An aide to a son of Muammar Gaddafi has been sent to London for talks with British officials, the Guardian newspaper has reported.
Citing unidentified British government sources, the newspaper said Mohammed Ismail, an aide to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, visited London in recent days in what it said was one of many contacts between Libya and the West in the past two weeks.
A Foreign Office spokeswoman neither confirmed nor denied the report, saying: 'We are not going to provide a running commentary on our contact with Libyan officials.'
She added: 'In any contact that we do have, we make it clear that Gaddafi has to go.'
On Wednesday, Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, one of Gaddafi's closet advisors, defected and flew to London.
Al Jazeera television reported yesterday that 'a number of figures' close to the Libyan leader had left Libya for Tunis, but it was not possible to confirm this.
Britain has said Mr Koussa has not been offered immunity following his unexpected arrival in Britain.
It also urged other members of Gaddafi's regime to quit.
Mr Koussa, a former head of Libyan intelligence and one-time ambassador to Britain, arrived 'under his own free will' at Farnborough Airport on Wednesday, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
He was being questioned by British officials, but Mr Hague insisted that Mr Koussa, who has been accused of masterminding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, had not been offered immunity from prosecution.
Rebels cheered the defection of the Libyan minister as a sign that Muammar Gaddafi's rule was crumbling.
However, US officials warned he was far from beaten and made clear they feared entanglement in another painful war.
Mr Koussa's defection, however, raised the spirits of rebel fighters who were put to headlong retreat in a counter-attack by Gaddafi forces this week.
'We are beginning to see the Gaddafi regime crumble,' rebel spokesman Mustafa Gheriani said in the eastern town of Benghazi.
However, despite almost two weeks of Western air strikes, Gaddafi's troops have used superior arms and tactics to push back rebels trying to edge westward along the coast from their eastern stronghold of Benghazi toward the capital Tripoli.
Libyan rebels have today moved heavier weaponry towards the oil town of Brega and are now seeking to adopt a more disciplined approach to regain momentum against Gaddafi's regular army.
Rebels said neither side could claim control of Brega, one of a string of oil towns along the Mediterranean coast that have been taken and retaken several times by each side in recent weeks.
The insurgents have failed to hold gains, even when helped by Western air strikes.
But there are signs today of a more ordered approach.
Rebels said more trained officers were at the front, heavier rockets were seen moving towards Ajdabiyah late last night and only those with large weapons were being allowed through a checkpoint they set-up.
The new approach by the rebels has yet to be tested.
