Popular Rage Is Met With Violence in Mideast
By JACK HEALY
NYT
Thousands of Libyan protesters defied threats of violence and arrest in several cities on Thursday, mounting one of the sharpest challenges to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s 40-year rule in a “day of rage” modeled on the uprisings coursing through neighboring countries.
Despite Libya’s heavy hand in controlling security and stifling dissent, protests were reported in the capital, Tripoli; Benghazi, the country’s second largest city; and at least one other city.
The accounts were muted by Libya’s strict media controls, but human rights groups said that at least four people had been killed in clashes involving marchers, pro-government demonstrators and security forces. Other unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 20 and said that dozens more had been wounded.
A fog of smoke, tear gas and fresh unease descended over cities throughout the region, with demonstrations and rolling street battles lurching in violent new directions as governments fought to blunt their momentum and reassert control of the streets. States imposed curfews and ordered people to stay home, and those who defied the orders risked gunfire or beatings at the hands of security forces, private guards or pro-government crowds.
(More here.)
NYT
Thousands of Libyan protesters defied threats of violence and arrest in several cities on Thursday, mounting one of the sharpest challenges to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s 40-year rule in a “day of rage” modeled on the uprisings coursing through neighboring countries.
Despite Libya’s heavy hand in controlling security and stifling dissent, protests were reported in the capital, Tripoli; Benghazi, the country’s second largest city; and at least one other city.
The accounts were muted by Libya’s strict media controls, but human rights groups said that at least four people had been killed in clashes involving marchers, pro-government demonstrators and security forces. Other unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 20 and said that dozens more had been wounded.
A fog of smoke, tear gas and fresh unease descended over cities throughout the region, with demonstrations and rolling street battles lurching in violent new directions as governments fought to blunt their momentum and reassert control of the streets. States imposed curfews and ordered people to stay home, and those who defied the orders risked gunfire or beatings at the hands of security forces, private guards or pro-government crowds.
(More here.)
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