In a distinct echo of the tactics they pursued to encourage US intervention in the Balkans and Iraq, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives appealed Friday for the United States and NATO to 'immediately' prepare military action to help bring down the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and end the violence that is believed to have killed well over a thousand people in the past week.

Libya's opposition movement has seized control of territory close to the capital, Tripoli, as anti-government protesters gear up for what could be a final battle for leader Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold. Three areas in the east were reported to be under the control of protesters on Monday, a day after pro-democracy demonstrators took control of the city of Az-Zawiyah, just 50km west of Tripoli.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should impose immediate measures on the Libyan government to end the massive human rights abuses occurring throughout the country, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Human Rights Watch, and INTERIGHTS have said. The three human rights organisations submitted a joint request to the commission on 24 February 2011, asking it to act on Libya during its meeting in Banjul, Gambia, which began on 23 February.

Kenyan mercenaries are among foreign soldiers helping the besieged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fight off an uprising, the Daily Nation reports. This was confirmed by Col Gaddafi’s former Chief of Protocol Nouri Al Misrahi in an interview with the Al Jazeera broadcasting network. Mr Misrahi was detailing how Gaddafi had resorted to using mercenaries against his own people after losing control of the Libyan armed forces.

Blackout. No international journalists. No network cameras. And yet the story of Libya’s revolution has poured out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms. It’s a story that has been raw, uncut and shocking. Below is a selection of this material from four days in Libya this week.

It's nonsensical for Gaddafi to be preaching the theory of establishing a 'United States of Africa' to people, when Libya makes it impossible or difficult for them to interact with one another in the flesh, writes Cameron Duodu.

Tracing Colonel Gaddafi’s dubious history of collusion with Western interests, Horace Campbell stresses that current developments in Libya must push towards a people-centred democratisation of the country’s society.

Dibussi Tande discusses growing concern about ‘the worrying racist undertones of claims that Gaddafi is using “African mercenaries” to kill Libyan protesters.'

Gaddafi's efforts to seek a host outside of Libya prove fruitless.

The UN refugee agency has said it welcomes the positive indications it has received over the past two days from Tunisia and Egypt that they will maintain open borders for people fleeing the continuing violence in Libya. 'Given the continued reports of violence and human rights abuses inside Libya, it is imperative that people fleeing the country are able to reach safety,' the refugee agency added in a press release. Several hundred people have been killed in the violence that followed anti-government protests last week.

The UN refugee agency said in Geneva on Tuesday it has become 'increasingly concerned' about the dangers for civilians inadvertently caught up in the mounting violence in Libya, especially asylum-seekers and refugees. 'We have no access at this time to the refugee community. Over the past months we have been trying to regularise our presence in Libya, and this has constrained our work,' Melissa Fleming, UNHCR's chief spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.

Unconfirmed reports from sources in Libya - where reliable information is notoriously difficult to come by - suggested more than 60 people died in violence in the capital on 21 February. Network Al-Jazeera also claimed at least one government building had been torched in Tripoli, a report that also could not be independently verified. Unconfirmed reports from sources in Libya suggested more than 60 people died in violence in the capital on 21 February. Network Al-Jazeera also claimed at least one government building had been torched in Tripoli, a report that also could not be independently verified.

In a a sign that the first cracks are starting to show in the Libyan regime, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son warned in a lengthy and rambling address broadcast live last night that the overthrow of the regime would lead to civil war and the break-up of the country, reports the UK's Independent. The address by Saif Gaddafi, who is viewed as reform-minded in the West, came as the first major anti-government protests spread to the capital, Tripoli, striking at the heart of the regime and making Colonel Gaddafi's 42-year hold on power appear increasingly precarious.

Libya has handed out more than $2 billion in loans to dozens of governments across the globe, according to an internal document that shows the oil exporter's diplomatic ambitions and its struggles to recover its debts. The biggest debtor mentioned in the document is Libya's neighbour Sudan with an outstanding balance of $1.287 billion, part of Sudan's debilitating external debt of almost $40 billion.

Protesters have clashed with police and government supporters in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, reports say. Demonstrators gathered in the early hours of Wednesday morning (16 February) in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the 'corrupt rulers of the country', Al Jazeera's sources said. Police fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, the sources said without providing further details.

A Libyan writer and political commentator arrested and accused of a driving offence appears to have been targeted for calling for peaceful protests in the country, Amnesty International has said. Jamal al-Hajji, a former prisoner of conscience who has dual Libyan and Danish nationality, was detained on 1 February in Tripoli by plain clothes security officers. They accused him of hitting a man with his car, which he denies.

As most Libyans are still are too afraid of secret government agents to express their ample discontent, three of Muammar al-Ghaddafi's sons are preparing for a possible popular uprising. One is a reformist; two are hardliners. Tunisia is Libya's main western neighbour; Egypt its main eastern neighbour.

African nations should join forces to create a one-million-strong army to protect the continent and confront outsiders like NATO and China, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said. Gaddafi, well known for his forthright rhetoric, has acquired growing influence in Africa but his ambition to build a united states of Africa is not shared by the continent's biggest powers. 'National militaries alone cannot save countries. Africa should have one army with one million soldiers,' Gaddafi said in a speech in the Senegalese capital.

The Sudanese government on Sunday issued a strongly worded statement after president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir was forced to cancel his attendance at the 3rd Africa-European Union (EU) summit that starts Monday in the Libyan capital. Bashir was indicted in March 2009 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, and in July 2010 on charges of genocide, linked to atrocities committed by Khartoum’s forces in Darfur. Many officials around the world including ones from the EU have avoided appearing with the Sudanese president after the warrants.

A group of journalists arrested in Libya have been released on the order of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan media report. Authorities had arrested 19 journalists and a senior media executive, reportedly as part of a power struggle inside the ruling elite.