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In the corridors of Britain's Ministry of Defence a planning taskforce is busy working up contingency plans for a possible no-fly zone over Libya.

It is part of the gathering international momentum towards isolating Libya's Col Gaddafi amid fears he may once again use his air force against his own people.

But is it practical? Is it desirable? Or, as some cynics suspect, is this just playing for time in the hopes that Col Gaddafi soon yields to pressure and steps down before a single Western warplane is sent anywhere near Libyan airspace?