Tripoli, February 26: Militias loyal to Muammar Gaddafi opened fire Friday on protesters streaming out of mosques and marching across the Libyan capital to demand the regime’s ouster, witnesses said, reporting multiple deaths. In rebellious cities in the east, tens of thousands held rallies in support of the first Tripoli protests in days.
Protesters described coming under a hail of bullets as they tried to march from several districts around the city toward Tripoli’s central Green Square. One man among a crowd of thousands said gunmen on rooftops and in the streets opened fire with automatic weapons and even an anti-aircraft gun.
“In the first wave of fire, seven people within 10 meters of me were killed. Many people were shot in the head,” the man, who was marching from Tripoli’s eastern Tajoura district, told The Associated Press.
Militiamen opened fire on other marches in the nearby Souq Al-Jomaa and Fashloum districts, where witnesses reported four killed.
In the evening, Gaddafi appeared before a crowd of over 1,000 supporters massed in Green Square and called on them to fight back protesters and “defend the nation.” “Retaliate against them, retaliate against them,” Gaddafi said, speaking by microphone from the ramparts of the Red Castle, a Crusader fort overlooking the square.
A defiant Gaddafi Friday challenged the rebels, saying those who do not like him do not deserve to live. Addressing his supporters in Tripoli’s Green Square amid tight security, Gaddafi said he would not give up the leadership of the country under any circumstances
Blowing kisses to supporters and then shaking both fists in the air in a dramatic performance, he said:
“Get ready to fight for Libya! Get ready to fight for dignity! Get ready to fight for petroleum! …. Respond to them, put them to shame.” and “we can triumph over the enemies.”
Gaddafi’s supporters, some waving the green flags Gaddafi adopted for Libya, chanted in response to his incitment: “With our blood and our souls we redeem you, Gaddafi!
Libya’s deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, who denounced Gaddafi earlier this week, said Friday the Libyan leader would not allow himself to be taken alive. “This is a madman and he is psychologically not stable,” Dabbashi said.
Tripoli and the surrounding area, where Gaddafi’s forces had managed to stifle earlier protests, appeared to be his last main stronghold as the revolt that put the east under rebel control also reportedly advanced through the west. Even in the capital, resident saw opposition groups openly moving in some areas.
Gaddafi opponents have occupied the center of Zawiyah, about 50 km west of Tripoli on a road leading to the Tunisian border, and are laying makeshift defenses to fend off counterattacks, a witness said. Other witnesses reported heavy gunfire and chaotic scenes in the town. It appeared to have become the country’s biggest flashpoint for fighting.
A Tripoli resident, who had come back from Zawiyah on Friday, said the town was fully controlled by the opposition. “There are no troops there. But the majority of the city’s inhabitants are staying at home,” the resident told Reuters by telephone. “Only the militias of the opposition are in the streets mainly near the Martyr Square, controlling who goes in and out of the city. The situation may change at any time.
The eastern Libyan town of Brega, which hosts an oil terminal, is under rebel control, and defected soldiers are helping rebels to secure the port, witnesses said. “This area is controlled by the people,” said Mabrook Maghraby, a lawyer from Benghazi who is now involved with the local committees defending Brega. The port sat idle. Several people guarding checkpoints and involved in the organizing committees said no ship had used the port since Wednesday.
The UAE will send two planeloads of relief materials to Libya via Turkey, Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan said in Abu Dhabi Friday.“Our aim is to help the people of Libya … That is the main concern at the moment. Everything else is secondary,” he said.
Rebels in eastern Libya said they now controlled most of the oil fields east of the town of Ras Lanuf, and said they would honor oil deals as long as they were in the interest of the people.
Support for Gaddafi continued to fray within a regime. Libya’s delegation to the United Nations in Geneva announced Friday it was defecting to the opposition — and it was given a standing ovation at a gathering of the UN Human Rights Council.
Members of Libya’s Arab League mission said they have resigned en masse. The 11 members said in a statement Friday they decided to quit and join the opposition demanding that Gaddafi abandon power. The head of the delegation, Abdel-Moneim Al-Houni, had already resigned as Libya’s ambassador to the 22-member Arab League on Sunday.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the United States has suspended embassy operations in Libya and is moving forward with unilateral sanctions against the government of Gaddafi, White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
Carney told a news conference that Washington would also curtail its limited military cooperation with Libya and that the United States supports suspending Libya from the United Nations.
Britain and France have taken the lead in drawing up a draft UN resolution which proposes an arms embargo, a travel ban and assets freeze on members of the Gaddafi regime and a referral of the Libya crisis to the International Criminal Court, diplomats said
——Agencies