The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to lift the no-fly zone over Libya on October 31 and end its authorisation of military action to protect civilians.

Nato unexpectedly postponed a definite decision to end its bombing campaign in Libya as consultations continued with the United Nations and the country’s interim government over how and when to wind down the operation.

Ex-Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s intelligence chief, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, has slipped into the desert nation of Niger and is hiding in the expanse of dunes at the Niger-Algeria border, a Niger presidential adviser said today.

Libya’s all-powerful leader for four decades spent his final weeks hiding in his home town of Sirte, alternating between rage and melancholy as his regime crumbled, his chief bodyguard has revealed.

Muammar Gaddafi supporters rocketed a front line south of Tripoli today, testing the patience of the country’s new leaders as a grace period for the holdouts to surrender runs out.