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Sun, Feb 20, 2011

In this video image broadcast on Libyan state television early Monday Feb. 21, 2011 Seif al-Islam, son of longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, speaks. Al-Islam says protesters have seized control of some military bases and tanks, and also warned of civil war in the country that would burn its oil wealth. (AP Photo/Libyan State Television)

Libyan Revolt Spreads Despite Violent Crackdown

Jerusalem Post (Sun, Feb 20, 2011):

Security forces loyal to Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi unleashed heavy gunfire Sunday on thousands marching in a rebellious eastern city, cutting down mourners trying to bury victims in a bloody cycle of violence that has killed more than 200 people in the fiercest crackdown on the uprisings in the Arab world.

Protests were even reported to have spread to downtown Tripoli and a coastal city only about 45 miles (about 70 kilometers) to the west of the capital. In Benghazi, site of the funeral clashes, pro-Gadhafi forces were chased from a presidential compound by other troops sympathetic to the anti-government demonstrators, a witness said.

Western countries expressed concern at the rising violence against demonstrators in oil-rich Libya, which is sandwiched between friendly neighbors Egypt and Tunisia — where long-serving leaders were successfully toppled in recent weeks. […] Libya’s rebellion by those frustrated with Gadhafi’s more than 40 years of authoritarian rule has spread to more than a half-dozen eastern cities. […]

The Warfla tribe — the largest in Libya, has announced it is joining the protests, said Switzerland-based Libyan exile Fathi al-Warfali. Although it had longstanding animosity toward the Libyan leader, it had been neutral for most of the past two decades. […]

In Cairo, Libya’s Arab League representative Abdel-Monem al-Houni said he told the Foreign Ministry in Tripoli that he had “resigned from all his duties and joined the popular revolution.”

“As a Libyan citizen, I absolutely cannot be quiet about these crimes,” he said, adding that he had renounced all links to the regime because of “my complete devotion to my people.”

Read full report here.

Libya protests: 140 ‘massacred’ as Gaddafi sends in snipers to crush dissent

The Telegraph (Sun, Feb 20, 2011):

Snipers shot protesters, artillery and helicopter gunships were used against crowds of demonstrators, and thugs armed with hammers and swords attacked families in their homes as the Libyan regime sought to crush the uprising.

“Dozens were killed … We are in the midst of a massacre here,” a witness told Reuters. The man said he helped take victims to hospital in Benghazi.

Libyan Muslim leaders told security forces to stop killing civilians, responding to a spiralling death toll from unrest which threatens veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi’s authority.

Read full report here.

Benghazi now in the hands of Libyan protesters

CNN (Sun, Feb 20, 2011):

Multiple eyewitnesses have reported that Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, was in the hands of protesters and their military allies after several days of unrest in the nation.

Some of the military dropped allegiances to longtime Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, according to the report.

Obtaining independent confirmation on events in Libya is very difficult. The Libyan government maintains tight control on communications. […]

The clashes escalated after the incident involving the funeral procession, centered around the military camp. Protesters packed at least one car with explosives Sunday and sent it crashing into a compound wall at the camp, eyewitnesses said. Security forces then fired on the protesters as they attempted to breach the camp. On the camp’s southern side, meanwhile, protesters drove a tank from a nearby army base in another attempt to break in, witnesses said. They have also obtained other weapons, the protester said. Protesters who speak to CNN are not being identified for safety reasons.

Libyan state television reported the camp was defended, and that protesters were being warned on loudspeakers not to attack the compound. The network called it an act of sabotage.

The protester who described the Benghazi fighting said the military camp is significant because it houses Gadhafi’s eastern palace.

“It’s a symbol of his dominance here,” he said. “And it’s the last symbol, basically.”

In Tripoli, clashes broke out between a large crowd of demonstrators and people who appeared to be African mercenaries in the center of the city, according to an activist. […] A woman also said she saw demonstrators running down a Tripoli street outside her window, chased by apparent mercenaries in pickup trucks. The Africans were firing at the demonstrators and throwing tear gas canisters at them, she said.

Read full report here.

Libyan Protests Spread To Capital Tripoli

Sky News (Sun, Feb 20, 2011):

Anti-government protests are taking place in Libya’s capital Tripoli for the first time since the uprising against leader Colonel Gaddafi began. Eyewitnesses in the centre of the city have reported hearing gunshots and seeing burning vehicles as thousands of pro and anti-regime demonstrators clash.

The North African country has seen days of unrest as protesters, spurred on by the revolutions in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, call for Gaddafi to step down after 40 years. Much of the violence has so far centred on the second city of Benghazi in the northeast of Libya where at least 200 people are believed to have been killed.

Speaking on Libyan TV on Sunday night Colonel Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi admitted that some people have died in the violence and that the poorly trained and equipped army has “made some mistakes”. But he said reports that 250 people have been killed is an “unimaginable exaggeration”. He added that wealthy businessmen and tradesmen had hired Arab and African expats to cause the violence.

Earlier, members of a Libyan army unit told Benghazi residents they have defected and “liberated” the city from pro-Gaddafi forces. Speaking from the city, a local man named Benali, told Sky News that members of the Libya’s armed forces have defected and that anti-regime protesters are now in control of the city.

Habib al-Obaidi, who heads the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital, appeared to confirm the reports, saying the “Thunderbolt” squad arrived at the hospital with soldiers who had been injured in clashes with Gaddafi’s men.

“They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people’s revolt,” said Mr al-Obaidi.

The doctor also confirmed the hospital had received the bodies of at least 50 people killed in clashes on Sunday afternoon. Most had died of bullet wounds and another 100 others were admitted with serious injuries.

Read full report here.

More info about the Libyan uprising: Libyan Youth Movement (Feb 17th).