Muammar Gaddafi has apparently vanished after Libyan rebels claimed to be in control of most of Tripoli following their lightning advance on the capital.

China said Libya’s opposition leader will visit this week, further boosting Beijing’s engagement in Libya’s civil war and dealing another setback to dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

A Ukrainian newspaper is reporting that Muammar Gaddafi’s Ukrainian nurse is planning to flee the violence in Libya and return home as anti-government forces backed by rebel army troops are in control of the city closest to the capital Tripoli.

A member of the Benghazi city council said the Libyan cities under rebel control have appointed an ex-justice minister to lead a provisional government.

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