"Praising or glorifying Muammar Gaddafi, his regime, his ideas or his sons... is punishable by a prison sentence," said the text of the law read out to reporters by a judicial official following a high-level meeting.

"If those news reports, rumours or propaganda cause any damage to the state the penalty will be life in prison," the official quoted the text as saying. "In conditions of war, there is a prison sentence for any person who spreads information and rumours which disrupt military preparations for the defence of the country, spread terror or weaken the citizens' morale," he added.