Replies

Timestamp:

12:56am

The United Nations refugee agency says over 180,000 people have reached land border crossings, with over 77,300 crossing into Egypt (most of them Egyptians) and a similar number in Tunisia. About 30,000 are still waiting at the Libya-Tunisia border, waiting to cross over.

Camps have been set up for refugees, but are facing overwhelming numbers. Moreover, Melissa Fleming, the UN refugee agency's spokesperson, says many people are too "terrified" to move out of Tripoli, for fear that they will be targetted by Gaddafi's forces and killed.

She also said that some Somali and Eritrean workers from Benghazi said they felt "hunted", after being mistaken for mercenaries by opposition forces.

Timestamp:

1:03am

Sybella Wilkes, another spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), says there are "acres of people, as far as you can see", waiting to cross into Tunisia.

"They are outdoors in the freezing cold, under the rain, many of them have spent three or four nights outside already," she said, appealing for "tens if not hundreds of planes" to help evacuate those fleeing the violence.

Timestamp:

12:45am

Libya isn't the only country where it's difficult to access media that are reporting on events in the country. In Equatorial Guinea, a state radio presenter was abruptly forced off the air after he made reference to events in Libya.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Federico Abaga Ondo, the secretary of state for information and press, "stormed into the studios of government-controlled national broadcaster RTVGE and ordered producers to kill the microphone" of Juan Pedro Mendene, the presenter. Mendene has now been handed an indefinite suspension.

Equatorial Guinea has imposed a total news blackout on events in North Africa and the Middle East.

Timestamp:

12:36am

Speaking of the opposition in Benghazi, they say they are not just calling for a no-fly zone, but for UN forces to conduct airstrikes on forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi.

The city is tense, as volunteers continue to sign up for ad-hoc military training ahead of an expected counteroffensive.

Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel-Hamid filed this report from the opposition stronghold.

Timestamp:

12:32am

Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya's deputy ambassador to the UN, says the international body may consider setting up the much-debated no-fly zone over the country if the interim National Council formed by the opposition in Benghazi submits a formal written request for one.

What is needed at this time is that such decision be made officially and that we, in New York, are notified of it so that we make a formal request to the United Nations."

Timestamp:

12:02am

Welcome to our Libya liveblog for March 3. If you're just joining us, you can catch up with yesterday's blog, by clicking here