Going, going,.....Gaddafi. But business going on.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI has appeared on Libyan TV to disprove rumours sustained among others by British Foreign Secretary William Hague that he had fled the country. Venezuela had already denied that he was there. But with the Libyan dictator already dependent on foreign mercenaries, and air strikes ordered against his own people, how much longer can his regime prolong Libya's agony by trying to cling on?

Over 400 people have reportedly been killed already in Libya. Not much reliable news is being allowed to leak out, but two Libyan jets and some helicopters landed in Malta yesterday, with air force officers -two said to be colonels - saying they had fled after refusing orders to bomb civilians.

There were reports of air strikes on two places near Tripoli, Misurata and Azawiya, and even on suburbs of the capital itself. The two planes in Malta may have been those sent to Benghazi to carry out similar attacks before deciding to defect.

Much of Benghazi had reportedly already been taken over by rebels, with some army units coming over to the people. In Tripoli itself some districts were barricaded, as residents prepared to resist foreign mercenaries rampaging through the streets shooting people.

Today's Guardian quotes Ali Zeidan, of the Libyan League of Human Rights, in Munich: "Protesters gathered for very big street demonstrations. Then at 3am, forces came without any warning and started shooting live ammunition into the crowd. Some of the demonstrators ran, others fell. There were about 60 killed and around 130 injured. It wasn't the police, it wasn't the army, it was Gaddafi's elite guard assisted by paid foreign African fighters.

..........

"Libyans used to be afraid. But after they saw the blood, they aren't afraid anymore, they are angry. Everybody knows somebody who has been killed or injured, everyone is very angry. What Gaddafi's son said made people furious, it's as if the people can just be treated like trash. Now people don't want to go back to what they had for the last 42 years [of Gaddafi's rule]. Now they feel no fear, if there are deaths people accept that we must carry on. Protesters will go to the centre again today and keep demonstrating until the job is done.".

Souhayr Belhassen, head of the International Federation of Human Rights, said she had gathered accounts from Tunisians and others who had left Libya, describing how property belonging to Gaddafi had been attacked and police stations set alight. "The revolt is heading to the capital," she said. She said senior figures including ambassadors and security forces, were abandoning Gaddafi. "They have jumped ship and the boat is sinking," she said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/21/libya-protests-blood-fears-gone

Some Libyans said they had seen white mercenaries, possibly Europeans, as well as Africans said to be from Niger and Chad.

Meanwhile up to nine Libyan diplomats abroad have reportedly resigned in protest. Libya's ambassadors to the United States and the UN are among those who say they can no longer serve the regime. In London, some embassy staff came out yesterday and mingled with Libyans demonstrating outside.

Just what forces could replace Gaddafi is not clear. Although his regime used some of Libya's oil revenue to develop the country and modernise, it retained and rested upon a traditional tribal structure enabling it to play upon divisions and counter class awareness. Gaddafi tried to project this as people's rule, the jamahariya, proclaiming a 'Third Way' that was neither capitalist nor communist.

Now the people, particularly the educated young, appear to be giving their verdict, and passing sentence on his regime.

Western powers, and particularly British intelligence, MI6, tried to oppose Gaddafi by supporting reactionary Islamicist groups, jihadis blooded in Afghanistan fighting the Russians, to carry out terrorist attacks in Libya with as little regard for civilians as the regime is showing now. But in more recent years these were dropped or reclassified as terrorist enemies, while Gaddafi's Libya became an ally in the "war on terror", as well as supplier of much of Europe's oil and gas.

Now, as Gaddafi seems likely to be following that other 'strongman' Mubarak, albeit leaving a bloodier trail, European capitalists and governments, particularly Italy, are worried about the affect on oil prices and profits. BP and Shell have evacuated their personnel. As with Bahrain, Britain has belatedly imposed an embargo on arms sales to Libya, even as Prime Minister David Cameron visits the Middle East to celebrate the first Gulf War, accompanied by former Prime Minister John Major, and a host of arms dealers, order books at the ready.