Britain persuades Gaddafi loyalists to defect

Britain persuades Gaddafi loyalists to defect  "British officials are trying to persuade key figures of the Libyan regime to defect from their leader Muammar Gaddafi and thus evade trial for crimes against humanity alongside him, the Guardian reported on Saturday.

With British troops on standby to rescue an estimated 150 Britons in Libya, measures were being drawn up to close the British embassy in Tripoli.

However, the Foreign Office denied reports that the embassy would be closed as soon as this weekend.

'We will react to the situation as it unfolds on the ground. If it gets too dangerous for our people to be there, of course we will pull them out of there. But are we planning to close the embassy down? No,' a spokesman was quoted as saying."