Libya unrest death toll 'tops 200'

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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112206386812127.html

Libya unrest death toll 'tops 200'

Dozens of Muslim leaders call for end to civilian deaths after security

crackdown on funeral procession of protesters.

Last Modified: 20 Feb 2011 11:25 GMT

Hundreds have been killed in Libya since protests broke out across the North

African nation six days ago, according to rights watchdogs and eyewitnesses

across the country.

Residents told Al Jazeera that at least 200 people had died in the eastern city

of Benghazi alone, while the New York-based Human Rights Watch on Sunday put the

countrywide death toll at 104. The rights group said the figure was

" conservative " .

Protests have also reportedly broken out in other cities, including Bayda,

Derna, Tobruk and Misrata.

In the capital, Tripoli, supporters of the government took to the streets in

large numbers, and security forces prevented large demonstrations against

Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year reign.

Benghazi " a war zone "

Moftah, a resident of Benghazi - Libya's second largest city - who requested Al

Jazeera use only his first name, said the city had become a " war zone " in recent

days.

Residents have barricaded the streets with overturned trash cans and debris, and

security forces have largely confined themselves to two compounds, though

snipers continue to target protesters, he said.

The forces who remain are " thugs " loyal to Gaddafi, Moftah said, and they are

firing high-calibre ammunition at protesters.

m, a doctor speaking from a hospital in Benghazi, said the military had

shot at protesters with live ammunition and that even the hospital was not safe.

An eight-year-old boy who had been shot in the head was among the dead, she

said.

Security forces reportedly opened fire at a funeral in the eastern, coastal city

on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and injuring scores more.

The funeral was to honour protesters killed by security forces during the

ongoing protests, which began on Monday after the arrest of a prominent lawyer,

and have continued to call for Gaddafi's downfall.

Another doctor from Benghazi's al-Jalah hospital said staff there had received

15 bodies and were treating numerous people following the shootings at the

funeral. The hospital counted 44 deaths in three days and was struggling to

treat the wounded, he said.

" This is not a well-equipped hospital and these injuries come in waves, " he

said. " All are very serious injuries, involving the head, the chest and the

abdomen. They are bullet injuries from high-velocity rifles. "

He said the wounded and dead were all civilians aged 13 to 35 and that the

security forces were operating a shoot-to-kill policy " absolutely " .

Appeal for calm

Against this backdrop of violence, opposition groups said some 50 Libyan Muslim

leaders have urged security forces to stop killing civilians.

" This is an urgent appeal from religious scholars, intellectuals, and clan

elders from Tripoli, Bani Walid, Zintan, Jadu, Msalata, Misrata, Zawiah, and

other towns and villages of the western area, " the appeal, signed by the group

of leaders, stated.

" We appeal to every Muslim, within the regime or assisting it in any way, to

recognize that the killing of innocent human beings is forbidden by our Creator

and by His beloved Prophet of Compassion, Peaae Be Upon Him ... Do not kill your

brothers and sisters. Stop the massacre now! "

The deaths came amid claims that a military brigade in Benghazi had fallen to

the people. The doctor in Benghazi told Al Jazeera that protesters stormed the

building on Saturday.

Ahmed, a Benghazi businessman who also gave only his first name, said hospitals

in the city were overwhelmed with the number of dead and injured and were

running out of blood.

" It's a big, big massacre. We've never heard of anything like this before. It's

horrible, " he said.

" The shooting is still taking place right now. We're about three kilometers away

from it, and we saw this morning army troops coming into the city. You can hear

the shooting now. They don't care about us. "

Unrest 'spreading'

The unrest in Libya has largely been centred in the eastern cities of Benghazi,

Bayda and Tobruk. But Al Jazeera has received reports that the protests have

also begun to spread to the west of the country.

Witnesses said thousands of people took part in peaceful protests in the western

city of Misrata. They were demonstrating against state brutality, rather than

calling for a change in government.

Mohamed Abdulmalek, the chairman of Libya Watch - a human rights group that

monitors abuse in the country - said the delay of protests in the west was due

to the heavy presence of security forces there, " not because the people did not

want to go out " .

" The security presence in Tripoli, for example, was so intense that people

gathered individually in the beginning, " Abdulmalek said from the United

Kingdom. " The Libyan regime anticipated this, so the squares in Tripoli were

occupied by security forces and therefore people were not allowed to gather. "

" But eventually, the pressure on the capital started from outside Tripoli and

now you see the people revolting. We have no doubt that the east and the west

will unite. "

Verifying news from Libya has been difficult since the protests began, because

of restrictions on journalists entering the country, as well as internet and

mobile phone blackouts imposed by the government.

The Libyan government has blocked Al Jazeera's TV signal in the country - and

residents have also reported that the network's website is inaccessible from

there.

Internet cut

In addition to TV signal jamming, internet service has been cut, said a US

company that monitors web traffic.

Massachusetts-based Arbor Networks said data collected from 30 internet service

providers worldwide showed that online traffic in and out of Libya was

disconnected abruptly at 2:15am local time on Saturday. The data also showed

two partial service interruptions earlier in the day.

As of Sunday, it was still possible to reach Libyans by phone, and some in

Tripoli had internet access.

Protests in the country began on February 14, and three days later, tens of

thousands of anti-government demonstrators seeking to oust Gaddafi took to the

streets in what organisers called a " day of rage " - modelled after similar

protests in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled longtime leaders there.

While Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, two-thirds of the 6.5million

population live on less than $2 a day.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies