Heavy gunfire broke out in Tripoli today as forces loyal to Muammar Gadafy tightened their grip on the capital.
But anti-government protesters claimed control of many cities elsewhere and top government officials and diplomats turned against the long-time leader.
While cities in the eastern half of the country celebrated, raising the flags of the old monarchy, the mood in Tripoli was bleak. Residents were afraid to leave their houses, saying pro-Gadafy forces were opening fire randomly in the streets.
Despite this, Col Gadafy's son Saif al-Islam Gadafy said this evening that "life was normal" in the country.
"Life is normal, the ports, schools and airports are all open. The problem lies in the eastern regions," he told Libyan television while touring the station's offices.
International outrage mounted a day after Col Gadafy vowed to defend his rule and called on supporters to crack down on anti-government protesters.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said "all options are on the table to try to persuade the Libyan government to stop using violence against protesters" this evening but that Washington's first priority was protecting its citizens.
"Everything will be on the table. We will look at all the possible options to try to bring an end to the violence, to try to influence the government, but as I said yesterday ... in any situation, our foremost concern has to be for the safety and security of our own citizens," she said.
Col Gadafy’s retaliation has already been the harshest in the Arab world to the wave of anti-government protests sweeping the Middle East.
Italy’s foreign minister Franco Frattini said estimates of some 1,000 people killed in the violence in Libya were “credible,” although he stressed information about casualties was incomplete. Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at nearly 300, according to a partial count.
The fighting in Tripoli came as the opposition reportedly seized control of Misrata, with witnesses saying people were honking their horns and raising pre-Gadafy flags from the monarchy to celebrate.
Misrata would be the first major city in the west to fall to anti-government forces, which have mainly been concentrated in the east.
Faraj al-Misrati, a local doctor, said six residents had been killed and 200 injured since February 18th, when protesters attacked offices and buildings linked to Col Gadafy’s regime. He said residents had formed committees to protect the city, clean the streets and treat the injured.
“The solidarity among the people here is amazing, even the disabled are helping out,” he said.
New videos posted by Libya’s opposition on Facebook also showed scores of anti-government protesters raising the flag from the pre-Gadafy monarchy on a building in Zawiya, on the outskirts of Tripoli. Another showed protesters lining up cement blocks and setting tires ablaze to fortify positions on a square inside the capital.
Col Gadafy defiantly vowed to fight to his “last drop of blood” and urged his supporters to strike back against Libyan protesters to defend his embattled regime in a televised speech yesterday that served as an all-out call for his backers to impose control over the capital and take back other cities.
After a week of upheaval, protesters backed by defecting army units have claimed control over almost the entire eastern half of Libya’s 1,600km Mediterranean coast, including several oil-producing areas.
Celebratory gunfire by Gadafy supporters rang out in Tripoli after the leader’s speech, while in protester-held Benghazi, Libya’s second-largest city, people threw shoes at a screen showing his address, venting their contempt.
One woman who lives near central Tripoli said heavy gunfire erupted today as armed Gadafy backers and mercenaries hired from other countries opened fire. She said the streets were empty and even injured people couldn’t go to the hospital for fear of being shot.
Col Gadafy appears to have lost the support of at least one major tribe, several military units and his own diplomats, including Libya’s ambassador in Washington, Ali Adjali, and deputy UN Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi.
The Libyan Embassy in Austria also condemned the use of “excessive violence against peaceful demonstrators” and said it was representing the Libyan people.
International alarm has risen over the crisis, which sent oil prices soaring to the highest level in more than two years yesterday and sparked a rush by European and other countries to get their citizens out.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting that ended with a statement condemning the crackdown, expressing “grave concern” and calling for an “immediate end to the violence” and steps to address the legitimate demands of the Libyan people.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy also pressed today for European Union sanctions against Libya’s regime because of its violent crackdown on protesters
EU governments agreed today to prepare possible sanctions on Libya in response to the violent crackdown. "They agreed in a statement to take further measures. In diplomatic terms, it means sanctions," said one EU diplomat after a meeting in Brussels to discuss the issue.
Experts will now draw up a list of proposed measures, which could include visa bans, asset freezes, an arms embargo and other restrictions, before EU governments agree when to impose them.
Agencies