Libya live report (AFP)

1050 GMT: Libya's state-run Al-Jamahiriya Two television network is continuing to deny reports that the air force strafed protesters last night.

"They say there are massacres in several cities, towns and neighbourhoods of Libya. We must fight against these rumours and lies which are part of psychological warfare," says a red ticker on the bottom of television screens.

This information "aims to destroy your morale, your stability and your riches," it adds.

1044 GMT: The BBC cites a doctor in Benghazi as saying local people have taken control and have formed committee to run the eastern Libyan city.

"No presence of the state there. No police, no army and no public figures," the BBC quotes Dr Ahmad Bin Tahir as saying.

1040 GMT: Oil prices strike $108 as Libyan production is hit by violent protests and concerns grow over spreading unrest in the strategic crude-producing Middle East and North Africa region.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April surges to $108.57 per barrel, highest since September 4, 2008

1038 GMT: Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh says Iraq supports the rights of Arabs to demonstrate and calls on regional countries to refrain from using "unjustified bloody confrontation" in suppressing dissent.

1036 GMT: Turkish PM warns Libya against 'mistake' of disregarding people's demands

1035 GMT: Russia risks losing up to $10 billion (7.4 billion euros) in arms sales from the wave of unrest currently sweeping north Africa and the Middle East, a weapons industry official tells Interfax newsagency.

1028 GMT: In Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh's supporters armed with daggers and batons clashed heavily with students in the capital Sanaa today, wounding five before police intervened, an AFP reporter says.

About 1,000 students spent a second night camped at a square, which they have dubbed Al-Huriya (Liberty) Square, near Sanaa university demanding Saleh resign.

The crowd swelled to about 4,000 and as the protesters moved from the square close to where Saleh's loyalists are bunkered down, the group attacked them with daggers and batons, our reporter says.

1027 GMT: Greece says it is preparing to airlift its nationals from Libya. Deputy foreign minister Dimitris Dollis says Athens was seeking permission to access airports at Benghazi, Tripoli, Sebha and Sirte and evacuate an unspecified number of Greeks out of some 300 present in the country.

1022 GMT: In case you missed it earlier, here are details of Kadhafi's appearance on Libyan state television overnight:

Kadhafi, 68, made a brief appearance on state television to scotch "malicious rumours" that he has abandoned the oil-rich North African nation he has ruled for more than four decades.

"Were it not for the rain, I would have addressed the young people at Green Square and spent the night with them to prove I am still in Tripoli and not in Venezuela," said Libya's strongman.

The television said it was a live broadcast from outside his home.

"It's just to prove that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela and to deny television reports, those dogs," Kadhafi said as he stood under a silver umbrella while about to step into a car.

Rain lashed Tripoli on Monday evening.

1021 GMT: Several districts of Tripoli are calm today, including Tajoura, scene of violent clashes yesterday, witnesses tell AFP by telephone.

1018 GMT: In Iran, security forces have raided the homes of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi and his two sons and arrested his son Ali, the cleric's website reports.

1015 GMT: Dozens of protesters storm the Libyan consulate in Dubai, burning portraits of Moamer Kadhafi and demanding the North African state's leader step down.

1013 GMT: More than 1,000 Chinese construction workers in Libya have been forced to flee after gun-wielding robbers stormed their compound, stealing computers and luggage, the company and Chinese media say.

The looters raided Huafeng Company's compound in the eastern city of Ajdabiyah, the Beijing News said, citing the Chinese embassy in Tripoli and a friend of one of the employees.

1010 GMT: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says the Libyan authorities "should immediately cease illegal acts of violence against demonstrators. Widespread and systematic attacks against the civilian population may amount to crimes against humanity."

1007 GMT: Italy is to send a C-130 air force plane to Libyatoday to evacuate Italian nationals, a foreign ministry official tells AFP. Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa says the plane is headed to Benghazi.

1003 GMT: The UN's human rights chief warns Libyan authorities that systematic and widespread attacks against the civilian population could be "crimes against humanity."

Follow this live report for a minute-by-minute update of events as they happen in Libya, North Africa and the Middle East.