| ||
Leader appears on state TV briefly to signal defiance in the face of mounting revolt against his 41-year rule. Last Modified: 22 Feb 2011 00:58 GMT | ||
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has appeared on state television to signal his defiance in the face of a mounting revolt against his 41-year rule. Reports on Monday said Gaddafi had fled to Venezuela. Scores of people have been reported killed in continuing violence in Tripoli amid escalating protests across the north African nation. Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said "in a sense this is a pariah regime that will not have any chance of governing anymore and the international community could come to terms on whether this is a genocide and whether there should be international intervention to protect the Libyan people from the militias of the regime". Deep cracks were showing and Gaddafi seemed to be losing vital support, as Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigned, air force pilots defected and major government buildings were targeted during clashes in the capital. At least 61 people were killed in the capital city on Monday, witnesses told Al Jazeera. The protests appeared to be gathering momentum, with demonstrators saying they have taken control of several important towns and the city of Benghazi, to the east of Tripoli. Protesters called for another night of defiance against the Arab world's longest-serving leader, despite a crackdown by authorities A huge anti-government march in Tripoli on Monday afternoon came under attack by security forces using fighter jets and live ammunition, witnesses told Al Jazeera. "What we are witnessing today is unimaginable. Warplanes and helicopters are indiscriminately bombing one area after another. There are many, many dead," Adel Mohamed Saleh said in a live broadcast . Libyan state television said Gaddafi would give a speech shortly. Two Libyan fighter jets landed in Malta, their pilots defecting after they said they had been ordered to bomb protesters, Maltese government officials said. Libyan authorities have cut all landline and wireless communication in the country, making it impossible to verify the report. With reports of large-scale military operations under way in Tripoli, a spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon said the UN chief held extensive discussions with Gaddafi on Monday, condemned the escalating violence in Libya and told him that it "must stop immediately”. UN Council, Arab League to meet The UN Security Council will hold a closed-door meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Libya, diplomats said. He said the international community must act now. "I feel a big sympathy for the Libyan people. We don't accept using force in this way or any way against the people or against any nation from their governments.," he said. The comments came just hours after Ahmed Elgazir, a human-rights researcher at the Libyan News Centre (LNC) in Geneva, Switzerland, told Al Jazeera that security forces were "massacring" protesters in Tripoli. Elgazir said the LNC received a call for help from a woman "witnessing the massacre in progress who called on a satellite phone". Earlier, a privately run local newspaper reported that the Libyan justice minister had resigned over the use of deadly force against protesters. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Ahmad Jibreel, a Libyan diplomat, confirmed that the justice minister, Mustapha Abdul Jalil, had sided with the protesters. Jibreel further said that key cities near Libya's border with Egypt were now in the hands of protesters, which he said would enable the foreign media to enter the country. | ||
| ||
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies |
blog archive
Tuesday 22 February 2011
Gaddafi's hold on Libya weakens
التسميات:
Aljazeera
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment