The US increased support for Libya’s new leaders today as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to Tripoli and pledged millions of dollars in extra aid.

MUAMMAR GADDAFI’S wife and three of his children fled Libya to neighbouring Algeria yesterday, firm evidence that the longtime leader has lost his grip on the country.

Relatives of victims of the Lockerbie bombing have described their continued distress that the man convicted of the atrocity remains in Libya almost two years to the day since he was freed on compassionate grounds.

THE man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing has appeared on Libyan television at a pro-governmental rally.

The British-educated son of Libya’s leader says the country’s foreign minister defected for health reasons and has no new information to offer UK authorities questioning him about the Lockerbie bombing.

SCOTTISH police and prosecutors are to meet Foreign Office officials to discuss Libyan defector Musa Kusa.

Musa Kusa’s defection to Britain is a “great day” for relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing, a relative of one of the victims said today.

A rebel leader pleaded with the international community today to approve a no-fly zone over Libya as Muammar Gaddafi's forces gained strength in the east, securing a key port city and oil refinery.

Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, Libya’s former justice minister has claimed.

A group of American politicians is demanding the Lockerbie bomber is returned to jail and has branded the process which led to his release as "incredibly flawed".

The Obama administration today called for the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to be returned to a Scottish prison.

Calls for the medical evidence behind the release of the Lockerbie bomber to be published in full were stepped up today.

The Libyan man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing today published more documents he claims prove his innocence.

Colonel Gaddafi said today no deal was done to secure the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

Protests will greet Colonel Muammar Gaddafi as he heads to the United Nations in New York today.

MILITARY bands, 400 dancers, aerobatic planes and fireworks last night electrified a hot and drowsy Tripoli as its leader Muammar Gaddafi threw Libya’s biggest party to mark four decades since taking power.

Italy’s prime minister defied harsh criticism to fly to Libya just 10 days after its leader and people gave a warm welcome to a man just released from prison after a deadly 1988 airline bombing.

Footage of the Lockerbie bomber in his hospital bed emerged as the row over his release raged on today.

Throughout the meeting, when the Taoiseach was making his representations, Gadaffi’s gaze drifted regularly in my direction. I was determined not to make eye contact. Some wag later joked that he was probably wondering where my bodyguard weapons were concealed

Relatives of some of the IRA's victims over the last 40 years are renewing their calls for compensation from Libya following the controversy in recent days surrounding the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing today formally dropped the second appeal against his conviction for the attack which killed 270 people.

SCOTLAND’S justice secretary will make an announcement by the end of next week on the fate of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people, a spokeswoman said yesterday.

The man found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing has applied to drop the second appeal against his conviction, it was confirmed today.

The UK Government was today accused of “interference” in the appeal of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

Moammar Gadhafi’s long-isolated country has signed contracts worth £200m (€297m) with French companies for missiles and communications equipment, a Libyan official said today.

More than 180 people have now been confimed dead and more than 1,000 injured after the Spanish rail bombings today.

Tony Blair led British condemnation today of the Spanish rail bombings that killed more than 170 and injured another 600.

Punk icon Johnny Rotten today revealed he missed the Pan Am flight which blew up over Lockerbie after his wife took too long packing.

Libya today threatened to withhold additional compensation promised to the families of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing unless the United States offered a prompt reward for Tripoli’s decision to abandon its secret weapons programmes.

Muammar Gaddafi says he is eager to see Libya shed its pariah existence and be embraced by the rest of the world.

Libya’s leader Colonel Gaddafi has tonight promised to dismantle his country’s secret weapons of mass destruction programme, British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced.

THE September 11 terror attacks in the US topped a poll of the most emotional moments in the past 50 years, it emerged yesterday.

FRANCE will today veto a US resolution to lift more than a decade of sanctions against Libya if no agreement is reached on compensation for the families of the victims of an airliner bombing over the Niger desert.

The UN Security Council plans to vote today to lift more than a decade of sanctions against Libya, but France could block the long-awaited deal to settle the Lockerbie bombing case.

Negotiations with Libya over increased compensation for families of victims of a 1989 French airliner bombing over the Niger desert have hit an impasse, a representative the families said today.

Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi says agreement over compensation has been reached between his country and the families of the 170 victims of a French airliner that exploded nearly 14 years ago.

Libya has officially accepted responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

The families of the 270 people killed in the Lockerbie bombing 15 years ago are likely to receive only half the £6m (€8.5m) Libya has agreed to pay each of them.

A £1.7bn (€2.4bn) deal to compensate the families of 270 victims killed in the Lockerbie bombing has been agreed by Libya, it was announced today.

Talks between British, American and Libyan officials about the Lockerbie bombing are making progress, with negotiators from the North African country reportedly “closer” to accepting responsibility for the 1988 attack.

Libya is willing to pay more than £1.5bn (€2.25bn) to the families of victims of Pan Am Flight 103 after accepting “civil responsibility” for the 1988 explosion over Lockerbie.

Libya is willing in principle to pay compensation to relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing but is still considering the amount, a minister in Colonel Gaddafi’s government said today.

Abu Nidal, the once-feared terrorist who died mysteriously in Baghdad last month, was not involved in the Lockerbie bombing, his group claimed today.

Nelson Mandela has arrived in Scotland to visit the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.