Libyan rebel leader calls for arms

The chairman of the rebel Transitional National Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, has said it would agree to a ceasefire if Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's troops withdrew from cities.

"We agree on a ceasefire on the condition that our brothers in the western cities have freedom of expression and also that the forces that are besieging the cities withdraw," he told a news conference in the eastern rebel stronghold of Benghazi.

He told Newsnight's Tim Whewell that the international community should protect Libyan citizens by arming the rebel forces.