Pressure mounts on isolated Gaddafi

Pressure has mounted on isolated Libyan ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi after a chorus of international condemnation and resignations by top officials. The man considered the colonel’s number two, Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younes al-Abidi, is among senior figures who have joined the opposition.

The UN Security Council demanded an end to the violence on Tuesday, while the Arab League suspended Libya. Protesters greeted an angry speech by the veteran leader with defiance.

The BBC’s Jon Leyne, in eastern Libya, says people there believe the government now controls just a few pockets of territory including parts of the capital Tripoli and the southern town of Sabha.

Gunfire in Tripoli

After a week of upheaval, protesters backed by defecting army units are thought to have almost the entire eastern half of Libya under their control. At least 300 people have died in the uprising, although Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told reporters in Rome a death toll of 1,000 was more “credible”.

Mr Frattini also told Corriere della Sera newspaper he feared an immigrant exodus on a “biblical scale” if Col Gaddafi was toppled, predicting up to 300,000 Libyans could flee. French President Nicolas Sarkozy meanwhile called for the European Union to adopt “swift and concrete sanctions” and to suspend ties with Libya. BBC