Britain pledges more action as ties strengthened with Libyan rebels

Prime Minister David Cameron announced he had invited the rebels to establish a formal office in London. He made the offer after holding talks with Mustafa Abdul Jalil, chairman of the Interim National Transitional Council, in Downing Street.

Foreign Secretary William Hague also held discussions with Mr Jalil, pledging afterwards that military action would be stepped up.

On the ground, Nato air strikes hit Gaddafi’s sprawling compound in Tripoli and three other sites, hours after the Libyan leader was shown on state TV in his first appearance since his son was killed nearly two weeks ago.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said a British warship had taken part in action to stop inflatable boats used by the regime from mining the harbour at the besieged port of Misrata.

Mr Cameron said that as well as the rebels being invited to set up a London office, the UK presence in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi would be boosted.

Britain was also completing plans to transfer several million pounds’ worth of equipment to the police in Benghazi, and would help improve the council’s public broadcasting capacity.

He said: “These steps continue our very clear intention to work with the council to ensure Libya has a safe and stable future, free from the tyranny of the Gaddafi regime.”

Mr Jalil told a news conference that the rebels still needed weapons in addition to non-lethal equipment such as body armour and night vision goggles supplied by countries such as Britain.