Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi is hiding in hospitals as he becomes increasingly "paranoid" about NATO air strikes, a diplomatic source said, quoting British intelligence reports.

The information has persuaded NATO powers engaged in the air campaign in Libya that now is the right time to increase the pressure on the veteran Kadhafi, the source said late Thursday at the G8 summit in France.

"There is a strong consensus that we need to be turning the screw now and that is partly informed by our intelligence reports from the ground," the European diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity.

"One quite striking thing is the fact that Kadhafi appears to be moving from hospital to hospital, spending each night in a different one, and his motive appears quite clear," the source said.

"He is moving from one place that we won't bomb to another place that we won't bomb."

The intelligence was provided by Britain, the source confirmed.

The United States, France and Britain have denied specifically targeting Kadhafi with air strikes but have hinted that it would not be illegal under the terms of the UN Security Council resolution authorising military action.

Several air strikes have hit Kadhafi's compound in Tripoli in recent weeks and the source said the intelligence reports meant the Libyan leader was now "on the run."

"There is a picture building up of this man who is very paranoid, and of a regime that is increasingly feeling the pressure and beginning to fracture," the source added.

"He is worried about further defections, other people trying to find a way out, he is clearly concerned."

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday authorised the use of Apache helicopters in Libya and said he wanted to "turn up the pressure" on Kadhafi.

earlier related report
NATO aims to deploy Libya choppers as soon as possible
Brussels (AFP) May 27, 2011 - NATO is gearing up to deploy French and British attack helicopters to strike Moamer Kadhafi's forces in Libya as soon as possible, the commander of the alliance's mission said Friday.

France is contributing four Tigre attack helicopters while Britain offered four Apaches, NATO military officials said, adding that the helicopters are being prepared to fly over sea water and desert conditions.

"We are still in the process of developing their capabilities and they will be brought into action as soon as they are ready," Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, the Canadian commander of the mission, told a news conference.

Calling their arrival "timely," Bouchard said the helicopters will allow NATO to conduct an "effective and aggressive" mission against Moamer Kadhafi forces who are threatening the civilian population.

"It's an additional capability to pinpoint these vehicles that are much more difficult to see from aircraft at high altitude," he said via videolink from his headquarters in Naples, Italy.

Insisting that NATO has no intention to put troops on the ground, he said: "The helicopters that are being provided to us are armed and attack helicopters and they are not the type that do mass movements of troops on the ground."

Bouchard had requested six attack helicopters earlier this month, a NATO official said.

Britain earlier said the change in tactics would give a final push to the regime of an increasingly "paranoid" Kadhafi.

Britain will operate its heavily armed helicopters from the HMS Ocean, a helicopter carrier that will be based off the coast of the North African country, a British goverment source said.

The French choppers are being transported aboard the Tonnerre aircraft carrier, which is also transporting a dozen Gazelle helicopters that are older than the Tigres, an alliance military official said.

NATO claims it has seriously degraded Kadhafi's military machine with air strikes from high-flying combat jets, but helicopters would help the alliance strike regime assets hidden in urban areas.

The risk however is that helicopters will engage more closely with the enemy and thus become targets themselves.

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