US 'will hand over' Libya command

Libya said it was ordering all its forces to observe an immediate ceasefire

The US has said it expects to hand over control of military operations against Libya within days to either a UK-France coalition or Nato.

Meanwhile in Tripoli, journalists were shown a ruined building in Col Muammar Gaddafi's compound that officials said was hit by a missile late on Sunday.
The UK said it again launched Tomahawk missiles as part of a co-ordinated strike on Libyan air defences.
Earlier, the Pentagon said Libya's air defences were effectively degraded.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said that while the US will continue to play a part in military operations against Col Gaddafi's forces, it "will not have the pre-eminent role".
"I think there is a sensitivity on the part of the Arab League to being seen to be operating under a Nato umbrella," Mr Gates said. "And so the question is if there is a way we can work out Nato's command and control machinery without it being a Nato mission and without a Nato flag, and so on."
Mr Gates also said a break-up of Libya would be a formula for instability. The east of the country, where the month-old revolt began, has historically been much more opposed to Col Gaddafi's rule, while the west and the area around Tripoli constitute his heartland.
Plume of smoke On Sunday night, several loud explosions were heard in Tripoli. Correspondents said at least one was in the vicinity of Bab al-Aziziya, where Libyan leader Col Gaddafi has his military base and compound.

At the scene

  Allan Little BBC News, Tripoli

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Characteristically defiant, Col Gaddafi called the Libyan people to revolution. The country's weapons stores had been opened, he said. All the people had been armed to defend their country against imperialist and colonialists.

And in a reference to the rebels in the east, he said: we will eliminate the traitors who have joined forces with what he called the crusader alliance.

The government told us that the hospitals were filling up with wounded civilians, that ambulance crews were doing their best to save lives. Sixty-four civilians were dead, it said.

State television showed some of the bodies, all, apparently, of men, but did not say whether they were civilian or military.

It also showed some of the wounded in hospital - again, all men. One of them expressed his support for the Libyan leader.

Passionate and articulate supporters of Col Gaddafi have gathered all over the city with green flags and portraits of their leader. Their sincerity seems beyond dispute.

But what of the hundreds of thousands in Tripoli who do not join these demonstrations? What are they thinking in the quiet privacy of their own minds?

Publicly, a fervent patriotism is fused with devotion to the person of Col Gaddafi. He and Libya are the same thing. In this prevailing atmosphere, there is no public dissenting voice.

A BBC reporter saw a column of smoke rising from the area.

Bursts of anti-aircraft fire also rose over the city.
A number of journalists were taken by Libyan officials to the compound and were shown a badly damaged concrete building. A Libyan spokesman said it had been bombed by the allied forces enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone over the country.
Meanwhile, heavy gunfire and sporadic explosions were heard in the streets of the rebel stronghold of Benghazi on Sunday night, a witness told Reuters.
There were also unconfirmed reports of pro-Gaddafi fighters opening fire from cars in the city.
In a statement from the Pentagon on Sunday, US Vice Adm William Gortney said coalition raids were "judged to have been very effective" and no new Libyan air activity had been reported.
"Benghazi is not completely safe from attack but it is certainly under less threat than it was yesterday," he said.
Meanwhile, the build-up of forces to enforce the no-fly zone continues.
Qatar is to send four planes to join the coalition enforcing the UN-mandated no-fly zone, the US and France have said.
The move would make Qatar the first Arab country to play an active part in the campaign against Col Gaddafi, who has been battling a month-long revolt.
Other Arab countries are also preparing to join the campaign against Col Gaddafi, Vice Adm Gortley said, adding that those governments would make their own announcements in due course.
The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle has left the Mediterranean port of Toulon for Libya, while Denmark and Norway are each sending six planes. Spain has sent at least three planes, plus a refuelling aircraft, while Italy also has jets ready to deploy.
Arab League

Journalists were shown a badly damaged building in Col Gaddafi's Tripoli compound

The head of the Arab League, who supported the idea of a no-fly zone, has criticised the severity of the bombardment.
"What is happening in Libya differs from the aim of imposing a no-fly zone, and what we want is the protection of civilians and not the bombardment of more civilians," said Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.
Arab League support was a key factor in getting UN Security Council backing for the resolution authorising the move.
In a news conference on Sunday, a Libyan military spokesman said its armed forces had ordered a ceasefire across the entire country, beginning at 2100 local time (1900 GMT).
However, the BBC's Allan Little in Tripoli says the government had been insisting that its troops were already observing a ceasefire order made on Friday.
Despite Friday's announcement, our correspondent adds, pro-Gaddafi troops have tried to enter Benghazi and have been in action at Misrata.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata told the BBC that pro-Gaddafi forces had launched fresh attacks on Sunday with heavy shelling.
President Barack Obama's national security adviser Tom Donilon said the ceasefire "isn't true or has been immediately violated".
Col Gaddafi has ruled Libya for more than 40 years. An uprising against him began last month after the long-time leaders of neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt were toppled.
Source BBC

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