Libya Protests: Anti-Government Demonstrations Spread

Khadafi ni kisiki kigumu!

Libya faces 'Day of Anger'
Scale of Thursday's protests will be a test for Gaddafi , 68, who has been in power since 1969
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  • A Libyan pro-government supporter holds a portrait of leader Muammar Gaddafi during a gathering in Tripoli. Supporters of Gaddafi gathered in the capital on February 17, 2011 to counteract online calls for an anti-government "day of rage"
  • Image Credit: AFP
Tripoli: Several hundred supporters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gathered in the capital on Thursday to counteract online calls for an anti-government "Day of Anger" inspired by uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

New York-based Human Rights Watch said Libyan authorities had detained 14 activists, writers and protesters who had been preparing the anti-government protests, and there were unconfirmed reports of two people killed in an eastern city.

At least four people were killed in clashes with Libyan security forces, opposition websites and NGOs said on Thursday, as the country faced a nationwide "Day of Anger" called by cyber-activists.

The websites and a Libyan rights group based in London said the clashes with demonstrators opposed to the rule of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi took place in the eastern town of Al Baida.

"Internal security forces and militias of the Revolutionary Committees used live ammunition to disperse a peaceful demonstration by the youth of Al Baida," leaving "at least four dead and several injured," according to Libya Watch.

The scale of Thursday's protests will be a test for Gaddafi , 68, who has been in power since 1969, but whose counterparts in neighouring Egypt and Tunisia have been toppled in uprisings over the past month.

One Facebook group urging a "Day of Anger" in Libya, which had 4,400 members on Monday, had seen that number more than double to 9,600 by Wednesday following the Benghazi unrest.

Quryna newspaper said security forces and demonstrators already clashed late on Tuesday in Benghazi, also eastern Libya, in what it branded the work of "saboteurs" among a small group of protesters.

Both Britain and the European Union called for restraint by the authorities in Libya, whose relations with the West have improved sharply over the past decade.

Source:
 
Libyan protesters killed by snipers

Published: Feb. 17, 2011 at 6:58 AM

TRIPOLI, Libya, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- An unconfirmed number of people were killed and scores wounded as anti-government protesters declared a Day of Rage in Libya, officials said.

The Human Rights Solidarity based in Geneva, Switzerland, quoted witnesses in Libya saying as many as 13 protesters had been killed by rooftop snipers and scores injured in clashes with security forces on Thursday.

The Libya al-Youm Web site said four protesters were killed by live ammunition in demonstrations in al- Beyida, west of Benghazi.

The New York Times said one protester was killed, quoting the Human Rights Watch organization as its source.

A report issued by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday said Libyan Internal Security Forces arrested at least 14 anti-government protesters prior to Thursday's demonstration. Authorities used teargas and batons to disperse protesters in Benghazi Wednesday evening and sources told the organization one protester was killed and 14 injured.

"Colonel Moammar Gadhafi should learn from his former neighbors that stability has to include respect for peaceful protest," Joe Stork deputy Middle East director of Human Rights Watch said.

On Wednesday in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, unconfirmed reports said two protesters were killed and scores injured, the Egyptian Web site Bikya Masr said.

The demonstrations were the first display of defiance directly challenging Gadhafi's four decade regime.

The government continued to organize demonstrations in support of the Libyan leader and informed the public calls for the regime's overthrow will not be tolerated, CNN said.
 
LIBYA: Videos show violent and chaotic scenes at protests- activists call for "Day of Rage"

February 17, 2011 | 4:20 am

Videos are trickling in from the anti-government protests that were ramping up to a "Day of Rage" Thursday in Libya. Demonstrations a day earlier reportedly resulted in the death of at least one person and more than a dozen injuries when security forces clashed with protesters.

The amateur footage above claims to show a fire truck menacing demonstrators in the city of Benghazi in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

According to US-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW), 14 people were arrested ahead of the planned protests Thursday and media reports said hundreds of supporters of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi had taken to the streets of the Libyan capital in a bid to counteract activist calls for an anti-government rally. The Libyan opposition site "Enough Ghaddafi" appears to have been hacked and is currently inaccessible.

Below, more amateur video footage purportedly shows a demonstration outside a police station in Libya on Tuesday. As crowds appear to try to approach the station, shots are fired and tumult break out.

Following protests in Benghazi, anti-government demonstrations are also said to have erupted in Libya's third largest city, Baida. Below, a video which claims to show a protest there on Wednesday depict people in the streets chanting the Egypt and Tunisia-inspired slogan "The people want the fall of the regime" in Arabic. Black smoke is seen billowing to the sky from a distance. The footage could not be independently confirmed.
 
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Libyan private and state media slant protest coverage

The protests in Libya have received mixed coverage in the media, with state-owned outlets preferring to concentrate on demonstrations in favour of the country's leader.

State-owned TV

Libya's state-owned TV made no mention of the anti-government protests in the east of the country on 16 February, and continued with its usual programming on 17 February.
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Libya TV focused on pro-government demonstrations

During its morning bulletin Libyan TV continuously showed demonstrations in support of leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, which the TV said had been held "across Libya". There were about 200 to 300 demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were men, at each protest shown.

At one point a crowd could be heard chanting anti-Al-Jazeera TV slogans. The TV started broadcasting a pro-Gaddafi demonstration live from Sirte, his home town, at around 1000 GMT. The numbers demonstrating were significantly greater than the previous day, with the crowd chanting: "Oh Jazeera! You despicable one."

The TV aired live coverage of a speech by Gaddafi the evening before, in which he denounced both the United States and their "Zionist" allies in front of a cheering crowd.

Libya al-Yawm

Libya al-Yawm, a London-based, privately owned electronic newspaper which reports favourably on the Libyan leader's son, Sayf-al-Islam, was the only Libyan source to report on the anti-Gaddafi protests in Benghazi and Al-Bayda.
The paper usually carries balanced, unopinionated reporting, but on 16 February it published 16 articles on the anti-Gaddafi protests, quoting "trustworthy" sources in Benghazi and al-Baydam, and none on pro-Gaddafi demonstrations in Tripoli.

Reports included "busloads of thugs" clad in green, the colour of the Libyan flag, and carrying knives being brought in to confront protesters in Benghazi. Estimating the number of protesters at 1,000, the paper said: "The source just confirmed that extreme clashes are taking place now between thugs and protesters in central Benghazi."

It later added that additional security forces had been bussed in to "control" the situation and that they had "out-of-town" accents. "This indicates back-up from beyond the city's borders in order to control the situation," Libya Al-Yawm reported.

Four protesters were killed in al-Baydam, the paper said, as the crowd attempted to storm the internal security building, instead setting on fire two cars and the headquarters of the traffic police. The crowd was estimated at more than 1,500 people and was supplied with water by local people.

It later reported that mobile phone users in Libya had been sent a text message warning them against taking to the streets on 17 February. The paper's sources said the message had been sent as a result of "directives from the state security service, which is responsible for the country's two mobile networks".

State-owned papers

Headlines in state-owned Libyan papers continued to highlight pro-Gaddafi demonstrations or his public engagements.

Quryna, which was previously part of Sayf-al-Islam's Al-Ghad Media Corporation but which has now been appropriated by the state, carried an upbeat report about order being restored in Benghazi. One article reported on the families of "17 February 2006 martyrs" who met the Libyan leader and condemned the protests.

The front page of state-owned Al-Jamahiriya was dedicated to pro-Gaddafi demonstrations and his public appearance at the Ahly football club in Tripoli the day before, while state-owned Al-Shams led exclusively with coverage of this event.

BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.
 
Violent clashes rock Libyan town of Zenten

Death toll hits 19 in Libya’s "Day of Rage"

Thursday, 17 February 2011
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A protest against Moamer Kadhafi who ruled Libya for 40 years, the longest-serving leader in Africa

TRIPOLI (Agencies) The death toll in clashes between protesters and security forces in the Libyan cities of Benghazi and al-Baida on Thursday rose to 19 as Muammar Gaddafi 's regime sought to overshadow an opposition "Day of Anger" with its own rally in the capital Tripoli.

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Internal security forces and militias of the Revolutionary Committees used live ammunition to disperse a peaceful demonstration by the youth of Al-Baida
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Libya Watch

Meanwhile, violent clashes rocked the Libyan city of Zenten southwest of Tripoli on Thursday during which a police post and an office of the local revolutionary committee were torched, Quryna newspaper said on its website.

Separately, lawyers demonstrated in front of a courthouse in Benghazi -- Libya's second city after Tripoli -- to demand a constitution for the country.

Read more!
Source:Al Arabiya
 
Libya soldiers in Benghazi after overnight protests


Reuters – Pro-government supporters hold posters of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as they chant slogans

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Soldiers were deployed on the streets of Libya's second city of Benghazi on Friday after thousands of people took to the streets overnight to protest about security forces killing more than 20 protesters.

New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said that according to its sources inside the country, Libyan security forces had killed at least 24 people in crackdowns on protests on Wednesday and Thursday.

The killings happened after opponents of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya's leader for more than 40 years, designated Thursday as a day of protest to try to emulate uprisings in neighboring Egypt and Tunisia which ousted entrenched leaders.

A resident who lives on Benghazi's main thoroughfare, Nasser Street, told Reuters on Friday morning the city was now quiet, with no more demonstrations.

But he said: "Last night was very hard, there were a lot of people in the street, thousands of people. I saw soldiers in the street."

Full story:
 
18 February 2011 Last updated at 08:03 GMT
Libya protests: Rallies continue after 'Day of Rage

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There have also been protests outside the Libyan embassy in the UK
Continue reading the main story

Large protests have continued overnight in Libya following Thursday's "Day of Rage" against the government.

Thousands came out on to the streets of the eastern city of Benghazi and activists also set up camps in al-Bayda, eyewitnesses said.

Confrontations between security forces and protesters left two dozen people dead and many wounded on Thursday, according to Human Rights Watch.

This week's protests are the first in Libya, where dissent is rarely allowed.
The BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo says violent confrontations are reported to have spread to five cities in demonstrations so far, but not yet to Tripoli, the capital, in any large numbers.

Full story:
 
LIBYA: Graphic videos alleged to depict killings of demonstrators

February 18, 2011 | 3:35 am

Deadly protests continue to rock Libya. According to Human Rights Watch, Libyan security forces have killed 24 protesters at anti-government demonstrations during the past few days, and many others have been wounded in the spreading unrest in the North African country.

The organization said in a statement that hundreds of peaceful demonstrators had taken to the streets of the Libyan cities of Baida, Benghazi, Zenten, Derna, and Ajdabiya on Thursday, the the day opposition activists had called for an anti-government "Day of Rage" on social networking sites. The human rights group, quoting several witnesses, said Libyan security forces shot and killed protesters to disperse the crowds.

Most outside journalists have been denied entry to the country to compile independent reports. But graphic video footage from the ensuing violence in Libya have emerged on the Internet. Some of the clips are disturbing and depict scenes of mayhem with bloodied people lying in the streets, people shouting in desperation, and shots rattling the air.

The clip above is said to have been filmed in Libya on Thursday and shows a man lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the street. Some people are trying to help the man to get up on his feet but he appears too weak to stand. The caption on the video said it depicts protesters "shot by Libyan police."

Below, another graphic video shows a group of people carrying a young man with a bloodied face as they chant "martyr" in Arabic. The footage is claimed to have been shot in Benghazi during the reported violence there on Thursday.


And here, a video said to have been filmed in Ajdabiya shows a man who allegedly has been shot at by security forces. Loud shots rattle throughout the duration of the video as crowds of people are seen out in the streets. Towards the end of the clip, shouts and screams are heard and the camera closes in on a crowd of people running towards a man who is lying on a lawn with blood all around him.



--Alexandra Sandels in Beirut
 
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East Libya city "in hands of people"-exile groups
Fri Feb 18, 2011 12:22pm GMT

GENEVA Feb 18 (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters have seized control of the eastern Libyan city of al Bayda after they were joined by some local police, two separate Libyan exile groups said on Friday.

"Al Bayda is in the hands of the people," Giumma el-Omami of the Libyan Human Rights Solidarity group told Reuters.

"The city is out of the control of the (Muammar) Gaddafi regime," said Fathi al-Warfali of the Libyan Committee for Truth and Justice.

The reports, which the two groups said were based on their own telephone contacts with the city of some 250,000 people, could not be independently verified.

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