Libya live blog March 4

Reporting by Karl Stagno-Navarra, Matthew Vella, Miriam Dalli and Nestor Laiviera.

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February 22 live blog 17:45 Senior US Senator John McCain has stepped up pressure on President Barack Obama to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, calling it a test of whether he truly wants Moamer Kadhafi gone from power. "If you want Gaddafi to go, then one of the steps among many would be to establish a no-fly zone to prevent him from massacring his own people from the air," said McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

17: 40 A local militant politician in Zawiyah has vehemently denied reports from state television that pro-government forces have regained control of the town, just 60 kilometres west of Tripoli. Mohammed Qassem said in a live interview on Al Jazeera television that the town had been surrounded by Gaddafi loyalists and three people had been killed by loyalists forces in fighting there.

17:38 After days of no incoming scheduled flights of Libyan Arab Airlines flights from Tripoli, a flight arrived at Malta International Airport at 15:35 with 75 passengers on board.

17:23 Witnesses report three Chinook helicopters seen fly west of Tripoli, then in the direction of Zawiyah.

17:21 A doctor says many people have been killed and wounded in clashes at Raslanuf.

17:15 Concern is growing for over 10,000 Bangladeshi labourers stranded on the Libya-Tunisia border. A line of thousands of Bangladeshis stretches for kilometres between Ras Jdir and a camp at Choucha, six kilometres away, as Tunisian authorities move them into spaces made vacant by evacuated Egyptians. Under a baking sun, suitcases on their head or a bundle in their hands, they told reporters they had not been paid for months and were robbed en route to Tunisia."I have been here for four days. We sleep outside, without toilets, without shower, it is hard," said construction worker Gamzou Islam, 28. "They told us to leave by foot but I don't know where to go. We have not been paid for three months," he said, adding that he had been employed by a Chinese company.

16:57 India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur said today that the Central Government expects to complete 'Operation Safe Homecoming' by March 10.

Operation Safe Homecoming was launched by the government to bring home thousands of Indian nationals stranded in conflict-torn Libya. "As we speak, a passenger ship, Red Star One, is also on its way to Misurata and Sirte to ferry Indian nationals to Malta from where special flights are being arranged out of Valletta to bring them back," she said.

Kaur added that the External Affairs Ministry has taken special care, in association with the Overseas Indian Affairs Ministry, that returning passengers to India are facilitated at Delhi and Mumbai airports. "At the Delhi airport a special terminal has been made available for the returnees, who are being met by the concerned company representatives and assisted by officials of the respective State Governments, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs," Kaur said.

16:48 404 Ukrainian citizens had been evacuated from Libya today, the department for information policy of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has reported. The Ukrainian Embassy in Libya is continuing to draw up lists of Ukrainian citizens who want to return home, and working out all possible ways of further evacuation of fellow countrymen, the department said.

"The Ukrainian Embassy in Libya is assisting in the departure of Ukrainians by foreign ferries to Malta. Four Ukrainian citizens were sent from Benghazi to Malta on board the Royal Navy frigate HMS York. In addition, 20 Ukrainian citizens, earlier evacuated from Libya, were delivered to Moscow from Malta on board a Russian Emergencies Ministry plane," the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported.

16:43 Libyan state television is reporting that the "leader of the terrorist group" in the dormitory town of Zawiyah, named as Hussein Darbuk, and his deputy have been killed and other leading rebels captured. Channel Two says government forces are in control of most of the town, just 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of Tripoli, and that 31 tanks, 19 troop carriers and other weapons including rocket-launchers and anti-aircraft guns have been seized from the rebels.

16:35 Interpol has issued a global alert known as an Orange Notice against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and 15 other Libyan nationals, including members of his family and close associates, in a bid to warn member states of the danger posed by the movement of these individuals and their assets, to assist member states in their efforts to enforce sanctions under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1970 (2011), and to support INTERPOL's assistance to the International Criminal Court investigation into alleged crimes against humanity in Libya. View INTERPOL security alert circulated to police forces worldwide

16:27 Libyan State TV reports that forces loyal to Gaddafi have regained control of the town of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, from rebel hands.

16:20 At least four people have been killed during heavy clashes between Gaddafi loyalists and rebels near an oil compound at Raslanuf in the east, a rebel witness says. "They are firing Grad rockets. I saw four people killed in front of me. A rocket hit them," said the rebel, who gave his name only as Marai, about 10 kilometres west of Raslanuf."They deployed a helicopter," he said, in reference to pro-Gaddafi forces. Asked why he was driving away from the front he said: "I don't have a weapon."

16:11 Fidel Castro, Cuba's revolutionary leader and ex-president, has given his support to an offer by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to mediate in the Libyan crisis. The offer has already been rejected by rebels in Libya and Western countries.

15:55 Al Jazeera now reports that an oil facility at Zueitina, south of Benghazi, is on fire.

15:47 A witness in Zawiya, west of Tripoli, says more than 50 people have been killed and 300 wounded in fighting between pro- and anti-regime protesters, Al-Jazeera reports.

15:45 The BBC's Wyre Davis is reporting "incredibly violent scenes" on the outskirts of Tripoli. “All of a sudden, these pro-government militia and police came in vehicles screeching into the centre of the suburbs firing dozens of tear gas canisters and baton rounds," he reported.

15:43 Witnesses says tear gas has been fired at crowds of anti-Gaddafi protesters in Tripoli's eastern Tajoura neighbourhood after Friday prayers.

15:42 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the Netherlands is using "every diplomatic angle" to try and secure the release of three Dutch soldiers captured in Libya while attempting to rescue civilians. The three were taken captive in Sirte in the north of Libya on Sunday night.

15:17 Several people have been killed and dozens injured after the army opened fire on anti-government protesters in the Libyan city of Zawiyah. The attack happened during a demonstration involving several thousand people calling for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to quit, most of whom were unarmed.

The western port city, which is about 30 miles from the capital Tripoli, is currently surrounded by the dictator's security forces. As the protesters made their way towards the military lines on the outskirts of the city, the army opened fire.

14:47 Airport authorities have moved the two defected Libyan Mirage F1 jets to Park 5, in an apparent bid to create more parking space at the terminal. The planes were flown to Malta by two defecting colonels in the Libyan Air Force on February 22. RAF specialists and French engineers have deactivated, disarmed and removed engine parts from the jets over the last days.

14:33 A senior EU official says the EU could deploy warships near Libya to enforce an arms embargo. A potential weapons blockade will be among a package of measures that EU leaders will debate during an emergency summit on the Libyan crisis next Friday in Brussels, the official said.

14:25 World oil prices are still advancing, with Libya dominating market sentiment once again. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April has gained 62 cents to US$115.41 per barrel, while New York's light sweet crude for April, known as West Texas Intermediate (WTI), has risen 72 cents to US$102.63.

14: 22 Despite threats from the Libyan government that they would arrest any journalists found on the streets of Tripoli today, AFP's Antoine Lambroschini has managed to leave his hotel. He has seen hundreds of Gaddafi supporters at Green Square pledging support for the regime, and about a dozen more doing the same at Algeria Square. Soon after, a group of pro-Gaddafi  militiamen removed him from the scene, pushed him into a taxi and ordered them to take him to the Rixos hotel -- which is not the one he's staying at.

14:12 The Spanish branch of the Red Cross says it is sending two planes carrying more than 20 tonnes of aid to Tunisia for the thousands of people who have fled there from Libya.

13:45 Thousands of Bangladeshis who worked in Libya are arriving on foot at the UN's Shusha refugee camp, six kilometres  from the Tunisian border.

12:50 53 Malians have been repatriated from Libya, but more than 2,000 remain stranded at their country's embassy in Tripoli, the interior ministry says. Those at the embassy have reported "real brutalities by Libyan security forces and part of the civilian population against foreigners," an official says.

12:21 Sweden says it is contributing a C-130 Hercules military plane €3.7 million to the United Nations' efforts to evacuate refugees from Libya.

11:57 Audio recordings of radio exchange between Malta Air Traffic Control and NRN277, the Dutch Lynx helicopter confirms that botch Libya mission departed from Malta on Sunday evening.

11:34 Libyan State television has broadcast a video of three Dutch Royal Marines who were captured in Sirte on Sunday night during a botched rescue operation for two civilians. The video confirmed MaltaToday reports that a woman pilot was among the crew and that the helicopter identifed as NRN277 was in Malta shortly before the operation.

10:40 EU Commissioner John Dalli says ‘nobody’ has the right to make a statement on whether Libyan leader should resign and queries whether ‘shots’ are being staged for foreign press.

10:24 Gaddafi's forces have reportedly carried out an airstrike close to a military base held by rebels in the east of Libya, witnesses have said. It is the second day in a row that Gaddafi’s air force has bombed the town of Ajdabiyah as he tries to clampdown on the uprising. A Libyan warplane carried out an attack just outside the perimeter of the Haniyeh base but did not hit it, rebel volunteers said.

09:57 A South Korean warship carrying 32 Korean nationals evacuated from Libya has docked in Valletta, Seoul's defense ministry said, with some evacuees expressing relief to be pulled out of the turmoil-battered country. The 4,500-ton destroyer ‘Choi Young’ brought the Koreans from Tripoli and  include three women and three elementary school students. They were described as healthy, although some suffered slight seasickness during the 16-hour journey from the port of Tripoli, according to the ministry. They are expected to arrive in South Korea via Rome on Saturday night.

09:48 South Korea says another 32 of its nationals evacuated from Libya by a naval destroyer will arrive in Malta later today.

09:43 The crisis in Libya has claimed a high profile victim in educational circles in Britain. Sir Howard Davies, director of the London School of Economics - one of the world's top 10 seats of higher - resigned last night, owning responsibility for this institution's ill-advised links Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.

The LSE had come under considerable pressure after it was revealed that Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the second son and political heir of the Colonel, allegedly plagiarised his PhD thesis, which was accepted by this institution in 2008.

It further surfaced that the former had thereafter curiously donated £1.5 million to his alma mater, with a string attached to it. The last straw was a connected deal embraced by Davies on behalf of the LSE to train hundreds of young Libyans to become henchmen of the Gaddafi’s.

In submitting his resignation, Davies stated: "The short point is that I am responsible for the School's reputation, and that has suffered." He admitted that accepting money from Libya "has turned out to be a mistake".

09:15 British authorities have intercepted a ship carrying £100 million in Libyan currency and escorted it to Harwich port.  The ship had tried to dock in Tripoli over the weekend, but decided it was unsafe and proceeded to Britain, tracked by UK authorities.

The seized currency is now subject to UN action. The operation, authorised by COBRA, came days after Britain prevented the export of £850m in Libyan bank notes, which were printed in the north of England, to Tripoli.

On Sunday, Britain froze the Gaddafi and his family's U.K.-based assets in accordance with U.N. sanctions imposed on Libya. Those affected include Gaddafi's four sons and one daughter, the Foreign Office said. "I decided to implement this UN resolution in the U.K. as quickly as possible, before the financial markets reopened," Chancellor George Osborne said. "This is a strong message for the Libyan regime that violence against its own people is not acceptable."

09:06 A ship chartered by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) carrying more than 1,000 metric tons of wheat flour, at the request of the Red Crescent in eastern Libya, to the Libyan port of Benghazi, has returned to port in Malta without unloading its cargo due to security concerns.  “We urgently call for safe humanitarian access to Libya,” said WFP Executive Director, Josette Sheeran.  “This shows the scale of the challenge we face, especially if there is a need to ramp up food and other assistance in Libya.”