This morning, the charge d’affaires at the Libyan embassy in London, Mahmud Nacua, suggested Gaddafi may have escaped to a farm on the outskirts of the capital, where he was known to have visited friends in the past.

His claim was given some credence by what sounded like chickens squawking in the background of Gaddafi’s audio message. At one point his voice is almost drowned out by what sounds like a jet plane flying overhead…

Tunnels from the Bab al-Aziziya compound are believed to run several kilometres under the city to both the Rixos Hotel and Mitiga Airport, in the east of the city.