Libya, Syria and Middle East unrest - live updates
Britain expels all remaining Libyan diplomats
Lockerbie bomber Megrahi at pro-Gaddafi rally
UN envoy says two sides in Libya conflict remain far apart
Syria activists say protest leaders being assassinated
11.17am: Hague denied that there was a "back-channel" for Gaddafi to stay in Libya in return for ceding power. He also repeated that the campaign will continue for as long as necessary. There is no time table for ending the campaign, he said.
"The pressure on Gaddafi is increasing all the time. We are not setting a timetable," he said.
11.08am: Hague says the expulsion is a political statement of intent to Libya.
He said Britain would have expelled diplomats earlier but had to first ensure that Libyan students living in the UK would continue to receive funds.
On the appearance of Megrahi at that rally, Hague said it confirmed the "mistake" of the Scottish government decision to release him two years.
On a possible political settlement to the conflict he said Britain supports the work of the UN envoy. Hague repeated that Gaddafi's fate is a matter for the Libyan people. "The best solution involves Gaddafi leaving Libya ... but it is not one we can guarantee," he said.
11.02am: Hague says Britain now regards the NTC as the sole authority for Libya.
"We will deal with the NTC on the same basis as other governments around the world," he said. He also confirmed the expulsion of Gaddafi's remaining diplomats from London and the invitation to the NTC to form an e! mbassy.< /p>
10.56am: The expulsion of the Libyan diplomats, which is in line with the conclusions of the international contact group, is a rare step for Britain which normally recognises states and not governments, writes Nick Watt.
At the start of the conflict Britain declined to follow the example of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who recognised the council as the legitimate government of Libya.
A foreign office source explained the change of heart. "We dragged in the charge d'affaires. He and his colleagues are now packing their bags.
"We now regard the NTC as the legitimate expression of the Libyan people. We have invited them to set up shop and represent the Libyan people with full diplomatic status. This is the next obvious step in showing our support for the NTC."
10.52am: Six of the expelled Libyan diplomats are being named as: Khaled Benshaban, Tarek Al-Obide, Mokhtar Elamin, Hasan Toumi, Fathi S.M. Hariba, and Taher Shawesh.
LIBTRIP, the Twitter account of a group of activists based in London, claims there are only six diplomats at the embassy.
10.44am: Interesting:
Sky's Tim Marshall tweets:
Sky Sources. Some Libyan staff expelled from London embassy say they will go to Benghazi because they support rebels.
10.40am: The Guardian's Nicholas Watt confirms that the NTC will be invited to establish a London embassy.
William Hague: Libyan charge d'affaire and all embassy staff to be expelled. NTC to be invited to establish embassy #libya
Nick will be covering Hague's press conference which is due to start in the next 20 minutes. Both Sky News and BBC will be taking a live feed.
10.28am: M ore than 30 members of Libya contact group, including Britain and the US, agreed to recognise the NTC [national transitional council] as the legitimate authority in Libya earlier this month.
PA has this on the expulsion of the Gaddafi's diplomats:
It is understood that eight representatives of Muammar Gaddafi's regime are still staffing the Libyan Embassy in London's Knightsbridge, more than four months after Britain joined international air strikes.
The Libyan charge d'affaires was today being summoned to the Foreign Office to be told he and his staff must leave the UK.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm that the Libyan charge d'affaires has been called to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and is being informed that he and the remaining Libyan diplomats in the UK are expelled."
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the embassy building may be offered to the opposition Transitional National Council in a mark of its increasing recognition as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people.
Foreign Secretary William Hague is expected to give further details of the move in a press conference later this morning.
10.22am: All Libya's remaining diplomats in the UK are being expelled, the Foreign Office has confirmed to PA.
Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall claims this will allow the National Transitional Council to put its representatives in the embassy.
He tweets:
UK expelling all remaining 8 Libyan Embassy staff. Will allow NTC to replace them Official recognition of NTC as representing Libya.
Libyan Charge d'affairs is now in with Foreign Office Permanent Under Sec being given the news he is being expelled.
10.09am: William Hague's press confe! rence on Libya is due to start at 11am. It is unclear at this stage why he has called it.
But Sky News claims that UK is to expel Libyan embassy staff.
On Monday Hague suggested that Britain was prepared allow Gaddafi to stay in Libya in return for ceding power.
He said: "Obviously him leaving Libya itself would be the best way of showing the Libyan people that they no longer have to live in fear of Gaddafi. But as I have said all along, this is ultimately a question for Libyans to determine."
On Tuesday Hague's officials insisted that the government's had not changed its stance on Libya.
10.00am: Syrian activists are meeting in Turkey for what they claim is the first meeting of its kind since the uprising began, AFP reports.
Bahiya Mardini, who heads the Cairo-based Arab Free Speech Committee, said the Istanbul meeting will focus on "developing the coordination between activists and working groups of the revolution".
Wissam Tarif, founder of the human rights group Insan, is providing a Twitter commentary on the meeting. His updates are included in the Guardian's Middle East Twitter network (see right), but here's a selection from meeting:
In Istanbul at The Syrian Activists Network meeting. More than 200 amazing young Syrian activists. Training not speeches. Good! #Syria
Germ Sema Abd Rabu introducing the program. She called herself a germ! Al Assad keeps making mistakes and they mock him now. #Syria
Mouath Al Sebai talking key point about future Syria: tolerance, civil society, democracy, pluralism and a civil state. #Syria
Dr Emad: People want Political Programs not individuals. A vision not ! oppositi on groups disputing. #Syria
9.28am: Welcome to Middle East Live. Libya looks set to be the main focus today after the Lockerbie bomber appeared at a pro-Gaddafi rally last night and Britain's foreign secretary William Hague is due to give press briefing on the conflict. Here's a run-down of the latest developments.
Libya
Libyan state television has broadcast footage showing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, at a gathering in support of Muammar Gaddafi. Megrahi appeared to be frail and was sitting in a wheelchair almost two years after his release from a Scottish prison.
ITN has this footage of Megrahi's appearance at the rally.
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Parties to the crisis in Libya remain deeply divided on how to reach a political solution the United Nations envoy Abdul Ilah Al-Khatib said after visits to Benghazi and Tripoli. His spokesman said: "The Special Envoy said it is clear from the discussions in Tripoli today and in Benghazi yesterday with representatives of the Libyan Transitional National Council, that both sides remain far apart on reaching agreement on a political solution,"
The international criminal court has dismissed suggestions by Britain and France that Gaddafi could be allowed to remain in Libya as part of negotiated deal to remove him from power, insisting that a new government would be obliged to arrest the dictator under warrants issued by the court. "He has to be arrested," said Florence Olara, spokeswoman for the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.
The failure of Nato's military campaign will force the coalition to offer more conc! essions to Gaddafi, according to a Guardian editorial:
Strip away the concession that Mr Hague and his French counterpart Alain Jupp appeared to make, and Nato is still left demanding that the colonel fall on his sword as a precondition for a ceasefire and national reconciliation talks. Unless the economic and military pressure on Gaddafi inside Tripoli really is intense and if so he is doing a good job of hiding it this is make-believe. The U-turn Britain, France and the US have just performed is unlikely to be the last.
It is time to tempt Gaddafi out, not blast him out, argues the Guardian's veteran foreign correspondent Jonathan Steele.
Having shifted on Gaddafi's future the next step for France and Britain should be to persuade their rebel allies to accept the principle of an immediate ceasefire. Then give the word to the UN negotiator and let him work on getting a response from the government side. Ramadan provides the incentive for an all-round military pause. With persistence it might even take permanent root.
Syria
Shimon Peres, the president of Israel, called on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to resign. In his first news conference for Arab media the former Israeli prime minister paid tribute to Syrian demonstrators, who he said "are fighting for peace and who want to live like human beings".
Syrian opposition groups say targeted assassinations of protest leaders and mass arrests signal a tactic change by the Syrian state in attempts to stamp out dissent ahead of an anticipated escalation in nightly demonstrations during Ramadan, Lebanon's Daily Star reports.
Egypt
The trial next week of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak comes at a dangerous moment, writes Jeffrey Fleishman for the LA Times
But any move that appears to allow Mubarak to slip from justice is sure to provoke an outraged backlash from Egyptians who regard their former leader as a tyrant. They want him called to account for filling jails with political opponents and running a government that enriched tycoons and friends in the ruling party
But the prevailing view is that the reports of poor health are a ruse, with Egyptians believing his ailments, including reports that he has stomach cancer, slips in and out of comas and refuses to eat, are theatrics to save him from prison. Many are skeptical that Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib Adli, who is also charged with the murder of protesters, will be tried beginning Aug. 3. The holy month of Ramadan begins next week, and some say Mubarak's lawyer will announce a new health crisis in the hours before the judge is to take the bench.
Potential presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei called for a broad-based coalition, that would include the Muslim Brotherhood, to contest the parliamentary elections. The former UN weapons inspector wants to ensure parliament fairly represents many of the new parties, dominated by younger activists, according to the Egyptian daily al-Masry al-Youm.
He said:
We don't have the luxury today to enter into fierce competition between the different streams, especially when we are building the house from the start At this stage, there must be a parliament that represents all Egyptian forces.
The telecommunication group Vodafone is to meet human rights campaigners to discuss how it can prevent it! s networ ks being hijacked by repressive regimes after it was forced to send out pro-government messages by the Egyptian government during the uprising.
Bahrain
Hundreds of people in Bahrain have been reinstated to their jobs after being sacked when they took part in a demonstrations earlier this year. The kingdom's Labour minister said 564 had been reinstated, according to Trade Arabia. Earlier this month Human Rights Watch called on the Bahrain government to reinstate more than 2,000 workers who were sacked after taking part in pro-democracy protests in March.
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