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Libya Unrest Appears to Grow

By CHARLES LEVINSON And TAHANI KARRAR-LEWSLEY

CAIRO—Libyan security forces fired live ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades at demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi on Sunday, pressing a bloody crackdown on snowballing protests demanding the ouster of leader Moammar Gadhafi that has brought the death toll to at least 173.

Protests consumed at least six other cities in eastern Libya, according to reports from residents and a warning from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli. In many of the cities, residents said government security forces had withdrawn from the streets to their bases, ceding whole cities to protestors, at least for now.

Protests also sprung up on the outskirts of Libya's capital of Tripoli, according to residents in the city and opposition activists. Though they were quickly quashed security forces, the spread of protests from the country's more isolated eastern half to Mr. Gadhafi's center of power was a sign that calls for Mr. Ghadafi's ouster appeared to be gaining momentum.

The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli warned in a statement of violent clashes between protesters and security forces in at least six other cities in eastern Libya.

There were widely varying casualty figures. Human Rights Watch said they had confirmed 173 deaths in protests so far. Those numbers were limited to confirmed deaths reported by hospitals and the real toll was likely much higher, according to Human Rights Watch's Heba Morayef and doctors at Libyan hospitals.

Libyan state TV broadcast images of burning buildings and blamed the "acts of sabotage and burning" on "foreign agents," echoing the attempts made by other Arab leaders in Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain and Yemen to dismiss the unrest.

Residents said it was the first time government media had acknowledged the growing unrest, suggesting the violence was spreading to the point that the government had no choice but to address it directly.

Residents said they received text messages from the Libyana mobile network urging calm. "People and youth of Benghazi, the civilians and police killed are all the sons of Libya so stop what is happening and stop the bloodshed," the text read, according to residents.


Reuters Still image from a video footage shows Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi gesturing to his supporters during a rally in Nalut, Feb. 19, 2011. The death toll from four days of violence, centered on the Libyan city of Benghazi, has passed 100, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday, after witnesses said security forces shot dozens more anti-government protesters.

Reports of the fiercest fighting came from the city of Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, which lies on the country's northeast coast, according to reports from people inside the country and Libyan activists monitoring the situation abroad.

Residents said government control of Benghazi and other cities in eastern Libya appeared to be slipping, at least for now, with police and army forces disappearing from the streets and retreating to their bases. Residents said tens of thousands of people had gathered to protests outside Benghazi's courthouse on Saturday and further protests are planned for Sunday.

They said parts of Benghazi had been consumed by full-fledged urban warfare between protesters and pro-government forces. Residents said pro-Gadhafi loyalists were firing rocket-propelled grenades at civilians and driving in cars randomly shooting down civilians.

"There are some criminals driving cars shooting at people, and they are using antitank weapons such as rocket propelled grenades, the bullets are the size of my hand," said a Benghazi resident whose wife works as a doctor at a local hospital.

Internet remained down in most of the country after the government shut down servers early Saturday morning, according to Renesys, an Internet access watchdog. Journalists were banned from entering the country or reporting on events, making it impossible to confirm reports.

Residents reached by phone were gripped by fear, unwilling to give their names over the telephone for fear the government was monitoring calls and would arrest them for relaying details of the unrest to journalists outside the country.

A Libyan journalist in Tripoli said some journalists who had spoken with Arab television stations had been arrested within minutes of speaking on air.

Amid the information blackout, a sense of panic and mayhem in Benghazi was fueled by rumors sweeping through the city, including unsubstantiated rumors that the government had poisoned the city's drinking supply and was flying planes full of mercenaries into the city.

It was unclear just how much real estate protesters controlled and how much remained in the hands of the government. "Neither side has complete control of Benghazi," said a student in Benghazi who would identify himself only as Abdullah for fear of his safety. "The people are in control of most of the streets, but are not in control of the airport and several other places and army bases. I think the army is in control of the airport."

He said the government had cut electricity in parts of the city. Pro-government forces were targeting doctors and shooting at protesters from cars, according to residents of Benghazi.

Abdullah said he had seen 13 dead bodies himself in just one part of the city.

"It's like a guerrilla war," a female resident of Benghazi said. "There's a battle going on, and sometimes one part is controlled by the protesters, and sometimes other parts are. There are corpses in the street."

A student in Benghazi, who also identified himself only as Abdullah, said that violence flared on Friday when a funeral procession neared an army base in central Benghazi and soldiers inside the base opened fire.

"I saw at least 13 people dead just where I was," said the student.

There were widespread reports that some of the pro-government forces being deployed against protesters were being flown in from neighboring African countries. Amateur video distributed online showed Libyan protesters displaying the corpse of a dark skinned male in blue military fatigues, which protesters in the video claimed was one of the mercenaries that had been attacking them. It was impossible to confirm the reports.

In Tripoli, a resident said protesters were gathering on the city's outskirts, amid heavy security concentrations in the city center.

Amateur video footage from Al Bayda, a smaller city east of Benghazi, showed thousands of chanting protesters demonstrating in front of the city's central mosque.