports that Muammar Gaddafi ordered fighter jets to attack parts of the capital, Tripoli, and live rounds have been used on the streets. The death toll passed 250 after six days of unrest but this is a conservative estimate. Al-Jazeera quoted medical sources in Tripoli saying 61 people had died in the latest protests there.

• Reports which originated from British foreign secretary William Hague that Muammar Gaddafi "may have gone to Venezuela" have been denied. The Libyan deputy foreign minister, Khalid Kayem, said: "This news is groundless. It has no basis."

• Two Libyan fighter jets and two civilian helicopters have landed in Malta. The fighter pilots, Libyan colonels, have asked for political asylum after apparently refusing to bomb protesters.

• Elsewhere in the Middle East, the Bahrain grand prix has been cancelled because of anti-government protests there. And five people are dead after riots in Morocco.

10.18pm: On earlier reports that Gaddafi was on his way to Venezuela, Rory Carroll in Caracas writes:

William Hague's announcement that Gaddafi was possibly en route to Venezuela caused consternation in Caracas, with foreign diplomats and government officials scrambling for verification until the claim was officially denied. President Hugo Chavez's close ties to Libya's leader gave the rumour credibility, prompting images of Gaddafi retiring to a Caribbean bolthole, but within hours Venezuela's government issued a strong denial. The information minister, Andres Izarra, declared the claim "false" and later the foreign minister, Nicolas Maduro, issued a statement calling Hague's comment "irresponsible". Maduro said he had spoken by phone with his Libyan counterpart, Moussa Koussa, and confirmed that Gaddafi remained in Tripoli "exercising the powers given to him by the state and addressing the situation in the country, thereby refuting the comments made to the press in an irresponsible manner by British Foreign Secretary William Hague". The carefully worded statement skated between Chavez's alliance with Gaddafi and the rapidly unfolding events in Libya, referring to the "historic friendship" between the two countries and expressing hope of a peaceful solution to Libya's "difficulties" without "imperialist interference" from outsiders. The statement did not rule out the possibility that Gaddafi could end up in Venezuela but analysts said the prospect seemed doubtful given the potential damage to Chavez's image. Venezuela's president was understood to be closely following events in north Africa from his tactical "situation room" in Miraflores palace.

10.23pm: There's further criticism of violence against civilians in Libya tonight. US secretary of state Hilary Clinton condemned the violence and said the Libya government must respect Libyan's universal rights.

This comes as Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, has gone on state TV to deny aircraft have bombed populated areas in Tripoli and Benghazi. He says the targets were ammunition depots in remote areas.

10.32pm: If Muammar Gaddafi stands down in the near future – and there's no immediate suggestion he will – it's not immediately clear who would succeed him. With Gaddafi's 41-year rule looking increasing fragile, the Guardian's Middle East editor, Ian Black, has looked at who might take over.

He says until recently academics, analysts and diplomats agreed Gaddafi's most likely heirs were his sons, primarily the reformist-minded Saif al-Islam. But he says that option appears to have disappeared after Saif's TV address warning of "civil war".

Takeover by the army also looks unlikely while civil society is virtually non-existent and the business sector still young and weak, he writes. Read the full analysis here.

10.39pm: While we're waiting for Gaddafi to turn up (or not) on our screens, here's a taste of how the ripples from Libya are being felt on other continents, principally on the markets.

Reuters reports

Latin American stocks fell off a two-week high on Monday as an increasingly bloody power struggle in Libya stoked concerns a spike in oil prices could weigh on economies around the world. Analysts were hesitant to read too much into Monday's drop, since a U.S. market holiday crimped volume. The spiraling violence in Libya sent Brent crude oil prices to $108 a barrel for the first time since 2008, reviving concerns that unrest in the Middle East could produce a spike in oil prices that might weigh on economic growth around the world. "We could see markets trading this week in function of what happens in the Middle East," said Juan Jose Resendiz, an analyst at brokerage Arka in Mexico City.

Further turmoil on the markets is also forecast for tomorrow:

Asian stocks look set to come under pressure on Tuesday, as turmoil across the Middle East sends oil prices sharply higher and investors shied away from riskier assets such as equities. Investors were following reports of escalating violence in Libya with protests sweeping the capital Tripoli and anti-government forces reportedly taking control of the city of Benghazi.

Brent crude futures hit $108 a barrel for the first time since 2008 on fears the violence might lead to supply disruptions. Asian markets will have no U.S. lead, as Wall Street was closed on Monday for a public holiday. British shares fell 1.1 percent while European shares dropped 1.3 percent as the Libyan violence made markets skittish, with volumes thinned by the U.S. holiday. The euro slipped on risk aversion, but hawkish comments on inflation from euro zone officials limited losses, while the U.S. dollar and yen gained on safe-haven buying. Japanese markets will likely fall, with Nikkei futures last trading in Osaka at 10,830, a 27.5 point discount to the index close on Monday. Australian stocks may make a flat start, with share price index futures up 3 points to 4,898, unchanged from the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index.

10.43pm: In the absence, thus far, of his father, here is some more on what Saif Gadaffi has been saying on television tonight.

He claimed that air raids earlier tonight targeted ammunition depots and not populated areas in Tripoli and Benghanzi.

"There is no truth to information about a raid by the armed forces against Tripoli and Benghazi," Libyan television quoted Saif al-Islam Gaddafi as telling the official Jana news agency.

"The raid targeted ammunitions depots in areas remote from inhabited areas," added Saif.

10.50pm: Another potentially significant development, if true. Sultan Al Qassemi has just tweeted that Al Jazeera are reporting on a statement by Libyan Military Officers which asks all members of the Libyan army to head to Tripoli and remove Gaddafi.

10.54pm: The story of those two Libyan air force pilots who apparently defected earlier to Malta is becoming ever more fascinating.

Al Jazeera has spoken to one of its correspondents on the island, who said the pilots have claimed they came so close to carrying out their mission to bomb anti-Gadaffi demonstrators that they could see the crowds on the ground.

They have reportedly passed on "classified" information about the movements and actions of the Libyan military to Malta.

Eric Montfort, a journalist on the island, has been in touch with the Guardian to tell us that the Mirage fighters which apparently defected to Malta are among the most prized in Libya's fighter plane force.



Earlier in the afternoon there were also demonstrations in front of the Libyan Embassy at Balzan, Malta, where two embassy workers defected and joined the crowd.

10.59pm: Back in London, it appears that it was a demonstrator outside the Libyan embassy who removed the country's current flag (as we reported earlier) and replaced it with an older pre-Gadaffi version.

Staff at the embassy are said to have removed the flag now however.

11.34pm: Reuters is reporting that Libyan state TV says Muammar Gaddafi is to "speak soon". Earlier it was Al Arabiya which was reporting that he was to speak "imminently". That was two hours ago. It is now 1.35am in Tripoli.

11.43pm: The former British foreign secretary Lord Owen has tonight called on the UN and regional powers to enforce a no fly zone over Libya. He said:

The UN Security Council should meet in emergency session tonight and declare the situation in Libya as a threat to peace under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter and declare a no flight zone for the Libyan airforce and ask the regional power, Nato, to enforce it from dawn tomorrow.

And hopefully other Arab nations, particularly Egypt, might decide to participate to demonstrate that this is not just a Western initiative.

He also called on "airforces in the region with sufficient range to reach Libya to prevent any Libyan airforce military action against civilians".

11.51pm: Here's the first details of the Muammar Gaddafi statement, which has not yet been broadcast. Reuters reports:

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will refute in an interview with state television on Tuesday "malicious rumours that have been broadcast", state TV said. It reported earlier that Gaddafi would "speak soon".

12.10am: Libyan state TV suddenly cut a few minutes ago to footage of

Muammar Gaddafi.

"I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela," he said, according to a BBC translation of what was just a few seconds of footage.

12.16am: Some more details of that footage of Gaddafi that has appeared on Libyan state TV.

True to his eccentric reputation, he was carrying an umbrella and appeared to be sitting in a back of a car wearing a winter hat with ear flaps.

12.20am: Some more on what Gadaffi said. He urged Libyans not to believe television channels, which he called 'dogs'.

He went on to say that he wanted to go to Green Square and 'yishar' (spend the evening) with the youth there, but for the rain.

12.45am: We've carried out an interview in the last hour with a contact in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, which appears destined to go down in history as the root of this uprising.

A Libyan man who spent a number of years in the UK before five years ago to his home city said that the people were now largely control of Benghazi and that the army had fled.

More than 350 people have been killed, he said, while adding that this death toll did not include the grim discovery made inside the army garrison headquarters by those who entered it following its surrender.

"We found 150 corpses burning and we believe they were the bodies of officers and soldiers who refused to follow orders to fire on the the people," he said.

It has been largely quiet in the city since about 10 o'clock last night, he said, although citizens had been bracing themselves for an air strike that Arabic television channels had reported was on the way.

Fears of this were calmed partially after two Libyan pilots landed their jets and said they had refused orders to bomb the city, instead choosing to jettison their bombs in the sea.

"I never believed that I would see this day. The atmosphere here has changed completely," he said.

We're going to wrap up out blog for now, but join us again in a few hours for further coverage of events in Libya.