Libya’s Moammar Gadaffi will fight a popular revolt to “the last man standing”, one of his sons said on Monday after protests broke out in the capital for the first time following days of unrest in the city of Benghazi.
Anti-government protesters rallied in Tripoli’s streets, tribal leaders spoke out against Gaddafi, and army units defected to the opposition as in a revolt that has cost the lives of more than 200 people.
A major government building in the capital was on fire on Monday morning, a Reuters reporter said. The building is where the General People’s Congress, or Parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli.
The eastern city of Benghazi, where the protests began last week after the arrest of a human rights lawyer and where scores of people have been killed by security forces, was said by some residents to be effectively in the hands of the protesters.
Gadaffi’s son Saif al-Islam Gadaffi appeared on national television in an attempt both to threaten and calm people, saying the army would enforce security at any price to put down one of the bloodiest revolts to convulse the Arab world.
“Our spirits are high and the leader Moammar Gadaffi is leading the battle in Tripoli, and we are behind him as is the Libyan army,” he said. “We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to the last woman standing … We will not leave Libya to the Italians or the Turks.”
Wagging a finger at the camera, he blamed Libyan exiles for fomenting the violence. But he also promised dialogue on reforms and wage rises.
Morning calm in Tripoli
A Tripoli resident, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters the streets of the capital were calm early on Monday morning. There was no sign of police, which is unusual for the city.
He said that late on Sunday night anti-Gadaffi protesters had been replaced by his supporters, who rallied in the centre of the city around Green Square until about 5am (4am GMT).
“After Saif al-Islam’s speech, the pro-Gadaffi people, especially the youth, were touring the streets, particularly in the centre, cheering Gadaffi. These people stayed up the whole night, they were marching all night, some driving in cars.
“They were in Green Square and along Omar al-Mokthar street. I would say there were hundreds,” he said.
“I talked to someone near the square where the clashes were taking place and he told me it was quiet and they [anti-government demonstrators] have now departed.
“Last night during the rioting there were police around and they were shooting into the air. But after that there have been no police around,” added the Tripoli resident.
Saif al-Islam’s cajoling may not be enough to douse the anger unleashed after four decades of rule by Gadaffi — mirroring events in Egypt where a popular revolt overthrew the seemingly impregnableHosni Mubarak 10 days ago.
“People here in Benghazi are laughing at what he is saying. It is the same old story [on promised reform] and nobody believes what he says,” a lawyer in Libya’s second city told the BBC after watching the speech.
“He is liar, liar, 42 years we have heard these lies.”
In 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.
“Security now, it is by the people,” the lawyer said.
“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 organiser, said: “In Benghazi there is celebration and euphoria. People are ecstatic about the situation. Right now it is calm. The city is no longer under military control. It is completely under demonstrators control.”
He told the TV network that protesters were trying to establish order by creating self-rule committees to run the city and distribute basic foodstuffs.
European Union foreign ministers will condemn the repression of anti-government protests in Libya at their meeting later on Monday, according to the draft of a joint statement.
France said the international community must do everything it can do prevent Libya sinking into civil war.
The United States said it was weighing “all appropriate actions” in response to the unrest.
“We are analysing the speech … to see what possibilities it contains for meaningful reform,” a US official said.
Libyan ambassador quits
Libya’s ambassador to India told the BBC he was resigning in protest at the violent crackdown that has killed more than 200. Ali al-Essawi also accused the government of deploying foreign mercenaries against the protesters.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said that about 3 000 Turkish citizens had applied to be repatriated from Libya since Friday and the first plane was sent to Benghazi on Sunday morning, with more planes to be sent once permission was granted.
But CNN Turk reported that one Turkish Airlines plane had returned without landing amid reports that the airport had been taken over by opposition protesters. It was unclear if this plane was the same as the one mentioned by the foreign ministry.
In the first sign of serious unrest in the capital, thousands of protesters clashed with Gadaffi supporters. Gunfire rang out in the night and police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators, some of whom threw stones at Gadaffi billboards.
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 223 people have been killed in five days of violence. Most were in Benghazi, cradle of the uprising and a region where Gadaffi’s grip has always been weaker than elsewhere in the oil-rich desert nation.
Habib al-Obaidi, a surgeon at the Al-Jalae hospital, said the bodies of 50 people, most of them shot, were brought there on Sunday afternoon. Two hundred wounded had arrived, he said.
Members of an army unit known as the “Thunderbolt” squad had brought wounded comrades to the hospital, he said. The soldiers said they had defected to the cause of the protesters and had fought and defeated Gadaffi’s elite guards.
The Libyan uprising is one of 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. The West has watched with alarm as long-time allies and old foes have come under threat, appealing for reform and urging restraint.
Support for Gadaffi, 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 of oil a day. Oil jumped by more than $1 a barrel to $103,5 a barrel on fears the unrest could disrupt supplies. Some foreign oil companies were withdrawing small numbers of expatriate staff. – Reuters