Beach villas are testimony to the fact that the Gaddafis not only ruled Libya, they owned it, and treated its wealth as their personal patrimony.

Libya’s rebels accused neighbouring Algeria of an act of aggression for admitting the fleeing wife of Muammar Gaddafi and three of his children.

Libyan forces closed in on Muammar Gaddafi’s home town, vowing to seize it by force if negotiations fail.

The implosion of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s 41-year-old rule will put a new spring in the step of the Arab revolutions.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he would surrender power in September, angering protesters who want an immediate end to his rule.