Libyan Rebel leader: We beg the west for a no-fly-zone

The freedom crusader - speaking amid diplomatic wrangling over how to turn the tide back in favour of Libya's democracy campaigners - said: "We beg Britain and the West for a no-fly zone before Gaddafi destroys us."

As the crazed despot continued to unleash his warplanes on his own people, he added: "We are fighting for Western ideals of democracy and freedom that Gaddafi has denied us for 41 years."

The brave rebel leader - whose name we are withholding for his own safety - opened his heart to The Sun during a six-hour car ride from negotiations with foreign powers over the possibility of a no-fly zone. He said:

"We are astonished that our neighbours on the other side of the Mediterranean and the freedom-loving Americans have deserted us in our hour of need.

Gaddafi controls the air so he controls the land. Without his warplanes we believe he would have already been hanging from a lamppost in Tripoli.

Gaddafi claimed the revolutionaries who stood up to him were al-Qaeda radical Islamists. It couldn't be further from the truth. The rebel army is mostly ordinary young people, often well educated, who have had enough of their lives being destroyed by a dictator.

They are students, engineers, teachers and doctors who came together through Twitter and Facebook. They want the freedoms people in Britain and the West take for granted.

To educate them on democracy I have brought in Arabic translations of the Magna Carta and the US Declaration of Independence on my laptop.

I will print them up for our young people to read so they can understand how democracy has developed throughout the world.

Most of our revolutionaries are not trained soldiers but the spirit and bravery to fight is there.

But our young people are being bombed from the air and beaten back by heavy artillery and tanks. They can't believe the European governments will not help them against this butcher.

Remember, Gaddafi is the man who bombed a Berlin disco, who armed the IRA, whose regime killed WPC Yvonne Fletcher, who planned the Lockerbie atrocity.

Why doesn't the West give us the tools to get rid of this tyrant?

We desperately need more ammunition. Above all, we need to prevent Gaddafi controlling the skies. It won't be another Iraq, we don't need foreign troops on the ground. We'll do the rest."

Foreign Secretary William Hague gave hope to the freedom fighters yesterday by saying international powers should consider ARMING the rebels.

He spoke after former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind urged the move. Mr Hague said: "Those discussions are now taking place."

The Sun