Some news clips from Libya are summarized below. The news is that there is frankly little clear news. More and more reports filter in of regime figures leaving and towns falling to the protesters, but movement is slow and nothing is certain.
First off, potentially major news:
Both Lebanon and Malta claim to have refused entry to members of Gaddafi’s family
Report: Gaddafi's daughter-in-law denied entry into Lebanon
A private jet carrying the daughter-in-law of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi was refused permission to land in Beirut the previous day, according to a radio report Wednesday.
Hannibal Gaddafi's wife, who is Lebanese, and several members of Libya's ruling family were onboard the plane due to fly from Tripoli to Rafic Hariri International Airport, Voice of Lebanon radio reported.
Malta refuses to allow plane to land carrying Libyan leader Moammar Khadafi's daughter
Khadafi's only daughter, Aisha, was reportedly aboard the plane. She is notable for having been the lawyer who defended Iraq's Saddam Hussein at the trial that resulted in his execution.
IF these stories are true, they are very important. They suggest that the ruling family is starting to flee.
Meanwhile, President Obama is schedule to make a statement on Libya at 5:15 p.m. this afternoon, the White House announced.
The Guardian sums up reports of regime figures who have abandoned the regime:
Libyan and Arab sources said the biggest blow to Gaddafi so far had been the defection of his interior minister and veteran loyalist, Abdel-Fatah Younes al-Obeidi…
But the whereabouts of other senior comrades remains unclear. Mustafa al-Kharroubi, a leading figure in the regime's old guard, is rumoured to have left Tripoli. There are question marks too about another loyalist, Khweildi al-Hmeidi, whose daughter is married to the leader's wayward son Sa'adi.
In another blow to the Libyan leader, his former justice minister, Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who stepped down this week…
Another departure was of Youssef Sawan, who quit as director of the Gaddafi International Charitable Foundation run by the leader's son...
Libyan exile sources also confirmed the defection of a senior figure in the revolutionary committees, Ali al-Sahouli...
Scores of Libyan diplomats across the world have also now resigned…
Details of the military situation remained sketchy, but the army commander and defence minister, General Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabber, was put under house arrest earlier this week.
Major General Suleiman Mahmoud, army commander in Tobruk, said he was "joining the people", as did units in the eastern Jebel Akhdar area…
So, what do the protesters actually control and what is the regime holding?
No one really knows, but Issandr El Amrani (blogging as The Arabist) has a great google map of the reports. (The Arabist also has another map of the Libyan oil facilities).
Basically, it appears most of the east has abandoned Gaddafi, there are reports of towns west of Tripoli and in the center having been taken by the protesters, but Gaddafi still hold a ring around Tripoli and likely some areas in the center.
Some sources for trying to figure out who controls what:
Video shows that protesters have taken over a major air-defense base in Tobruk (far eastern Libya). This seems to confirm at most-to-all eastern Libya is in the hands of the protesters. Other reports say that Major Gen Suleiman Mahmoud, commander in the Tobruk area, has joined the protesters.
NY Times reports battles in several towns:
Opponents of the government were claiming victory in Misurata, a provincial center 130 miles east of the capital, in another indication that the rebellion was encroaching on cities closer to Colonel Qaddafi’s stronghold of Tripoli. In the southern city of Sabha, considered a Qaddafi stronghold, large protests were also reported.
…
Libyans fleeing across the country’s western border into Tunisia said there had been two nights of fighting between rebel and pro-Qaddafi forces in the town of Sabratha, home of an important Roman archeological site 50 miles west of Tripoli.
LA Times suggests a Libyan ship may have defected:
A Libyan warship arrived in Malta on Tuesday after its crew refused to carry out orders to bomb Benghazi, the satellite network Al Jazeera reported.
A second Libyan ship has also reportedly been sighted in the area, the network reported.
A Libyan pilot, speaking from Switzerland, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that he had flown a planeload of mercenaries into Libya.
Reports suggest a fighter pilot ditched his aircraft rather than bomb protesters:
a report that a Libyan pilot had crashed his aircraft rather than obey orders to bomb Benghazi.
The website of the Libyan newspaper Quryna said the pilot and his co-pilot parachuted out and left their Sukhoi Su-22 fighter-bomber to crash. The plane came down near Ajdabiya, 100 miles (160km) to the south-west of Benghazi.
Quryna named the pilot as Captain Attia Abdel Salem and his co-pilot as Ali Omar Gaddafi. It identified the source of its story as a colonel at an airbase near Benghazi, in the east of the country.
I’ll simply note that I thought Libya’s SU-22s were of the single seat variety, but I admit I haven’t studied the issue.
The National argues that up to 20 Libyan tribes are turning against Gaddafi, but only lists the Warfalla and Al Zuwayya in the east which have been previously reported.
In short: protests continue, the regime continues to slip, but no clear indications of major changes from yesterday.