0550 GMT: We awake to find that Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi appeared on State TV just after 0000 GMT.
The speech lasted all of 22 seconds with Qaddafi declaring, ""I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dogs....I wanted to say something to the youths at the Green Square (in Tripoli) and stay up late with them but it started raining. Thank God, it's a good thing."
Far more significant than Qaddafi's appearance, which appeared to have no more purpose than to confirm that he was still in Libya, was the apparent introduction of aerial bombardment against the protesters. Unable to rely on his ground forces in much of the country, the Libyan leader unleashed fighter jets and helicopters on the opposition. It is impossible to get even an approximation of the death toll, given the black-out imposed on communications early in the day, but the pictures which did come out --- too graphic to be posted on EA --- are evidence of ruthless killing.
Despite the bombardment, it appears that the regime has lost the east of the country, including Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. The battle is now in the capital Tripoli. Some video evidence came out overnight of anti-regime demonstrations, while State TV focused on what appeared to be a large pro-Qaddafi rally with the flying of Libya's green flag.
And there was crumbling of the regime throughout the day. Several high-ranking diplomats resigned, including some who did so on-air with denunciations of Qaddafi's "genocide", and those who remained loyal --- such as the Deputy Foreign Minister --- were reduced to calling into Al Jazeera to make allegations that all of this was the fault of foreign media.
