Cameron time is of the essence

A resident named Tarek Abdallah had earlier said the pro-Gaddafi forces were closing in from the east, west and south.

“They are firing artillery shells. The shops are closed, people are terrified. There is no life in Zuwara right now,” he said.“I do not think we will hold on for long because there aren’t that many of us, but the rebels went to try to defend the town anyway.”

1638GMT Another line from David Cameron in Parliament today: “There is no intention to get involved in another war or to see an invasion or massive ground troops. That is not what is being looked at.

“What is being looked at is how do we tighten the pressure on an unacceptable, illegitimate regime to try and give that country some chance of peaceful transition,”

1614GMT Our defence editor, Deborah Haynes, is in Tripoli - with a minder following her every move. Here’s her report:

A small but noisy gathering of pro-Gaddafi supporters rallied in Green Square today, the site of demonstrations against the regime just two weeks ago. A group of men danced to patriotic pop music blasted out across the square by a large set of speakers.

“I am saluting Gaddafi and I want to send the message that I will give my life to him,” said Waleed Abdul Azeez, 33, as he took a break from performing a frenetic dance routine inside a roped off cordon.

“Anyone rebelling against the Government is not normal.”

The mood inside the capital is one of overt loyalty to the Libyan leader after an iron crackdown against anyone who showed any sign of dissent.

The Times, like all foreign media here, was allowed to walk around the centre of Tripoli with an interpreter but we had to bring a government minder with us.

Most people we spoke to were vehemently for Colonel Gaddafi, except for one young man working in a shoe shop. When asked what he thought about the rebels protesting in Benghazi and other cities and towns in the east of the country, he looked agitated and unwilling to offer a reply.

A number of banners in English and French strung up at the Green Square rally were designed to send a warning to the international community against meddling in Libyan affairs.

“America, octopus of killing + occupation, if you step-in no promise to get out,” read one English language poster, while another said in French: “Those who intervene in another’s country will find themselves in hell.”

1603GMT Here are some fuller quotes from David Cameron in his statement to the Commons:

“Every day, Gaddaffi is brutalising his own people. Time is of the essence. There should be no let-up on the pressure we put on this regime.

“I’m clear where the British national interest lies. It is in our interest to see the growth of open societies and the building blocks of democracy in North Africa and the Middle East.

“And when it comes to Libya, we should be clear what is happening. We have seen the uprising of a people against a brutal dictator.

“And it will send a dreadful signal if their legitimate aspirations are crushed - not least for others striving for democracy across that region.

“To those who say it is nothing to do with us, I would simply respond: Do we want a situation where a failed pariah state festers on Europe’s southern border, potentially threatening our security, pushing people across the Mediterranean and creating a more dangerous and uncertain world for Britain and for all our allies, as well as for the people of Libya?

“Of course we do not want that. And that is why Britain is, and will remain, at the forefront in responding to this crisis.”

1555GMT David Cameron has been briefing MPs on the situation in Libya and the international response to it - and said Britain would stay “at the forefront” during the crisis.

“We need, I believe, to continue to win the argument for a strong response from the international community, Europe included,” the Prime Minister said.

“When it comes to Libya, we should be clear on what is happening: we’ve seen the uprising of a people against a brutal dictator,” he told MPs.

“Every day Gaddafi is brutalising his own people,” he added. “Time is of the essence. There should be no let-up in the pressure on this regime.”

1523GMT A senior Libyan oil official says exports from the last major eastern oil terminal firmly in rebel hands are not expected to resume until at least mid-April. Rajab Sahnoun, a top executive with the Arabian Gulf Oil Co in Tobruk, said the next tanker is slated to come to the nearby Marsa al-Hargiah oil terminal in about a month.

1510GMT More from the Security Council meeting in New York, which is looking at the Arab League proposal for a no-fly zone.

Going into the talks, Gerard Araud,the French Ambassador, said: “France and the UK, we have been in favour of a no-fly zone for some time so now that there is this Arab League statement we do hope that it is a game-changer for the other members of the Council.”

1427GMT The UN Security Council is currently meeting to hear a briefing from Lynn Pascoe, a senior UN official, about the Arab League’s request for council approval of a no-fly zone in Libya.

The meeting was requested by Lebanon but diplomats said that members would discuss the request but not adopt a resolution. Britain and France have drafted a no-fly zone resolution but have yet to circulate it.

1232GMT For forthright criticism of President Obama’s lack of leadership during the Libya crisis, try this.

1218GMT Al Jazeera says that forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi have attacked the eastern entrance to the town of Zuwarah in western Libya.

1147GMT David Cameron’s official spokesman told reporters that the focus of Britain’s discussions with international partners continued to be measures to isolate the Gaddafi regime and the possibility of a no-fly zone.

He said that the Arab League’s backing for a no-fly zone over the weekend “shows that Gaddafi and Gaddafi’s actions don’t have any support in the region”.

But he said the option of directly supplying the rebels with arms, such as ground-to-air missiles, “isn’t something we are actively pursuing”.

1129GMT Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) has called on employees to return to work so it can start getting production levels back up.

The Libyan uprising has sharply reduced oil production in Libya, usually Africa’s third largest producer, with output of 1.6 million barrels per day, or almost 2 per cent of world supply.

“The oil companies in Libya made a call for the return of all the employees to their work,” Shokri Ghanem, the NOC chairman, told Reuters.

“The production went down because of the shortage of employees. We are calling them back so hopefully we can increase the production pretty soon.”

1057GMT Breaking news from the Gulf: a Saudi official says that more than 1,000 Saudi troops have entered Bahrain.

We’re still waiting for details but a senior Bahraini official said earlier that the kingdom had called in forces from its Sunni Gulf neighbours to put down unrest by its Shia Muslim majority after protesters overwhelmed police and blocked roads in a resurgence of mass protests seen last month.

“Forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council have arrived in Bahrain to maintain order and security,” Nabeel al-Hamer, a former information minister and adviser to the royal court, said on his Twitter feed.

The Island is a key US ally and home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

1043GMT Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish Prime Minister, says outside intervention in the Libyan conflict would be unhelpful and fraught with risk. Turkey is the only Muslim country in Nato.

“We have seen from other examples that foreign interventions, especially military interventions, only deepen the problem,” Mr Erodgan said in Istanbul this morning.

“Therefore we see a Nato military intervention in another country as extremely unbeneficial and, moreover, are concerned that it could create dangerous results.

“We need to give the Libyan people permission to chart their own course,” he said.

Turkey is a major trading partner with LIbya and Mr Erdogan last year personally received a human rights award from Colonel Gaddafi.

The Arab League asked the UN Security Council on Saturday to impose a no-fly zone on Libya, giving a regional seal of approval that Nato said was vital for any military action.

1035 GMT Major General Omar Al Hariri, a rebel military commander, has claimed that his forces recaptured Brega last night. He told al-Jazeera that Government forces were weak “because they are not fighting for a cause”.

“Most of the Gaddafi forces are mercenaries, who are fighting for money. Therefore, they were very weak and the revolutionary forces were able to kill and capture so many of them,” he said.

“The revolutionary forces were then able to enter Brega and to push Gaddafi forces to outside of Brega and Aqaila. They are now taking fortified defensive positions in Aqaila.”

There’s been no independent confirmation of his claim.

1032GMT President Medvedev has announced that Muammar Gaddafi and his family are banned from Russia - and from carrying out financial operations in Russia.

1020GMT David Cameron is to give a statement to MPs today on Europe’s response to the Libya crisis. Downing Street says he’ll speak at 3.30pm.

0933GMT Four shells have fallen just six km west of the Ajdabiya, which appears to be next on the target list for government forces.

AFP journalists saw two large craters near a road junction. Rebels said there had been no casualties during the strike.

As a sandstorm blew over the area, dozens of civilians were evacuating the town, heading east for the rebel capital of Benghazi aboard light trucks loaded with suitcases, bags and mattresses.

General Abdel Fatah Yunis, who resigned as interior minister soon after the uprising began in mid-February and is now the rebels’ commander, said in Benghazi last night that Ajdabiya, 170km to the west, was “a vital city” for the insurgents.

“It’s on the route to the east, to Benghazi and to Tobruk and also to the south. Ajdabiya’s defence is very important... We will defend it,” he told reporters.

0915GMT More from William Hague’s interview on the Today programme: he says that the international community is approaching the “point of decision” on military intervention in Libya.

“We are now reaching a point of decision, very clearly, on what happens next,” he said ahead of tonight’s G8 meeting. “Clearly a no-fly zone is one of the leading propositions. It isn’t the answer to everything but it has been called for by the Arab League and is something which the international community must now consider.”

Mr Hague indicated that while the “cleanest and simplest” way of securing a legal basis for a no-fly zone would be a resolution of the United Nations Security Council, it was not necessarily essential.

“In cases of great, overwhelming humanitarian need, then nations are able to act under international law, even without a resolution of the Security Council,” he said.

0905GMT The West must immediately arm the Libyan rebels or face writing off freedom in the country for a generation, Sir Malcom Rifkind, the former Foreign Secretary, warns in The Times today.

Sir Malcolm says the United Nations should learn from errors made in its response to the war in Bosia when an arms embargo blocked the supply of weaponry to all sides.

“Having been Defence Secretary at the time I have, in retrospect, felt that was the most serious mistake made by the UN,” he wrote.

William Hague, the current Former Secretary, was asked about Sir Malcolm’s comments in a BBC interview this morning and gave it a degree of backing.

“I wouldn’t exclude various possibilities on this score,” he said. “I think Malcolm Rifkind makes a very good case. Again, this is the kind of subject which has to be discussed with our international partners.”

Mr Hague said that if Colonel Gaddafi was able to push back the rebels and re-establish control, the future for the country would be bleak.

“If Gaddafi went on to be able to dominate much of the country, this would be a long nightmare for the Libyan people and this would be a pariah state for some time to come,” he said.

0840GMT Libyan rebels are reportedly fighting to recapture the strategic oil town of Brega today after its fall yesterday to government forces. There are conflicting reports from the ground.

Meanwhile G8 foreign ministers are due to meet in Paris tonight with the calls for military action reaching fever pitch. France appears to be leading the push for the imposition of a no-fly zone over LIbya.