Gaddafi's tanks at city gates
Muammar Gaddafi’s forces have brought their tanks back to the western gates of Misrata and shelled the besieged town throughout the night and into this morning.
Libyan activist Rida al-Montasser said today that after a night of shelling, the bombardment started again at 6am local time.
Hundreds have died after two months of siege in Misrata, a city of 300,000 that is the sole major rebel bastion in the west of the country.
Mr Al-Montasser said rumours were rife that Gaddafi’s forces were preparing to use chemical weapons.
“We heard like everybody else that the soldiers are distributing gas masks” in the nearby city of Zlitan, he said.
He said that rebels have asked the interim council in Benghazi to send a shipment of gas masks.
