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Libya striking hard against protests – EU demands end of violence

Muammar Gaddafi, having been in power for the past 42 years, must have known what to expect, after the fall of Mubarak in Egypt and Ben Ali in Tunisia. This is perhaps the reason why he did not hesitate to crack down on protesters in Tripoli at the first sign of dissent. Relying on eye witness accounts, Al Jazeera reports that there have been about 200 victims wounded in the Eastern city of Benghazi alone. Nonetheless, it is only possible to obtain an approximate number of fatalities, as international journalists have been kept out of the country and access to the Internet has been cut off.

Indeed, the regime’s heavy handed reaction to the protests was accompanied by Libya’s disconnection from the outer world. Thus, Al Jazeera’s signal was disrupted, preventing Libyans from following up on the protests going on in other cities in the country. According to AFP, social networking sites were blocked in the capital’s area on Friday and “access to the Internet was intermittent amid deadly anti-regime protests, [as] computer users reported.”. Later Arbor Networks reported that since Friday night, Libya has been completely cut off from the Internet.

Mohamed Abdulmalek, the chairman of Libya Watch - a human rights group monitoring abuse in the country - stated that the Libyan regime anticipated gatherings in Tripoli and therefore increased the number of security forces occupying the main squares of the capital. This policy apparently payed itself off partially, as far as the authorities are concerned, since the Green square was still quiet this morning (Tuesday). Nevertheless, recent reports suggested that protesters were not completely put-off, taking to the streets of Tripoli in the early hours of the day. According to the BCC news’ accounts, gunshots were heard for many hours in the area.

While fighting continues to rage in the capital, dissidents seem to have gained control over Benghazi, the country’s second biggest city, and Sirte, Gaddafi’s birth town. Now it remains to be seen whether or not they will also succeed in getting the upper hand in Tripoli - an event that would most probably determine the final outcome of the uprising in Libya.

Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, made an appearance Sunday evening on national television and menaced the protesters, announcing the army would enforce security at any price. He called the uprising a separatist movement that threatens the integrity of the country and defended the shooting of protesters, whom, he claimed, were acting under the influence of drugs and attacking Libyan security forces. He also added that the number of fatalities provided by non-governmental human right watches are imaginary. Finally, Saif announced that the army maintains its in control of the the country.

It is not yet clear why Saif, rather than his father, made the public announcement. Nevertheless, this choice fed rumours concerning the departure of Libya’s leader and his family members from the country. On Monday evening, Gaddafi himself appeared on state television for 22 seconds, attempting to refute those rumours: “I want to show that I’m in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Do not believe the channels belonging to stray dog,”. He did not comment on the killing of demonstrators.

Alastair Newton, a political analyst, states “We believe that the 11 February ousting of President Mubarak of Egypt is proving to be a pivotal moment in turning turmoil into a tsunami ... The past week has seen unrest spread geographically—notably to Libya (where regime collapse may be imminent), Bahrain and Iran …”.

The European Union and its member states harshly condemned the actions of the Libyan regime, as Luxembourg Foreign Minister Asselborn stated: “We can’t return to medieval methods, especially after what has happened in Egypt and Tunisia. They [Libya] used snipers to shoot at people who are uttering their free opinion and want more democracy. We can’t ignore the elementary humanitarian issues and be blackmailed by such a regime. It can’t be that we have to stick with a regime that bumps off its own people.”.

Libya’s envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi has announced his joining of the revolution and its ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, has resigned in protest, confirming previous claims of air bombing attacks against civilians in the capital on Monday night. Furthermore, privately-owned Quryna newspaper reported that Libya’s Minister of Justice, Mustafa Mohamed Abud Al Jeleil, had also stepped down. Later today, the BBC also announced the resignation of Libya’s ambassador to the US, Ali Aujali, who said he no longer represents his country’s “dictatorship regime” and who called on Col. Gaddafi to step down: “I resign from serving the current dictatorship regime. But I will never resign from serving our people until their voices reach the whole world, until their goals are achieved,” he told ABC television in the US. “I am calling for him [Gaddafi] to go and leave our people alone.”

The defection of Libya’s leading regime figures weakens Gaddafi’s rule and it is quite possible that violence against the protesters would escalate into civil war if the military continues to strike against demonstrators. The UN security council is going to discuss the situation in Libya in a closed meeting today, the first meeting of this kind since the social unrest in the Middle East has begun. The Arab League will meet at the same time to address current affairs.

In the meantime, news coverage of the events have become even more difficult, as CNN and BBC reports confirm. “There, the door is firmly shut to international journalists; local reporters face intimidation and the threat of worse,” as Jon Williams (BBC) reports. Most information on the events can only be gathered through phone conversations or secretly posted videos that cannot be independently confirmed. This is also confirmed by Spiegel international which stated that “With few foreign reporters allowed into the country, and efforts by the Libyan regime to halt Internet and mobile phone traffic, reliable information on the developments is sparse, with most reports coming from tips and images provided by residents”.

Nevertheless, reports continuously trickle out, confirming that the protests have spread in an ever growing number of cities throughout Libya, despite the great risks the protesters face. As Nicholas Kristof, Pulitzer Prize winner, says, one common trait appears to prevail in all the on-going protests across the Middle East, namely the bravery of the protesters. “Their determination - in Bahrain, in Iran, in Libya, in Yemen - is such that change is a certainty”.

Tags: abc, abdel moneim, al jazeeras, alastair newton, ali alessawi, ambassador, ambassador to india, arab league, army, asselborn, bahrain, bbc, ben ali, cellular telephone, chairman internet mohamed abdulmalek, cnn, egypt, european union, foreign minister, gaddafi, green square, human rights, internet mohamed abdulmalek, islamic republic of iran, jon williams, later, later arbor networks, libya, libya watch, libyas leader, libyas minister of justice mustafa mohamed abud al jeleil, luxembourg, middle east, minister of justice, mubarak, mustafa mohamed abud al jeleil, nicholas kristof pulitzer, people libyas envoy, political analyst, president, saif alislam, social networking sites, spiegel, the bcc news, tripoli, tunisia, un security council, united states, us federal reserve, yemen,

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