Fresh Violence Flares In Libya

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Fresh clashes have broken out between fighters loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and anti-government forces pushing for him to give up power.

The fighting Thursday took place about 200 kilometers east of the capital, Tripoli, in the city of Misrata, where anti-government forces on Wednesday claimed to have taken control of the country’s third largest city.

Another clash broke out Thursday just west of the capital in the city of Zawiya.

It was unclear if there were any casualties in either of the clashes.

Libya
Libya

The fighting comes as the anti-government forces consolidated control over key eastern cities, and vowed to “liberate” Tripoli.

Protest organizers in the capital, which is Mr. Gadhafi’s stronghold, called for new rallies Thursday and Friday, raising the potential for a new bloody confrontation there.

Armed militiamen and pro-Gadhafi loyalists – a mix of Libyans and African mercenaries – are reportedly roaming through Tripoli and fortifying the city’s outer defenses. Security agents are said to be searching for people considered disloyal to the regime.

Meanwhile, protesters and mutinous army units continue to consolidate their hold on nearly the entire eastern half of Libya’s 1,600 kilometer-long coastline, setting up rudimentary governments and manning checkpoints along the main roads.

In the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolt against Mr. Gadhafi, rebels and supporters thronged the streets waving red, green and black monarchy-era flags and handing out food to passing cars. Benghazi residents also formed units to collect weapons and protect property.

In the eastern city of Baida, police stations, intelligence buildings and other installations representing Mr. Gadhafi’s rule stood in ruins as people celebrated in the street. A VOA correspondent at the Egyptian border with Libya says “well-armed men” celebrating their control of the region were chanting and waving the country’s pre-Gadhafi-era flag.

In the latest blow to Mr. Gadhafi’s, a Libyan newspaper reported Wednesday that two air force pilots parachuted out of their warplane and let it crash into the eastern Libyan desert rather than follow orders to bomb Benghazi. Earlier, two Libyan bombers had diverted to Malta rather than bomb civilians.

Mr. Gadhafi vowed to stay in power and called on his supporters to fight back against opposition protesters during a televised address Tuesday — his first since the uprising began last week. He described anti-government demonstrators as “gangs” and “terrorists” on hallucinogenic drugs and threatened death to anyone who took up arms against Libya.

The overall death toll has been impossible to determine. Human rights groups say they have confirmed about 300 deaths, though witnesses suggest the number is far larger. On Wednesday, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said more than 1,000 people have likely been killed in Libya’s week-long uprising.

In a significant setback to Mr. Gadhafi, a close associate, Interior Minister Abdel Fattah Younis, announced his defection and support for the uprising. Numerous other Libyan officials, including the justice minister, diplomats and military officers, have also turned against the Libyan leader in recent days.

On Wednesday, former justice minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil was quoted as telling a Swedish newspaper that Mr. Gadhafi personally ordered the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people. Mr. Gadhafi has accepted Libya’s responsibility for the bombing and paid compensation to the victims’ families. But he hasn’t admitted to personally giving the order for the attack.

The disintegration of Libya’s government has added to the relative power of Libya’s many tribes, each claiming the loyalty of thousands of members. Colonel Gadhafi’s tribe, the Gadhafa, dominates parts of the armed forces. The Warfalla – cut out of the power structure since members allegedly attempted to overturn the regime in 1993 – have backed the eastern rebellion.

Mr. Gadhafi took power in a 1969 coup.

VOA

The VOA is the Voice of America

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