Gadafy threatens harsh response to protest challenge

LIBYA:ANTI-REGIME protesters marched yesterday in Benghazi as forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy pledged to snuff out any further challenges to his 41-year rule.

In the eastern town of Bayida hundreds of people attended the funerals of 13 demonstrators killed in clashes since Tuesday. Protests have engulfed five cities, from north to south, but the capital, Tripoli, has not been affected.

Human Rights Watch reported that security forces shot dead eight people in Benghazi and 16 in Bayida and wounded scores during the latest skirmishes, which involved the military as well as armed elements of Mr Gadafy’s revolutionary committees which constitute the framework of his rule.

Casualties have been impossible to verify due to a media blackout. A medical source in Benghazi put fatalities there at 14. Human Rights Watch said the overall toll was 24 but exiled Libyan opposition groups claim it stands at 50.

The revolutionary committees said: “The response of the people and the revolutionary forces to any adventure by these small groups [of protesters] will be sharp and violent . . . The power of the people, the Jamahiriya [government by the masses], the revolution and the leader are all red lines, and anyone who tries to cross or approach them will be committing suicide and playing with fire.”

The committees declared they would not permit protesters to “plunder the achievements of the people and threaten the safety of citizens and the country’s stability.” The regime has tried to counter the protests, which demand Mr Gadafy’s removal, by mounting its own mass demonstrations, some of which he has attended. While news of the protests has been suppressed, state television has carried video footage of pro-Gadafy rallies.

In recent weeks, Mr Gadafy, the Arab world’s longest-ruling leader, has discussed popular grievances with students, lawyers and journalists but has failed to deal with their demands which are similar to those of protesters in Tunisia and Egypt. Libyans, like their neighbours, suffer from unemployment, low salaries, poor public services and lack of basic freedoms. They also complain of rampant corruption in a country benefiting from great oil wealth.

Libyan activists have organised their protests by making contact on the internet through Facebook, Twitter and e-mail, and on mobile phones. They have broken through government censorship of the news by posting images of demonstrations on YouTube.