Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: The Grimness of Battle

2125 GMT: South African President Jacob Zuma says Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has accepted the terms of an African Union "road map", whichcalls for a ceasefire, protection of African migrant workers, and consideration of "the demands of the Libyan people" through a transition of power.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera is reporting that regime forces were "completely obliterated" in their assault on Ajdabiya in the east, with coalition aircraft inflicting heavy losses.

2120 GMT: Associated Press photographer Altaf Qadri has been located after going missing on Saturday near Brega in Libya (see 1610 GMT).

1955 GMT: A delegation of African Union leaders has met Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi in his Bab al-Azizia compound in southern Tripoli.

The AU leaders --- Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Denis Sassou Nguessou of Congo, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, and African Union Secretary-General Jean Ping --- are seeking a cease-fire and a settlement for African migrant workers in Libya.

No word on how the talks went, and also no confirmation that the AU leaders will get safe passage to Benghazi to meet the opposition National Transitional Council. Instead, a couple of photos from Reuters --- Qaddafi with the leaders and then celebrating with supporters:

1920 GMT: Witnesses have claimed that Syrian security forces and pro-government gunmen killed four protesters Sunday in the port city of Banias after the army locked down the city and hundreds of protesters gathered.

1910 GMT: The Yemeni regime has closed the office of Al Jazeera television and withdrawn its license to report from the country, an official has told State news agency Saba.

Authorities accused Al Jazeera of supporting a "sabotage scheme aimed at inciting strife."

1820 GMT: The six Arab states of the Gulf Cooperation Council have called on Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh to transfer power in Yemen to the Vice President.

On Friday, Saleh pointedly rejected the GCC's initiative, put forward by the Qatari regime, in a speech to supporters in Sanaa.

1615 GMT: Middle East News Agency reports that Egypt's public prosecutor has ordered the questioning of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his sons over allegations of violence against protesters and corruption.

1610 GMT: Associated Press photographer Altaf Qadri is missing in Libya as he was separated from his crew outside Ajdabiya on Saturday.

1415 GMT: NATO says it has destroyed 25 tanks belonging to Libyan regime forces near Ajdabiya and Misurata today.

1340 GMT: Al Jazeera English's Sue Turton reports from the opposition-held city of Ajdabiya, now under assault by Libyan regime forces, as shelling is heard in the background.

1330 GMT: Al Arabiya has aired an audio tape sent in by former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The ousted leader, who faces prosecution for corruption, said, ""It hurts me all these untrue accusations that aim at making me and my great army service seem bad....I chose to leave my state as a president for my own people."

On the corruption allegations, Mubarak said, "I waited for weeks to see the truth from all across the world that I do not own anything myself anywhere in the world. I only have bank accounts in an Egyptian bank. I agree to anything that would help uncover any businesses or real estate belonging to my entire family globally."

Mubarak then declares, "Once my name is cleared, I will retain my legal right to sue anyone who tried to nail my reputation or that of my family."

1230 GMT: The 25 January Revolution Youth Coalition announced that one of its leaders, Tarek Zeidan, was kidnapped on Saturday night from in front of the Egyptian TV building.

The news came after youth leaders decided to halt talks with the ruling Supreme Military Council of the Armed Forces until there was an enquiry into the violence of security forces to clear out protesters from Tahrir Square in Cairo early Saturday morning.

1150 GMT: Sources say Daraa, the flashpoint of Syrian protests where more than 20 people were reportedly killed on Friday, is "80% paralysed". Children were sent home from schools and most government buildings are not open.

There are checkpoints between the old city and the new city.

This follows reports of military deployment with tanks in Baniyas (see 0750 GMT). Residents have responded by setting up barriers to impede the movement of security forces:

0945 GMT: Insurgents says Qaddafi forces have again clashed with opposition fighters in Ajdabiya: "There is resistance inside the city. Qaddafi forces are fighting with rebels. They have a presence inside."

0925 GMT: The Committee to Protect Journalists profiles American freelance journalist Matthew Van Dyke, one of 15 reporters either missing or in government custody in Libya.

Van Dyke crossed into Libya from Egypt on 6 March and last spoke with his family on 12 March. His mother, Sharon VanDyke received a GPS-tracking e-mail from her son, putting him near Brega in north-central Libya. He has not been heard from since.

A Libyan friend of VanDyke's said the journalists to have been captured along with three Libyan friends on 13 or 14 March near Brega by regime. They were later transported, along with more than 1,000 Libyan civilians to Surt, a Qaddafi stronghold, according to the friend.

0750 GMT: A resident in Syria's coastal city of Baniyas says the military has been deployed after weekend protests and gunfire can be heard: "No one can leave or enter. Schools are closed."

The resident said about 6000 people demonstrated in the city yesterday. Cars were set on fire and shops destroyed.

0655 GMT: Writing in The Guardian of London, prominent Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman declares:

We are confident that our revolution has already succeeded and that the regime of Saleh has in effect, already collapsed. This is a regime that carried out 33 years of rule through blood and corruption. We have brought it to its knees through our determination to remain in the squares for months if necessary, and through the steadfastness of our young people who have confronted the bullets of the regime with bared chests. With politicians and members of the army standing beside us, our success will go even further.

0610 GMT: Egypt's Revolution Youth Coalition has decided to suspend talks with the Supreme Military Council until an investigation is opened into the violence of security forces in Tahrir Square on Saturday morning.

A member said that “the coalition will call for an open sit-in in Tahrir beginning next Friday if the council is not swift in the investigation and the trials".

0600 GMT: Bahrain's Interior Ministry has acknowledged the deaths on Saturday of two people held in detention.

According to the ministry, Ali Isa Saqer, 31, "created chaos at the detention center and that led to the interference of security forces to bring situation to normal, but he resisted them and sustained various injuries in the process. He was referred to the hospital and died later."

Zakaroya Rashid Hassan, 40, died of complications from sickle cell anemia, the ministry said. This is the second time Bahraini authorities have said a detainee died of sickle cell anemia.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights has posted a list of 27 people who died in "extra-judicial" situations from 14 February and up to 3 April.

0550 GMT: Footage from Al Jazeera English of Qaddafi troops in Bin Jawad and Ajdabiya in east Libya, calling on youth to support them moving house-to-house and asking residents if they support the insurgents. It also shows a confused regime army advancing on Ajdabiya.

The video was taken in mid-March, as regime forces tried to crush the opposition. Qaddafi's men reached the edge of Benghazi, the opposition centre, before they were pushed back as the foreign coalition entered the conflict.

0530 GMT: In Libya, a series of battles on Saturday, the most series of which took place in Misurata in the west and outside Ajdabiya in the east.

Reuters reports, from medical sources, that a regime assault on Misurata, Libya's third-largest city, killed 30 opposition forces. Al Jazeera reports that NATO warplanes destroyed 17 tanks and damaged 9 near Misurata and Ajdabiya and hit ammunition stockpiles east of Tripoli. 

Beyond Libya, Jeb Boone of The Yemen Times reported last night that 15 people were shot, two of them critically wounded, and hundreds exposed to tear gas in the Yemeni capital. Earlier in the day, about 100,000 anti-regime protesters were on the streets of Taiz and there were also demonstrations in Aden.

And Egypt is trying to deal with the aftermath of Saturday's early-morning crackdown by security forces on Tahrir Square in Cairo, clearing out protesters calling for trials of those accused of corruption. More than 1,000 protesters returned to the Square, vowing to stay overnight.

Meanwhile, Egypt's ruling Supreme Military Council acknowledged that one protester was killed in the clear-out but denied live fire was used, "We would like to confirm to all of you that we didn't shoot a single shot....didn't shoot a single shot from any of the armed forces that were present at Tahrir Square." The Council claimed that "most of the injuries were due to stone throwing because some of our forces mingled in the midst of the people".