As the uprising in Libya continues, we update you with the latest developments from our correspondents, news agencies and citizens across the globe. Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external sites.
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(All times are local in Libya GMT+2)
Evan Hill (@evanchill), Al Jazeera's online producer, was on a road near the port town of Brega earlier today when a fighter jet fired a missile that impacted metres away. The town saw intense fighting throughout Wednesday between pro- and anti-government forces. The jet was piloted by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. The video below was taken moments after the missile impact.
A "distress call" from the port town of Brega, which anti-government forces defended against an attack from government troops earlier today, appears to be circulating online.
The veracity of this report cannot be verified, but we reproduce it here verbatim. It says:
O Almanara Media! O free men of Libya! O honourable daughters of Libya! An URGENT URGENT distress call from the city of Brega. In the city of Hrawah which is situated between Raas Lanuf and Sirt, 70 cars full of mercenaries have just arrived to support the battalion which is present there. They plan to attack the city of Brega, occupy it and control its airport. I appeal to God! Please deliver my call of distress! Please! The people of Brega are distressed and the revolutionary youth plan to resist this battalion. By God I fear there may be a massacre tonight, help us help us help us!
- Some disturbing reports emerging from Tripoli, where a doctor has told Al Jazeera that government security forces have been "throwing patients from windows" into trucks at Tajura Hospital, starving prisoners to death,kidnapping children and detaining activists.According to the doctor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, a 12-year-old boy, on his way to school in a neighbourhood near Gaddafi's Bab Aziz palace, was stripped naked, searched and then kidnapped.Reproduced below is an excerpt from a chat conversation between the doctor in Libya (named 'Contact' in this transcript) and another London-based colleague (named 'London' in the transcript).Contact: how they stripped down at 12 year old going from schoolContact: jeehit elkeyada [near where Gaddafi's residence is "bab azezeya"]Contact: nakedContact: and opened his school bagContact: and then kidnapped himContact: and ppl inside the houses were watchingContact: and could do nothingContact: and tajora hospitalsContact: where they were throwing patientsContact: thrwoing patients from windowsContact: hit and missContact: in a big truckContact: and hauled them awayContact: this is doctor eyewitnessContact: m3ash nigdir [I can't take it anymore]London: Throwing patients out of hospital windowsLondon: Oh my godContact: and how they're starving the people in jailContact: so if they don't die from bulletsContact: they'll die from thirstContact: and hungerContact: nass mgawma ya [these are good people]Contact: hikee yideeroo feehum [how could they do this to them]The Libya-based doctor also told his friend about a mutual friend, a poet and activist, who was "kidnapped" by pro-Gaddafi forces, who also searched his house and took his laptop. He has not been seen since.
As the opposition vows to take the fight to Gaddafi if need be, and his forces position themselves to take on anti-government protesters, it is worth asking just what kind of military capabilities Gaddafi's troops have. Al Jazeera's Tim Friend filed this report.
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, reiterates to Al Jazeera the need for a no-fly zone to be established over Libya in order to protect anti-government forces. He indicates that even the "threat sometimes is enough". While welcoming possible African Union moral support on the issue, he says the AU does not likely have the "capability to impose the no-fly zone".
Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's foreign minister, calls for the formation of a bloc of "friendly countries" to begin a process of dialogue with Gaddafi's government as well as the opposition. Once again, the South American country has alleged that the US is searching for pretexts to invade Libya to take control of its energy resources.
Clovis Maksoud, the former Arab League ambassador to the United Nations, tells Al Jazeera that the Arab League should take the lead in attempting to set up a no-fly zone over Libya.
He also thinks the Arab League is no longer as "fragmented" as it has been in the past, and that it has taken clear action so far on the situation in Libya.
An audio update from Az Zawiyah has been posted by the Voices of Feb 17. A anti-government protester there says a burial was held on Wednesday for a man who was injured last week, but who died because sufficient medical care was not available.
He says a pro-Gaddafi battalion has shut down the border with Tunisia, disallowing Libyans from leaving the country.
Sybella Wilkes, another spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says there are "acres of people, as far as you can see", waiting to cross into Tunisia.
"They are outdoors in the freezing cold, under the rain, many of them have spent three or four nights outside already," she said, appealing for "tens if not hundreds of planes" to help evacuate those fleeing the violence.
The United Nations refugee agency says over 180,000 people have reached land border crossings, with over 77,300 crossing into Egypt (most of them Egyptians) and a similar number in Tunisia. About 30,000 are still waiting at the Libya-Tunisia border, waiting to cross over.
Camps have been set up for refugees, but are facing overwhelming numbers. Moreover, Melissa Fleming, the UN refugee agency's spokesperson, says many people are too "terrified" to move out of Tripoli, for fear that they will be targetted by Gaddafi's forces and killed.
She also said that some Somali and Eritrean workers from Benghazi said they felt "hunted", after being mistaken for mercenaries by opposition forces.
Libya isn't the only country where it's difficult to access media that are reporting on events in the country. In Equatorial Guinea, a state radio presenter was abruptly forced off the air after he made reference to events in Libya.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Federico Abaga Ondo, the secretary of state for information and press, "stormed into the studios of government-controlled national broadcaster RTVGE and ordered producers to kill the microphone" of Juan Pedro Mendene, the presenter. Mendene has now been handed an indefinite suspension.
Equatorial Guinea has imposed a total news blackout on events in North Africa and the Middle East.
Speaking of the opposition in Benghazi, they say they are not just calling for a no-fly zone, but for UN forces to conduct airstrikes on forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.
The city is tense, as volunteers continue to sign up for ad-hoc military training ahead of an expected counteroffensive.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid filed this report from the opposition stronghold.
- 12:32am
Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN, says the international body may consider setting up the much-debated no-fly zone over the country if the interim National Council formed by the opposition in Benghazi submits a formal written request for one.
What is needed at this time is that such decision be made officially and that we, in New York, are notified of it so that we make a formal request to the United Nations."
Welcome to our Libya liveblog for March 3. If you're just joining us, you can catch up with yesterday's blog, by clicking here
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