The allegation could not be verified because of communications restrictions imposed by the Gadhafi regime, but
“There is bombing and screaming and people are
running all over,” Brakiah, a doctor in Benghazi, said in a telephone
interview during which gunshots and blasts were frequently heard.
“There is fighting. It continued from the early morning and up to now
and it is increasing.” She spoke on the condition her surname not be
used.
In
and other cities in protests against the Islamic regime, according to a
human rights group, witnesses and Internet videos and posts.
Pro-reform protests inspired by the popular uprisings in
where demonstrators maintained a peaceful occupation of the capital’s
main square two days after dozens were killed and injured by troops
firing live ammunition.
Protests also persisted in
who said that he was ready for talks with the opposition on demands for
constitutional reforms. Shiite Muslim rebels in northern
The worst of the violence raged in
The mercurial dictator has presided over one of the
region’s most repressive regimes for more than 40 years, bolstered by
revenues from oil production in which several major U.S. petroleum
companies are involved.
Assessing the extent of the uprising has been difficult because the few foreign reporters based in
But telephone calls to residents, news reports and
online posts on Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites
indicate that the unrest has spread throughout the cities and towns
along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Sidra and to other areas. There
were reports of clashes Sunday in the capital, the seat of Qadhafi’s
power.
The bloodshed in Benghazi escalated Sunday morning
after troops and African mercenaries based in a major government
compound opened fire on a funeral procession for people killed a day
earlier, said several people reached by telephone.
Their account was corroborated by witnesses who were quoted by
as saying that mourners were hit by indiscriminate gunfire as they
passed by the Katiba El Fadil Bu Omar, a heavily guarded complex that
includes one of Gadhafi’s residences.
“The situation in Benghazi is turmoil. Now there are
riots. All the people in Benghazi came out against troops of Gadhafi’s
army,” said Muftah, who studied for several years in
Several videos posted on YouTube seemed to back up
his report. In one, thousands of people cheer men armed with assault
rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers riding in a white pickup.
The bloodied bodies of what were said to be two African mercenaries
were lashed to the vehicle’s hood.
Video posted on several websites shows a bloodied
man described as an African mercenary being detained by a group of
protestors. He tells them “I swear by God these were orders,” and they
keep asking “orders from who?” He answers “orders from the officers.”
Some of the men begin punching and picking him, and he falls to the
ground. Others protect him and shout “no!”
Muftah, whose name is being withheld out of concern
for his security, and the doctor, Brakiah, charged that more than 200
people were killed and hundreds injured on Saturday when pro-Gadhafi
forces fired into a funeral procession.
When the procession “came close to one of Qadhafi’s
army camps, there was shooting from heavy machine guns,” Muftah said.
“They were firing mortars. You could hear the mortars from five
kilometers away.”
“It was a real massacre,” said the doctor, Brakiah.
She said at least 260 dead had been brought to three hospitals since
the uprising erupted.
In
We are working to ascertain the facts, but we have received multiple
credible reports that hundreds of people have been killed and injured
in several days of unrest.”
“We have raised to a number of Libyan officials, including Libyan Foreign Minister
our strong objections to the use of lethal force against peaceful
demonstrators,” Crowley said in a statement. “We reiterated to Libyan
officials the importance of universal rights, including freedom of
speech and peaceful assembly. Libyan officials have stated their
commitment to protecting and safeguarding the right of peaceful
protest. We call upon the Libyan government uphold that commitment.”
In
thousands responded to opposition leaders’ calls to take to the streets
to mark a week since two protesters were killed in demonstrations
staged to support the uprisings that drove former Egyptian President
Demonstrators clashed with security forces on
Large deployments of police, some mounted on motorbikes, charged the protesters at
In a video posted on an Iranian blogger’s Facebook site, thousands of protesters are heard shouting “Mubarak,
Press TV, the state-run English-language satellite news channel, reported that Faezah Hashemi, the daughter of former President
the government’s leading critic within the clerical leadership, was
briefly detained by police during the protest but was later released.
The human rights group and posts by Iranian bloggers
also spoke of clashes in the cities of Shiraz, Hamedan, Isfahan,
Tabriz, and Rasht.
The protests were staged in defiance of government
warnings, with a state news service claiming that protesters were in
danger of being shot by armed infiltrators.
In
Over the square’s statue of a giant pearl,
youngsters flew several kites. A third of the square was filled with
women, many carrying babies in the arms, others waving the Bahraini
flag. Men smoked waterpipes as various activists took a microphone to
lead the protesters in chants.
But worries about what was next lurked even as
protesters celebrated retaking the square a day earlier, after a
withdrawal of government forces and the delegation of U.S.-backed King
Opposition leaders said they are not convinced the
ruling dynasty is serious about negotiations and thinks it only wants
to reduce international pressure to compromise. So far, there have been
no direct talks, opposition leaders said.
“They have known about our demands for the last 10 years,” said
The opposition also has to sort out its own platform as well.
What began as a call for a constitutional monarchy
to replace the current absolute monarchy turned into demands for the
end to the monarchy altogether after the attacks on the protesters by
government forces.
“People are approaching us and coming with ideas,” Sharif said. “We need to reach consensus amongst the opposition.”
In
hundreds of students gathered Sunday for an eighth day of rallies
against Saleh. Over the weekend, at least one protester was killed and
seven were injured in clashes with supporters of, according to news
reports.
In
The protests also spread to
where Kurds and Arabs took to the streets to demand better services,
human rights, investigations into government corruption and other
political or economic changes.
———
(c) 2011, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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