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Up to 300 protestors shot dead in Libya

  • 21-02-2011 5:10am
    #1
    Dionysus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,420 ✭✭✭


    The end is nigh for Gadaffi, finally. He's apparently bussing in mercenaries from sub-saharian Africa who are in turn using machine guns to kills protestors. Gadafy is also threatening the EU, saying he will refuse to co-operate with them if they continue to condemn him.

    Up to 300 protesters shot dead in Libya:

    Up to 300 protesters shot dead in Libya

    MICHAEL JANSEN and MARY FITZGERALD

    DOCTORS IN Libya’s second-largest city, Benghazi, estimate that almost 300 people may have died in a brutal crackdown on anti-regime demonstrations, which saw helicopter gunships reportedly firing on thousands of mourners at the weekend.

    Human Rights Watch said the death toll in Benghazi had risen to at least 173 before Sunday, with 83 people shot on Saturday alone, as Muammer Gadafy sought to quell an unprecedented uprising against his 42-year rule. A doctor in the city’s al-Jalal hospital estimated the death toll had reached nearly 300. He told The Irish Times that on Saturday alone there had been more than 200 deaths and 700 wounded. He said his hospital had received 100 bodies.

    At the outset, he said, demonstrators were demanding “better wages, a better life” but once the killing began they called for “change of regime”. Victims suffered “head and chest shots”, stated a Dublin-born physiotherapist working in a Benghazi hospital until she left Libya last Thursday and who maintains telephone contact with colleagues.

    “Hospitals are poorly supplied and no supplies are being sent in. There are no antiseptics and no antibiotics . . . There is no electricity, no water. Phones are difficult and the internet is off.”

    According to a Libyan opposition activist based in Cairo, Benghazi and two other eastern cities are now under control of the rebels. Al-Jazeera broadcast an interview with a man in Benghazi who said the city’s military academy was on fire and tanks had either been captured or their crews had switched sides.

    All three sources said Mr Gadafy’s forces had been bolstered by mercenaries who do not hesitate to shoot people at random or fire into crowds. “They are being brought by busload from sub-Saharan Africa,” added the physiotherapist.

    At least 10 Irish citizens, including six employees of Mercury Engineering, a Dublin-headquartered firm, are in Benghazi. All are understood to be safe. The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was working with EU partners to ensure a safe passage for those who wished to leave.

    Tawfiq al-Ghazwani, a Dublin-based member of the National Congress of Libyan Opposition, said friends in Benghazi had told him they remained defiant: “After over 40 years of oppression maybe this is our chance to liberate ourselves forever from the dictatorship,” he said.

    While unrest has been concentrated in eastern Libya, traditionally a hotbed of opposition to Mr Gadafy’s regime, there have been reports of clashes in the capital, Tripoli. Reports last night suggested that the situation in Tripoli involved clashes between thousands of protesters and Mr Gadafy supporters.

    Mr Gadafy warned the EU he would cease co-operating with efforts to halt the flow of migrants from Africa to Europe if the EU continues, in his view, to support the protests. The demonstrations began six days ago, with protesters emboldened by the popular uprisings that succeeded in toppling the leaders of neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia.

    Several other countries in the region have also witnessed anti-government rallies in recent weeks. In Bahrain, thousands converged on a square in Manama again yesterday to demand change.

    In Iran, security personnel were deployed in Tehran and other cities to prevent protesters gathering despite a ban on demonstrations. People also protested in Yemen, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti calling for political change.

    Gadaffi's son is now warning of civil war if the protests continue. As media is effectively banned by Gadaffi's regime, video is thin on the ground but here's an amateur recording. Although all media is saying protests have not started in Tripoli, Gadaffi's stronghold, yet, this clip of protests claims to be from Tripoli.


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