British troops on Libya standby

 

'Enemy of god' ... Colonel Gaddafi

CRACK British troops are on 24-hour standby for a mission in Libya, it emerged last night.

Five hundred of the Black Watch were secretly made ready on PM David Cameron's orders.
And 200 have already been moved to an air base in South Cerney, Wiltshire.

Video: Libya: Gaddafi on the offensive

LIBYAN leader sends in his elite units to attack key rebel-held towns

• Sky News

A third warship - Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster - has also sailed for the region rocked by an uprising against tyrant Colonel Gaddafi.
NATO planners are drawing up a range of potential military scenarios - from rescue sorties to a no-fly zone.
But the most likely task for the Black Watch, based at Fort George near Inverness, would be a humanitarian mission rather than a combat role.
An MoD official said: "The whole region is extremely unstable at the moment, so it makes sense to have the Black Watch on immediate standby."
A Foreign Office team is also preparing to go into Libya to set up face-to-face contact with the rebels fighting for change.
Mad Dog Gaddafi's bloodthirsty security forces massacred at least 30 civilians in a bid to reclaim the rebel stronghold of Zawiyah yesterday.

A rebel fighter shouts during a battle near Ras Lanuf, which is a rebel target

Rebel leader Hussein Darbouk, a defected army colonel, was killed in the fighting.
Another 17 were killed by a blast in Benghazi.
In the capital Tripoli, troops fired bullets and tear gas to disperse crowds.