British diplomatic sources explained: “There’s clearly a link between the upping of the military pressure and what we assess is his state of mind. The more he thinks things are moving against him the better. There is a picture building up of this man who is very paranoid and a regime that’s increasingly feeling under pressure and is beginning to fracture.

“The judgment we are making is that that means it is the right time to turn up the heat and try to make it tell.

“What he is doing is moving from a place we won’t bomb to another place we won’t bomb. The fact that he is moving the whole time shows he is worried about people knowing where he is staying.

“One striking thing is the fact that Gaddafi appears to be moving from hospital to hospital and spending each night in a different hospital. We are getting the sense that a lot of senior commanders have stopped using their phones. They are clearly worried they are being listened to and that is having an impact on their ability to communicate.”