Libya live blog March 5

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

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22:18 Muammar Gaddafi’s forces were accused of a massacre during a heavy assault on a key city during Saturday, as rebels pushed towards Tripoli and declared themselves Libya's sole representative As battles raged east and west of the capital and casualties rose on both sides, the national council -- the embryonic provisional government -- made the proclamation at its first formal gathering.

"The council declares it is the sole representative all over Libya," former justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil said after the meeting in Benghazi, the rebel stronghold in the east of the strife-torn North African country.

Abdel Jalil, one of the first high-profile Libyans to defect from Gaddafi’s four-decade regime when the uprising began, has been appointed chairman of the 30-member body. Rebels say they have set up local councils in cities they hold across the east and intend their transitional government to lead the country into an election.

20:00 A series of explosions that destroyed one of Libya's biggest arms dumps has reportedly caused a big dent in the rebels' potential armoury. One area looked like it contained a shed full of anti-aircraft cannon mounted on trailers.

At least one cannon had been thrown by the blasts and there was evidence of factory packing. Sky News reported that the weapons looked like they were as good as new and could have been used by the rebels as they advance west into Gaddafi territory.

Among the wreckage in al Rajma were surface-to-air missiles and canisters to be filled with napalm. Nearby, were destroyed fire trucks where more than a dozen fire-fighters are thought to have died in the inferno.

The rebels blamed the incident on pro-Gaddafi saboteurs - but the explosions could have been set off by accident

19:53 A Canadian national who was evacuated from Libya and brought to Malta, says he witnessed horrific acts of brutality carried out by Muammar Gaddafi's army. Arif Pervez was working for the Libyan-based Waha Oil company in a desert village about 600 kilometres south of Benghazi when protests broke out.

He says a Libyan military plane landed at the local airstrip a few days into the fighting and soldiers rounded up oil workers and villagers. The soldiers randomly selected two men from the crowd before they beat them to death in front of everyone, he told CBC News.

"Four men were there to torture him," said Pervez, recalling how one of the victims died. "One was holding his hand. One was holding his feet, and they started beating him with a piece of wood, and he was shouting, screaming and crying."

Pervez said they poured a flammable liquid over the man and set him on fire."He started shouting a lot, so they continued beating him until he died," he said, adding that the soldiers left immediately after the killings.

19:05 National Libyan Council in Benghazi has declared itself the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people. It has formally asked the international community for official recognition

18:00 Tanks and armoured vehicles have rolled into the port city of Zawiyah and have opened fire and killed a number of civilians. The offensive launched by forces loyal to Gaddafi has reportedly been launched in a retaliatory attack on the anti-Gaddafi resistance that took control of the town yesterday. Residents who spoke to news channels by phone, cried for help as tanks blasted shells into private homes.

15:44 At least 400 Indians are on their way to Malta by sea from Libya on board chartered ship, MV Red Star. The evacuees are to be later flown to India on two chartered aircraft of Kingfisher and Jet Airways, the Indian Ministry for External Affairs has said.

14:49 Carrying a total number of 149 passengers as the last batch of the evacuees from Libya,of which most arrived in Malta on their own, the last plane chartered by the Chinese government left Malta for Shanghai at 5:02 am on March 5.

For the last 13 days since this evacuation operation began, the Chinese Embassy in Malta have evacuated altogether 4,859 Chinese nationals from Libya with three chartered cruise vessels. Another 134 people who arrived through other means were also properly settled. As from Feb 26, 19 chartered flights, all of which bound for Shanghai except one for Beijing, took all 4993 Chinese back to the motherland safe and sound.

The three vessels chartered by the Embassy also evacuated from Libya a total of 41 foreigners of Maltese, Italian, Croatian, Vietnamese and Filipino nationality.

14:07 Forces loyal to Col. Gaddafi have launched a series of fierce attacks in key areas of east and west Libya.  There has been bitter fighting in Zawiyah - a rebel held town, 30 miles from the capital Tripoli. It is believed two armoured brigades, with tanks and heavy artillery attacked at dawn this morning. 

One of them is the elite Kharmis Brigade, which is headed by one of Col Gaddafi's sons. Rebel spokesman, Youssef Shagan said Mr Gaddafi's troops have withdrawn from the city."They entered Zawiyah at six in the morning with heavy forces, hundreds of soldiers with tanks. Our people fought back. We have won for now and civilians are gathering in thesquare," Shagan sai

13:14 Libyan Government Falcon DA-900 5A-DCN, air borne from Amman in Jordan (ASTC) 07:50 UTC for Mitiga Libya (HLLM) landed 11:30 UTC in Libya.

12:53 Libyan Government Falcon jet DA-900 5A-DCN in an 'apparent' challenge to NATO Awacs patrolling the skies between Malta, Lampedusa and Linosa. The jet was was leaving Tripoli for Mitiga, heading waypoint VARIG,

12:12 Libyan Government Falcon DA-900 flight tail nr 5A-DCN FL340 inbound contact with Malta Air Traffic Control. This is the second time in a week that the jet is flying into Malta airspace.

10:47 Britain is to send teams of spies and diplomats into Libya to help oust Colonel Gaddafi.MI6 operatives backed by the SAS are to land in the east around the key rebel stronghold of Benghazi 'within days'.

In addition, 600 soldiers of the Black Watch are on 24-hour standby to fly in and avert a humanitarian catastrophe as Libya erupted into a new wave of bloodshed.

10:00 Libyan rebels have said they had seized a key oil refinery town in some of the heaviest fighting of the rebellion that left "many dead", a claim denied by a senior government official.  With claim and counter-claim shifting with the battle lines in the North African country's desert sands, Venezuela said Libya had given it a green light to form a peace mission, a move already rejected by the rebels.

The fighting centred on the town of Raslanuf, where hundreds of jubilant rebels cheered and fired into the air late last night, saying they were in control. At least eight people were killed and more than 20 wounded in the clashes, a doctor said this morning

09:55 The UK’s Ministry of Defence has confirmed that British troops are on stand-by for deployment to Libya. The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, is ready to deploy at 24 hours notice. But the MOD has stressed that the troops are prepared to assist with humanitarian and evacuation operations, not combat.

AWACS early warning planes are patrolling the skies in the region as Black Watch's 600 soldiers remain prepared for deployment at Fort George near Inverness. Already around 800 personnel from all three services have been involved in rescue operations and the MOD says the current state of readiness is for developments in the looming humanitarian crisis. The North Atlantic Council of NATO leaders asked for a range of military contingency plans to be drawn up. 

09:51 The Canadian military has no plans to conduct extraction raids into Libya and citizens who want out of the chaotic North African nation should make their way to embarkation points, the commander of the mission said Friday. "There are no current plans to extract Canadians," Lt.-Col. Tony DeJacolyn told the Canadian press in an interview in Malta. "The current concept of operations is to move Canadian entitled persons and instruct them to move to points of exit, whether it be by sea or air," he said.

09:39 Rebels have claimed victory in the western Libyan city of Zawiyah following clashes with Pro-Gaddafi troops, according to reports. Sky News reports its correspondents have  witnessed fierce fighting in the area this morning. Special correspondent Alex Crawford has seen ongoing battles in Zawiyah, where people are forced to shelter in mosques, in the city 30 miles west of Tripoli. "There is a lot of shelling by tanks and machine guns being used on the streets outside," Crawford said.

"At least two of the attacking tanks have been destroyed and some troops have been captured. There is an awful lot of fighting outside the mosque. There are too many injuries for the doctors to cope with and there are reports that a hospital has been besieged," she added.

09:34 UK's Ministry of Defence confirms British troops are on stand-by for deployment to Libya, Sky News reports

09:30 NATO AWACS: NATO 07 is air borne in orbit FL290 south of Malta

09:27 UK Royal Navy EH-101 Merlin HM1 tail nr ZH840 lands at Luqa Malta

09:26 French Air Force Transall C-160G tail F216, call sign COTAM 2096, in Mediterranean

09:25 Col. Gaddafi has formally written to United Nations Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon and to the UN Security Council, asking for the removal of imposed sanctions.

07:00 Col Gaddafi has appointed a new ambassador to the UN. He is Ali Abdulassem Treki.  A veteran diplomat who also served as President of the Un assembly.  The controversial figure who was foreign minister from 1976 to 1982 is 72 years of age.  A Gaddafi loyalist is nonetheless a seasoned diplomat.  It is not clear whether the US will issue a visa for him to enter the US.  He was rebuked several times for his harsh comments on Jews and for blaming the pornography in New York on Jews!  The move by Gaddafi is seen as an attempt to show that he can operate on the diplomatic front.  More so after the defection of so many ambassadors.