June 5th Updates

14:04 Reuters Russian newspaper Kommersant said on Tuesday that Gaddafi was willing to give up power in exchange for security guarantees, citing a high-level Russian official. The source said in the report that other nations, potentially including France, were willing to provide those guarantees. Spokesman Moussa Ibrahim denied that it was negotiating about an exit for Gaddafi and said the information was simply untrue.


13:41 Paul Danahar The World Food Programme is now running an aid ferry from Benghazi to Misrata once or twice a week in July for humanitarian supplies and staff.


13:48 UK Ministry of Defense On Sunday NATO aircraft mounted a coordinated strike on two large warehouse complexes being used to store military supplies in Brega. RAF jets also destroyed a main battle tank near Gharyan in the Djebel Nafousa. The T55 tried to shelter in an alleyway between buildings but the Brimstone missile’s guidance system allowed it to be attacked successfully. During Sunday night, HMS Ocean launched @BritishArmy Apache helicopters in a strike against regime positions at Zuwarah airfield. Four armed vehicles and a command post were successfully attacked using Hellfire missiles and cannon fire. Throughout these operations, support was provided by NATO tanker and surveillance aircraft, including RAF VC10s, Sentries and Sentinels. HMS Bangor maintained counter-mine patrols off Misratah, while RFA Fort Rosalie continued to provide afloat logistic support.
13:29 Al Jazeera English NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen will meet with the leaders of the NTC in Brussels next week. It will be their first visit to NATO headquarters. “NATO countries agreed to invite the rebels because there is no NATO representation in Benghazi yet,” the diplomat said on condition of anonimity. Separately, a European diplomat said that a member of the NTC will most likely meet senior European officials next week.
11:38 NATO On July 4th, NATO aircraft flew 145 sorties, including 59 strike sorties. Some of the key targets included: In Tripoli: 1 Command and Control Center. In the vicinity of Brega: 1 Tank, 1 Artillery piece. In Brega: 1 Military Storage Facility. In the vicinity of Waddan: 1 Military Storage Facility. In the vicinity of Misurata: 1 Tank. In the vicinity of Nalut: 1 Military Camp. In the vicinity of Zintan: 2 Armed Vehicles, 1 Armoured Fighting Vehicle. In the vicinity of Zlitan: 1 Armed Vehicle. In the vicinity of Sirt: 2 armoured
Fighting Vehicles.
10:09 AFP The Libyan government has denied the accusation that it has executed detainees as a form of punishment for families who refused to attend the big pro-Gaddafi rally in Green Square. “This report is baseless and no newspaper or (other) news agency reported anything of the kind,” Tuesday’s statement from the government said, accusing the AFP news agency of “putting its credibility at stake.”
“There has been no resort to violence against the population and a million people took part in the rally” in Tripoli’s Green Square on Friday, the statement said.
10:00 Al Jazeera English The Libyan government says that it has seized weapons from the Tripoli port. Moussa Ibrahim, the government’s spokesman, took journalists and photographers on a tour of the seized cache today, saying that 11 rebels had been arrested while transporting the 100 machine guns from Tunisia. Ibrahim said the weapons had been supplied by Qatar.