Gaddafi flees: State buildings ablaze, dictator to make last stand in desert

Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was reported to have fled the capital Tripoli this afternoon after protesters set fire to government buildings.

There were reports that he had left for his home town of Sebha in the Sahara, his tribal power base, to make a last stand as protests against his 41-year rule intensified.

Gaddafi, 69, was spotted at Tripoli's Mitiga airport where three planes took off. "Gaddafi was on one," said a source. "The planes were heading down south, to Sebha." There were also reports of armoured convoys heading towards Sebha from Tripoli, loaded with supplies and documents.

The regime unleashed its most brutal violence yet overnight in clashes with demonstrators which have claimed more than 300 lives since Thursday. There were claims of a "massacre" of demonstrators who tried to take over the central Green Square. Security men were accused of murdering demonstrators indiscriminately by shooting from moving vehicles or running people down.

David Cameron, starting a tour of the Middle East with a visit to Egypt, condemned the crackdown, saying: "We can see what is happening in Libya which is completely appalling and unacceptable as the regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country, which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic, make progress."

Dramatic footage posted on YouTube showed flames pouring from a main police station. Plumes of smoke could be seen from the Hall of the People, a symbol of Gaddafi's power. One witness said: "It's in flames - black smoke is everywhere. There is panic and chaos. Government officials are running away along with the military."

The main courthouse, a bank and an intelligence agency building were among the blazing buildings. State television and bank buildings were also broken into.

The streets appeared quieter this afternoon but cracks were appearing all over the Gaddafi regime. After a string of defections, military airfields were bombed by air force chiefs, apparently to stop fighters being used against the regime by dissident elements.

"Gaddafi is losing control of the military - he can no longer trust them," claimed a pro-democracy campaigner in Tripoli. "It is the end game for Gaddafi and he is reacting with death and destruction."

Gaddafi's son, Saif, said during a state TV broadcast that his father would fight "until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing and until the last bullet". Libya's envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, declared he was "joining the revolution". The country's ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, said he was resigning. Mohamed Bayou, former chief spokesman, criticised threats of violence. Major tribal and religious leaders have also allied themselves with the protesters, leaving Gaddafi reliant on his regular troops and a group of mercenaries who are said to have gone from house to house in one area butchering suspected protesters.

Pressure grew on Britain today over its friendship with the regime since 2004 when Tony Blair brokered a deal exchanging diplomatic and military promises in return for valuable oil and gas deals.

Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Britons to stay away from Libya and said emergency evacuation plans were being considered. Families of British diplomats were being told to fly home. Mr Hague said he did not know where Gaddafi was but had spoken to Saif. "The son is clearly very much in Libya, but I have no evidence as to the whereabouts of Gaddafi himself." Violent clashes carried on all night, with internet blogs and tweets breaching the secrecy of the oil-rich police state. The Hall of the People was said to be burning intensely. A resident said: "The entire building is burning. Firemen are trying to put the fire out but it is growing. The fire service is having to be protected by soldiers. Agitators want to see all symbols of Gaddafi's government destroyed."

There were only sketchy details of the massacre in Green Square, a place where crowds traditionally gather to celebrate Gaddafi's so-called Green Revolution, an eccentric mix of socialism and Islam.

"It happened late on Sunday night," said one witness. "Soon vehicles had turned up full of secret servicemen. They shot from the vehicles - killing anyone they could. There has been a massacre."