In the end, the diplomats, holed up in the building for 11 days since the shooting dead of WPC Yvonne Fletcher which began the siege, simply walked out.

The first indication that a major development was under way came at 0847 BST (0747 GMT), when a group of neutral observers and two Libyan intermediaries walked into the Square and entered the building.

Half an hour later, a white van drove up to the door. Four diplomatic bags were loaded on to the vehicle by observers. They were followed by an assortment of suitcases, hand baggage and plastic carrier bags.

No emotion

In groups of five, led by the Libyan intermediary who has talked to them throughout the 11-day siege, the 30 diplomats made their way out of the embassy in single file.

They showed no emotion, even as they passed the spot where WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot. Her hat, which had lain where she fell, was removed by one of her colleagues during the night.

The shooting, during a demonstration against the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, was believed to have been carried out from inside the embassy. It began a tense stand-off between police and the diplomats inside.

Just over a week later, at the inquest into the 25-year-old policewoman's death, witnesses spoke of seeing smoke and a flaming gun at a first floor window of the building.

Negotiations slow and tortuous

The Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi, countered with a siege of the British embassy in Tripoli. Negotiations between the two countries have been slow and tortuous, with politicians and the police frustrated by the lack of progress.

Finally on Sunday, diplomatic ties were severed, and those inside the embassy were given seven days to leave the country. The British ambassador to Libya was given the same deadline to leave Tripoli.

The Libyan diplomats have now been escorted to Heathrow and onto a plane out of the country.

Police have reluctantly had to accept that whoever shot WPC Fletcher will probably escape justice by claiming diplomatic immunity.

The Home Secretary, Leon Brittan, has said the government will press for changes in the Vienna Convention controlling diplomatic relations.

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