IN A defiant show of control Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy appeared on state television early this morning claiming to be in Tripoli.
He said he had addressed youths in Green Square in the capital and denied reports that he had fled to Venezuela, saying: “Don’t believe those dogs. Don’t believe those TV channels.”
Mr Gadafy was seated in the passenger seat of a car holding an umbrella up through the open door.
It has been raining in the city for two days. His remarks were aired about 2am local time.
Clashes continued in the capital following a warning by his eldest son, Seif al-Islam, that the streets of the country could run with “rivers of blood” if week-long uprising does not end.
Several districts of the city were reported to have fallen to rebels by evening. Marauders sacked the offices of the popular committees that ran the country, burned police stations, briefly seized control of state broadcasters and looted banks.
People from outside the city were reported to be involved in the unrest, prompting some residents to flee. Two Libyan fighter jets and two civilian helicopters landed in Malta.
Protesters were set to march on the compound containing the residence of Col Gadafy as well as the headquarters of his security apparatus. Sixty-one people were reported to have been killed and scores wounded in fighting at Green Square, the symbol of the regime’s “Green Revolution.”
The International Federation for Human Rights put the death toll since the uprising began at 300-400 but this figure does not seem to include the fatalities of Sunday and Monday.
Government offices, schools, and shops were closed in Tripoli, a city of two million. Frightened residents remained in their homes. The internet remained cut, phone calls could not be made on landlines, and attempts to call mobiles from abroad were disrupted.
Benghazi, the country’s second city where the uprising began a week ago, was under the control of celebrating protesters following the defection of army units sent to quell the unrest.
Residents organised committees to assume basic government functions and to guard warehouses where flour and rice are stored. Youths entered army and police headquarters and looted weapons.
Protesters removed the Libyan flag from the main courthouse in “Tahrir Square”, renamed for the centre of the revolt in Egypt, and raised the flag of the monarchy, toppled in 1969 by the military coup mounted by Col Gadafy. Police have withdrawn from the streets, compelling residents to form neighbourhood watch groups as Egyptians did in the days before President Hosni Mubarak resigned.
An ancient Roman city west of Tripoli has also been taken over by protesters, who besieged and set fire to police headquarters.
A South Korean construction site near Tripoli was stormed and looted and 15 Bangladeshi and three South Korean workers were injured.
Libya’s justice minister, Mustafa Abdul Jalil has become the most senior official to resign; the country’s envoy to India, Ali al-Issawi, stepped down and its representative to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al- Honi, said he was joining the revolution. The entire Libyan delegation to the UN has called for international intervention to halt the “genocide” taking place in the country. Muhammad Bayoun, a former government spokesman, called on the leadership to recognise and open dia-logue with the opposition.
A spokesman for the UN said: “The secretary-general expressed deep concern at the escalating scale of violence and emphasised that it must stop immediately. He reiterated his call for respect for basic freedoms and human rights, including peaceful assembly and information,” the spokesman said after Ban Ki-moon spoke to Col Gadafy.
“ . . . The secretary-general underlined the need to ensure the protection of the civilian population under any circumstances. He urged all parties to exercise restraint and called upon the authorities to engage in broad-based dialogue to address legitimate concerns of the population.”
