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Timeline to Muammar Gaddafi's last stand

By timeslive

  • Activists designate a Day of Rage on the anniversary of the 2006 killing of protesters attacking the Benghazi consulate of former colonial power, Italy, by the security forces

    Activists designate a Day of Rage on the anniversary of the 2006 killing of protesters attacking the Benghazi consulate of former colonial power, Italy, by the security forces

  • Anti-Libyan government militias take control of Misrata.

  • The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Gaddafi and his family, and refers Libya's crackdown on rebels to the International Criminal Court.

  • EU governments approve a package of sanctions against Gaddafi.

  • The National Transitional Council meets in Benghazi and declares itself the sole representative of Libya.

  • France recognises the council as the legitimate representative of Libya's people.

  • Forces loyal to Gaddafi near rebel-held Benghazi. Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, tells the Franch TV channel Euronews: "Everything will be over in 48 hours."

  • The UN Security Council authorises a no-fly zone over Libya.

  • The first air strikes halt the advance of Gaddafi's forces on Benghazi.

  • Qatar becomes the first Arab country to recognise Libya's rebel council as the people's legitimate representative.

  • A London conference of 40 governments and organisations agrees to set up a contact group of 20 countries to co-ordinate building a post-Gaddafi Libya.

  • Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa defects and flies to Britain.

  • Gaddafi accepts a plan for ending the conflict, President Jacob Zuma says after leading a delegation of four African leaders to talks in Tripoli. Rebels reject the plan the next day.

  • A Nato missile attack on a house in Tripoli kills Gaddafi's youngest son and three grandchildren.

  • In his first appearance in a month, Gaddafi renews a ceasefire call in talks with visiting President Jacob Zuma but gives no sign that he will heed demands to quit.

  • Western and Arab nations meet rebels to discuss what US officials call the "end-game" for Gaddafi.

  • The ICC issues arrest warrants for Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi.

  • Abdel Fattah Younes, Gaddafi's former interior minister, who defected to the rebels, is murdered by Islamists.

  • Gaddafi's government accuses Nato of killing 85 civilians in an air strike.

  • Libyan rebels take the centre of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, cutting the coastal highway to Tunisia.

  • The rebels say they have cut off the roads to the capital.

  • Explosions and gunfire rattle Tripoli.

  • Rebel fighters enter Tripoli with little resistance and said they had detained Gaddafi's sons, Saif al-Islam, wanted for war crimes, and Mohammed al-Gaddafi.

  • Libyan government tanks and snipers put up scattered, last-ditch resistance in Tripoli.

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