Libya live report (AFP)

1022 GMT: Italy prepares 'military operation' to rescue Italians in Libya: minister

1020 GMT: Libyan state TV says Libyan families will be eligible to receive 400 dollars each, as the regime seeks to thwart protests that have left big swathes of the country outside its control.

The television also says some public sector workers could get pay rises of as much as 150 percent as Moamer Kadhafi's depleted government attempts to deploy its large oil earnings to rescue public support.

1018 GMT: EU nations are preparing to take part in a possible no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Moamer Kadhafi from bombing protesters, if the UN approves the measure, an EU diplomat says.

1014 GMT: In Iraq, the death toll climbs to seven in clashes with police in two northern cities as protesters take to the streets across Iraq to mark a "Day of Rage".

1013 GMT: Kadhaf al-Dam, a close aide and cousin of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, has resigned from "all his official functions," Egypt's official MENA news agency says.

1012 GMT: Libya's food supply chain at risk of collapse: UN food relief agency

1008 GMT: Kadhaf al-Dam, close aide to Kadhafi, quits: Egypt news agency

1007 GMT: Libya's second city of Benghazi, where the unprecedented protests against Kadhafi's four-decade rule first erupted, is firmly in the hands of his opponents, says an AFP correspondent in the city.

1005 GMT: In Tripoli, the streets have been largely deserted in recent days but worshippers are expected to turn out at mosques for the main weekly prayers on Friday, the Muslim day of rest and also a traditional day of protest.

1002 GMT: Signs hanging round Manama's Pearl Square signal that the protests are far from over: "We will not accept any dialogue with he who kills us in cold blood," declares one banner hanging from an overpass.

"A free state and a happy people," reads another, while a third urges the government to "free all political detainees."

Security forces are not in evidence at the square, according to AFP's man on the spot.

0959 GMT: "Nobody is scared of tanks or weapons," Ibrahim Ali, a 42-year-old mechanical engineer tells AFP's reporter as he arrived in Manama's Pearl Square for the demonstration.

"They will open their chests to face that," he says

Protesters, mainly Shiites demanding an end to the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty which has ruled for two centuries, are chatting, preparing food, or relaxing in the tent city that has sprung up in the square, our correspondent reports.

0955 GMT: In Bahrain, protesters are gearing up for a mass rally to honour the seven victims of a deadly police crackdown as an anti-regime campaign enters its 12th day.

An AFP correspondent in Manama's Pearl Square, the epicentre of the movement, says demonstrators are milling around waving the red-and-white flag of Bahrain.

0953 GMT: In Iraq, five protesters have been killed and 10 others wounded when security forces fired warning shots to disperse a demonstration in the northern city of Mosul, police say.

0952 GMT: Five protesters dead in clashes in north Iraq demo: police

0951 GMT: "Today's brutal and shocking situation is the direct outcome of a callous disregard for the rights and freedom of Libyans that has marked the almost four-decade long grip on power by the current ruler," Pillay says.

0945 GMT: Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner on Human Rights, says Moamer Kadhafi's regime's "callous disregard" of Libyans is at the root of an ongoing deadly crackdown on peaceful protestors.

0938 GMT: Here's what's happened so far today:

LIBYA: Forces loyal to Moamer Kadhafi's crumbling regime are staging a bloody fight back in western towns near Tripoli, as the east declares itself free of the leader's iron-fisted rule.

-- Outraged Western governments scramble to craft a collective response to the crisis, including possible sanctions against Kadhafi's loyalists and a freeze on assets they are believed to have salted away abroad.

-- Escaping expatriates describe hellish scenes as evacuation efforts drag on on the 11th day of the crisis.

BAHRAIN, YEMEN: Fresh protests expected

EGYPT: The UN World Tourism Organisation welcomes moves by Egypt and Tunisia to restore tourism sectors.

IRAQ: Several thousand demonstrators have gathered at Baghdad's Tahrir Square for a "Day of Rage" despite heavy restrictions and a vehicle ban after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki claimed the rally was organised by insurgents.

JORDAN: The powerful Islamist opposition expects 10,000 of its members and supporters of 19 political parties to march and call for reforms. The US embassy warns Americans to avoid the protests.

ALGERIA: US President Barack Obama praises Algeria for lifting a 19-year state of emergency, following unprecedented protests that threatened President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's regime.

MOROCCO: A sixth Moroccan has died following demonstrations as one of the biggest parties in the ruling coalition, the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, called for a timetable for implementing political reforms.

0936 GMT: Crackdown of protestors in Libya 'escalating alarmingly': UN rights chief

0935 GMT: Thousands may have been killed or injured in Libya crackdown: UN rights chief

Follow this live report for a minute-by-minute update of events as they happen in Libya, North Africa and the Middle East. We'll bring you all the latest news as the uprising gathers pace in Libya and protesters assemble in cities across the region for mass rallies following Friday prayers.