LIVE Libyan Unrest: July 11, 2011

We are tracking the latest developments to keep you updated on the situation on the ground. There are interactive maps located in the Protest map page to keep up with the latest movements. Also check out the featured twitters on the sidebar. On the Go? Follow us on Twitter @Feb17Libya for the Live updates and discussion. All updates are in Libyan local time (GMT+2)
12:30pm: Libyan leader Muammar Al Qathafi’s son, Seif al-Islam said that his father’s government was in talks with the French government. Though there was no immediate comment from Paris about his revelation, on Sunday, France appeared to shift its position on the Libyan uprising, suggesting that there could be no military solution and that Muammar Al Qathafi loyalists and Libyan rebels should begin direct negotiations.
In the first interview he granted to an Arab newspaper since the start of the conflict in Libya in mid-February, speaking from Tripoli, Seif al Islam told Algerian newspaper El Khabar: “The truth is that we are negotiating with France and not with the rebels.
If France wants to sign oil deals with Libya and wants its companies to return to the country, then it would have to talk to the Qaddafi government, El-Khabar cited Saif as saying.
12:00pm: Two Gaddafi diplomats visited Israel to ‘change their country’s image’ MK Meir Sheetrit, who met with the two diplomats during their visit, told Army Radio that they had come to “change Libya’s image”. The diplomats, both businessmen reportedly affiliated with Muammar Gadhafi, also met with MK Tzipi Livni, MK Danny Danon and other top Israeli officials.
The Israeli Embassy in Paris, which issued the visas, would not comment and it is not yet clear who authorized the stamp.
11:45am: Gaddafi forces have been feeling the full force of precision strikes from RAF Tornado and Typhoon aircraft. The British Ministry of Defence has revealed units loyal to the dictator were targeted as they tried to use rocket launchers and howitzers to strike at the port of Misrata.
The aircraft fired on a former grain farm where multiple rocket launchers were being concealed south of the city near Tawurgha. Another air strike south west of the city saw a battery of four howitzers that were threatening the city destroyed, as well as an armed pick-up truck.
One of the RAF flights went on to take out a field gun at the Djebel Nafousa, 120 miles to the west near Mizdah. Out at sea the destroyer HMS Liverpool engaged regime forces on the coast at Zlitan with a number of high explosive and illumination rounds from her 4.5 inch gun.
11:20am: Following the request of the EU’s External Action Service (EEAS) for foreign affairs, Hungary’s embassy will continue representing the European Union in Tripoli, Libya during the second half of 2011, the foreign ministry told MTI, reports Politics.hu.
The Hungarian embassy has been the EU’s sole representation in Tripoli since January 1 of this year.
It added that the mission also represents Canada, Greece, Croatia, Italy and the United States, on request by the respected countries.
The embassy has been instrumental in coordinating the rescue operation of citizens of EU member states and non-EU countries and in providing them consular services during the instability in Libya. The ministry noted that in May Libyan authorities had released two American, a Spanish and a British journalists thanks to persistent pressure from the Hungarian embassy in Tripoli.

11:00am: A Libyan boy sells fruit and vegetables at an outdoor market in Benghazi – July 10

10:00am: HMCS Vancouver departs CFB Esquimalt on Libyan mission. The deployment is part of Operation Mobile, Canada’s contribution to NATO’s arms embargo and no-fly-zone enforcement in Libya. It will take the ship about three weeks to get to the Mediterranean, via the Panama Canal and a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. It is slated to stay for about six months.
The crew would not go into specifics about their mission, but it will include searching vessels for weapons, drugs and human trafficking, Matt Gariepy, a sonarman on the ship, said last week during preparations for the ship’s departure.
9:00am: The new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, Stavros Lambrinidis, will attend the Libya Contact group meeting July 15/16 in Turkey.
7:48am: UniCredit SpA has had signs of interest in Libya’s roughly 7 percent stake in the Italian bank, Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni said in an interview published on Monday.
UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank by assets, also will keep its stake in investment bank Mediobanca SpA “at the same level”, he told Corriere della Sera.
Asked about a capital increase, Ghizzoni said: “Today we all agree that capital should be higher than in the past. But I don’t agree about raising capital to such a level that there will be significant problems with profitability.”
He said of financial markets that the “situation is extremely volatile and delicate”.
7:32am: The United States remains firm that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must give up his 41-year rule, the state department said on Sunday, after France’s defense minister advocated a compromise with Libyan rebels.
“The Libyan people will be the ones to decide how this transition takes place, but we stand firm in our belief that Gaddafi cannot remain in power,” the department said in a written reply to a query.
7:00am: France appeared on Sunday to shift its position on the Libyan uprising, suggesting that there could be no military solution and that Muammar Gaddafi loyalists and Libyan rebels should begin direct negotiations.
However, Paris also said its objective was still that Libyan leader Gaddafi must eventually leave power – a condition virtually certain to be rejected by a hitherto defiant Gaddafi.
4:07am: Australia vowed on Sunday to keep up humanitarian aid to Libya, as a senior official from Canberra visited the country for the first time since the revolt against Moamer Kadhafi erupted in mid-February.
Paul Grigson, Australia’s deputy foreign affairs and trade secretary, met members of the rebel National Transitional Council for talks, underscoring Australia’s role in providing aid and its recognition of Libya’s rebel council.
3:00am: Libya’s rebel council issued a blunt warning to neighbouring Algeria on Sunday, insisting that it must “stop supporting Kadhafi,” as tensions between the North African countries bubbled to the surface.
Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice president of Libya’s National Transitional Council, accused Algeria of supporting Moamer Kadhafi militarily in the early days of the near five-month-long war, and that it continued to support him politically.
“Our only response to Algeria is: stop supporting Kadhafi and stop helping him terrorise and kill innocent civilians and our loved ones,” he said.
Algeria has not officially recognised the rebel council, nor has it called for Kadhafi to go.
“(Kadhafi) had military air support from Algeria” said Ghoga, recalling the early days of the war, adding that 4×4 vehicles had also crossed the border in support of Kadhafi forces.”
“We hoped that the Algerian regime had learned its lesson and stopped these acts,” he said, without giving details about current levels of support. Read full story