http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=24236
Gaddafi under threat as revolt hits Tripoli
21/02/2011
A video grab shows Saif al-Islam, son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,
speaking during an address on state television in Tripoli. (R)
This photograph, obtained by The Associated Press outside Libya and taken
by an individual not employed by AP, shows people gathering during recent days'
unrest in Benghazi, Libya. (AP ).
This video image broadcast on Libyan state television Sunday shows
Al-Bayda local council building on fire in Libya's third biggest city Al-Bayda.
(AP)
TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's four-decade-old rule
appeared in increasing jeopardy Monday as anti-government protests reached the
capital for the first time, leaving dozens dead at the hands of the security
forces.
Several cities in the east appeared to be in the hands of the opposition as
protests spread from Benghazi, cradle of a popular uprising that has rattled
one of the Arab world's most entrenched governments.
One of Gaddafi's sons said the veteran leader would fight the revolt until "the
last man standing."
Protesters rallied in Tripoli's streets, tribal and religious leaders spoke out
against Gaddafi, and army units defected to the opposition in a revolt that has
cost the lives of more than 200 people.
Protesters said they had taken control of Benghazi and other cities, with some
analysts suggesting the country was heading for civil war.
"Libya is the most likely candidate for civil war because the government has
lost control over part of its own territory," said Shadi Hamid, director of
research at the Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.
Output at one of the country's oil fields was reported to have been stopped by
a workers' strike and some European oil companies withdrew expatriate workers
and suspended operations. Most of the country's oil fields are in the east,
south of Benghazi.
Anti-government protests have also broken out in the central town of Ras Lanuf,
the site of an oil refinery and petrochemical complex, Libya's Quryna newspaper
reported on its Internet site Monday.
In signs of disagreement inside Libya's ruling elite, the justice minister
resigned in protest at the "excessive use of violence" against protesters.
In India, Libya's ambassador said he was resigning in protest at the violent
crackdown.
A coalition of Libyan Muslim leaders told all Muslims it was their duty to
rebel against the Libyan leadership because of its "bloody crimes against
humanity."
European nations watched developments in Libya with a growing sense of alarm
after the government in Tripoli said it would suspend cooperation on stemming
the flow of illegal immigrants across the Mediterranean.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, on a visit to the region, said events in
Libya were appalling and unacceptable.
Al Jazeera television quoted medical sources as saying 61 people had been
killed in the latest protests in Tripoli.
It said security forces were looting banks and other government institutions in
Tripoli, and protesters had broken into several police stations and wrecked
them.
A Reuters reporter in Tripoli said residents were stocking up on essential
goods, apparently in anticipation of new clashes after nightfall. There were
long queues at food shops and long lines of cars at fuel stations.
The building where the General People's Congress, or parliament, meets in
Tripoli was on fire Monday, as was a police station in one of the eastern
suburbs.
Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appeared on national television in an
attempt both to threaten and to calm people, saying the army would enforce
security at any price to put down one of the bloodiest revolts to convulse the
Arab world.
"We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman
standing," he said Sunday.
But people in Tripoli expressed anger at the speech.
A Libyan woman who gave her name as Salma, said: "The speech was very, very
bad,"
"The speech was very disappointing because he threatened the Libyan people with
killing, hunger and burning. He did not offer mercy for the souls of the
martyrs who were killed."
Another man said: "We were waiting for something good for us, the young people,
to calm the anger but he did nothing."
GREEN SQUARE
Gaddafi supporters were in central Tripoli's Green Square on Monday, waving
flags and carrying his portrait.
Saif al-Islam's cajoling is unlikely to be enough to douse the anger unleashed
after four decades of rule by Gaddafi -- mirroring events in Egypt where a
popular revolt overthrew the seemingly impregnable President Hosni Mubarak 10
days ago.
In the eastern city of Benghazi, protesters appeared to be largely in control
after forcing troops and police to retreat to a compound. Government buildings
were set ablaze and ransacked.
"Youths with weapons are in charge of the city. There are no security forces
anywhere," University of Benghazi professor Hanaa Elgallal told Al Jazeera
International television.
Salahuddin Abdullah, a self-described protest organizer, said: "In Benghazi
there is celebration and euphoria ... The city is no longer under military
control. It is completely under demonstrators' control."
There were reports that soldiers who refused to fire on civilians were executed
by commanding officers in Benghazi.
"We have buried today 11 bodies of soldiers who refused to fire on civilians
and were executed by Gaddafi officers.. The bodies were cut, heads in one side
and legs in the other...it is a crime what is happening here," said Elsanous
Ali Eldorsi, a retired judge in Benghazi.
In Al Bayda, a town about 200 km (125 miles) from Benghazi, which was the scene
of deadly clashes last week between protesters and security forces, a resident
told Reuters protesters were also in command.
At least nine towns in the east, including Benghazi, Zuara and Zlitan, were
under the control of protesters loyal to tribal groups, the president of the
International Federation for Human Rights in France told Reuters.
FOREIGN NATIONALS
Foreign nationals from European nations were being evacuated.
South Korea said hundreds of Libyans, some armed with knives and guns, attacked
a South Korean-run construction site in Tripoli, injuring at least four foreign
workers.
Human Rights Watch said at least 233 people had been killed in five days of
violence, but opposition groups put the figure much higher. Most were in
Benghazi, a region where Gaddafi's grip has always been weaker than elsewhere
in the oil-producing desert nation.
The Libyan uprising is one of a series of revolts that have raced like wildfire
across the Arab world since December, toppling the long-time rulers of Tunisia
and Egypt and threatening entrenched dynasties from Bahrain to Yemen.
Support for Gaddafi, the son of a herdsman who seized power in 1969, among
Libya's desert tribes was also waning. The leader of the Al-Zuwayya tribe in
the east threatened to cut oil exports unless authorities halted "oppression of
protesters."
Libya is Africa's fourth biggest oil exporter, producing 1.6 million barrels a
day. The oil price jumped $3 to $89.50 a barrel for U.S. crude on fear the
unrest could disrupt supplies.
A strike at Libya's Nafoora oilfield was reported to have stopped production,
according to Al Jazeera television. BP suspended operations for oil and gas
drilling.
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