Libyan volunteers eager to fight Gadhafi (AP)

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Libyan unrest weighs on stocks, oil up further (AP)

LONDON – The turmoil in Libya heaped further pressure on stocks around the world Wednesday as investors worry that the global economic recovery may be derailed by the sharp rise in oil prices and swelling inflation.
Concerns that the country is descending into civil war were heightened by comments Tuesday from longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi that he would fight to his "last drop of blood," while urging supporters to strike back against protesters to defend his embattled regime.
The rhetoric, alongside mounting evidence of bloodshed around the country, got investors fretting over how the crisis will end and what the impact on the North African country's oil production will be.
Libya is the world's 18th largest oil producer, pumping out around 1.8 million barrels a day, or a little under 2 percent of global daily output. The OPEC country also sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the whole of Africa.
As a result, oil prices have risen even further following Tuesday's surge higher.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 35 cents at $95.77 a barrel — the highest since October 2008 — in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $5.71, or 6.4 percent, to settle at $95.42 on Tuesday.
In London, Brent crude for April delivery rose $2.61 to $108.38 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Higher oil prices were hurting stocks.
"Soaring energy prices are a clear consequence of events in Libya and the surrounding countries so this is also going to start sapping economic confidence," said Ben Potter, research analyst at IG Markets.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 0.7 percent at 5,957, while the CAC-40 in Paris fell 0.1 percent to 4,047. Germany's DAX was 0.5 percent lower at 7,279.
Wall Street was poised for a modest rebound after heavy losses Tuesday — Dow futures were up 23 points at 12,206 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures rose 1.4 point to 1,315.90.
On Tuesday, the Dow slid 1.4 percent while the S&P fell 2 percent.
Elsewhere, the main point of interest was the release of the minutes to the last meeting of the Bank of England's rate-setting meeting. They showed another three-way split, but with Spencer Dale joining the camp of those wanting to raise the benchmark rate from the current record low of 0.5 percent.
That means only two more of the nine-member panel have to swing behind calls for an interest rate rise for borrowing costs to increase.
"This reinforces market expectations of a rate hike by the middle of this year and possibly by as early as May," said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets.
The release of the minutes gave the British pound a limited bounce as the details of the vote had been widely anticipated.
By mid afternoon London time, the pound was 0.4 percent higher on the day at $1.6232.
Elsewhere in the currency markets, the euro was trading 0.3 percent higher on the day at $1.3725, supported by figures showing that industrial orders in the 16 countries that were using the euro in December unexpectedly spiked by a monthly rate of 2.1 percent. The expectation in the market was that orders would fall by a 0.9 percent monthly rate.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average shed 0.8 percent to close at 10,579.10, while South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.4 percent to 1,961.63. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.4 percent to 22,906.90.
New Zealand's main stock index rose 0.4 percent to 3,372.07 after falling the day before when a powerful earthquake devastated the city of Christchurch. Prime Minister John Key declared a state of national emergency and said 75 people were confirmed to have been killed in what was one of the country's worst natural disasters.
In mainland China, shares edged higher as investors snapped up bargains following a sell-off the day before. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.3 percent to 2,862.63 while the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.9 percent to 1,273.92. Shares in paper processing, biotechnology and information technology led the gains.
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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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Libyan turmoil hits stocks as oil surges (AP)

LONDON – Mounting concerns over Libya's violent crisis battered stocks once again Tuesday and sent oil prices surging, while the earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch pushed the country's currency sharply lower.

With deep rifts opening up in Moammar Gadhafi's regime, air force pilots defecting and a bloody crackdown in the capital of Tripoli, investors are fretting over how the crisis will end and what the impact on the North African country's oil production will be.

Libya is the world's 18th largest oil producer, pumping out around 1.8 million barrels a day, or a little under 2 percent of global daily output. The OPEC country also sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the whole of Africa.

With so much uncertainty surrounding a large chunk of the world's daily oil production, oil prices surged. Benchmark crude for March delivery was up $7.88 a barrel, or 9.1 percent, to $94.08 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"The Middle East will remain the market's focus today with moves in the oil price probably the best single indicator of the market's assessment of the wider implications of events there," said Adrian Foster, an analyst at Rabobank International.

With the oil price rising at such a rapid rate, stocks are inevitably under severe pressure.

Rising crude prices are a particular worry for investors as they reinforce fears of inflation and raw materials costs. They also stoke worries of a big drop in global demand levels, as experienced in previous oil price shocks in 1973-4, 1979 and 2008.

Given that unappetizing backdrop, investors' appetite for risk in other markets fell sharply. When risk appetite is low, investors usually look for shelter in the perceived safe havens of the U.S. dollar and gold at the expense of more risky investments such as stocks.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 1.1 percent at 5,946 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 7,283. The CAC-40 in Paris was 1.4 percent lower at 4,041.

Wall Street was also poised for a retreat at the open as traders come back from a three day holiday weekend — Dow futures were down 1 percent at 12,257 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell 1.4 percent to 1,324.

In the currency markets, the euro was down 0.6 percent at $1.3567 while the dollar fell 0.2 percent to 82.88 yen even after an announcement from Moody's Investor Services that it was putting Japan's credit rating on watch for a possible downgrade.

The impact of the Moody's statement was short-lived as the agency is merely lagging its rival Standard & Poor's, which earlier this year did actually downgrade its rating on Japan by one notch below Moody's Aa2 rating.

"The impact of developments in the Africa and Middle East on the yen have far outweighed any impact from Moody's announcement overnight to place Japan's credit rating on negative watch," said Lee Hardman, currency economist at the Bank of Toky0-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Even though Japan has massive public debts, it is widely considered to be one of the safest places for investors to park their cash in troubled times.

A powerful earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch also rattled markets in the region. The quake occurred in the middle of the workday, toppled tall buildings and churches, crushed buses and killed at least 65 people in one of the country's worst natural disasters.

Following the quake, the New Zealand dollar slid to $0.7507 from $0.7636 before while New Zealand's benchmark index fell 0.7 percent to 3,358.71.

Elsewhere in Asia, the Nikkei 225 stock average shed 1.8 percent to close at 10,664.70. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 2.1 percent to 22,990.81 and South Korea's Kospi dropped 1.8 percent to 1,969.92.

Mainland China shares saw their biggest loss in over a month — the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dived 2.6 percent to 2,855.52 while the Shenzhen Composite Index skidded 2.7 percent to 1262.82.

Comments by China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, expressing Beijing's determination to rein in inflation renewed worries over the likelihood of further moves by the government to cool price increases.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Bodies reported on streets of Libyan capital (AP)

CAIRO – A Libyan opposition activist and a Tripoli resident say the streets of a restive district in the Libyan capital are littered with the bodies of scores of protesters shot dead by security forces loyal to longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Mohammed Ali of the Libyan Salvation Front and the resident say Tripoli's inhabitants are hunkering down at home Tuesday after the killings and warnings by forces loyal to Gadhafi that anyone on the streets would be shot.

Ali, reached in Dubai, and the Tripoli resident say forces loyal to Gadhafi shot at ambulances and some protesters were left bleeding to death. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Western media are largely barred from Libya and the report couldn't be independently confirmed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) — Deep rifts opened in Moammar Gadhafi's regime, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a bloody crackdown on protest in the capital of Tripoli, where cars and buildings were burned. Gadhafi went on state TV early Tuesday to attempt to show he was still in charge.

World leaders have expressed outrage at the "vicious forms of repression" used against the demonstrators.

The longest serving Arab leader appeared briefly on TV to dispel rumors that he had fled. Sitting in a car in front of what appeared to be his residence and holding an umbrella out of the passenger side door, he told an interviewer that he had wanted to go to the capital's Green Square to talk to his supporters, but the rain stopped him.

"I am here to show that I am in Tripoli and not in Venezuela. Don't believe those misleading dog stations," Gadhafi said, referring to the media reports that he had left the country. The video clip and comments lasted less than a minute — unusual for the mercurial leader, who is known for rambling speeches that often last hours.

Pro-Gadhafi militia drove through Tripoli with loudspeakers and told people not to leave their homes, witnesses said, as security forces sought to keep the unrest that swept eastern parts of the country — leaving the second-largest city of Benghazi in protesters' control — from overwhelming the capital of 2 million people.

State TV said the military had "stormed the hideouts of saboteurs" and urged the public to back security forces. Protesters called for a demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gadhafi's residence, but witnesses in various neighborhoods described a scene of intimidation: helicopters hovering above the main seaside boulevard and pro-Gadhafi gunmen firing from moving cars and even shooting at the facades of homes to terrify the population.

Youths trying to gather in the streets scattered and ran for cover amid gunfire, according to several witnesses, who like many reached in Tripoli by The Associated Press spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. They said people wept over bodies of the dead left in the street.

Warplanes swooped low over Tripoli in the evening and snipers took up position on roofs, apparently to stop people outside the capital from joining protests, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents.

Gadhafi appeared 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. Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi accused the longest-serving Arab leader of committing genocide against his own people in the current crisis.

The eruption of turmoil in the capital after seven days of protests and bloody clashes in Libya's eastern cities sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. At least 233 people have been killed so far, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch. The difficulty in getting information from Libya made obtaining a precise death toll impossible.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters in Beverly Hills, California, on Monday described the crackdown as "a serious violation of international humanitarian law." The U.N. spokesperson's office said late Monday that the Security Council had scheduled consultations on the situation in Libya for Tuesday morning.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Gadhafi to "stop this unacceptable bloodshed" and said the world was watching the events "with alarm," while British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting Egypt, called the crackdown "appalling."

"The regime is using the most vicious forms of repression against people who want to see that country — which is one of the most closed and one of the most autocratic — make progress," Cameron said.

The chaos engulfing the country prompted many foreigners to flee.

Italy's government on Tuesday dispatched an air force jet to Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, to evacuate around 100 Italian citizens. Many countries had already urged their nationals to avoid nonessential travel to Libya, or recommended that those already there leave on commercial flights.

Oil companies, including Italy's Eni, Royal Dutch Shell PLC and U.K.-based BP have also begun evacuating their expat workers or their families or both.

Communications to Tripoli appeared to have been cut, and residents could not be reached by phone from outside the country. State TV showed video of hundreds of Gadhafi supporters rallying in Green Square, waving palm fronds and pictures of him.

State TV quoted Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, as saying the military conducted airstrikes on remote areas, away from residential neighborhoods, on munitions warehouses, denying reports that warplanes attacked Tripoli and Benghazi.

Jordanians who fled Libya gave horrific accounts of a "bloodbath" in Tripoli, saying they saw people shot, scores of burned cars and shops, and what appeared to be armed mercenaries who looked as if they were from other African countries.

Many billboards and posters of Gadhafi were smashed or burned along a road to downtown Tripoli, "emboldening" protesters, said a man who lives on the western outskirts of the capital.

The first major protests to hit an OPEC country — and major supplier to Europe — sent oil prices jumping, and the industry has begun eyeing reserves touched only after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the first Gulf War in 1991.

Tripoli was largely shut down Monday, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, except for a few bakeries, said residents, who hunkered down in their homes. Armed members of pro-government organizations called "Revolutionary Committees" hunted for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester named Fathi.

Members of the militia occupied the city center and no one was able to walk in the street, said one resident who lived near Green Square and described a "very, very violent" situation.

"We know that the regime is reaching its end and Libyans are not retreating," the resident said. "People have a strange determination after all that happened."

The heaviest fighting so far has been in the east. Security forces in Benghazi opened fire Sunday on protesters storming police stations and government buildings. But in several instances, units of the military sided with protesters.

By Monday, protesters had claimed control of the city, overrunning its main security headquarters, called the Katiba.

Celebrating protesters raised the flag of Libya's old monarchy, toppled in 1969 in a Gadhafi-led military coup, over Benghazi's main courthouse and on tanks around the city.

"Gadhafi needs one more push and he is gone," said lawyer Amal Roqaqie.

Gadhafi's son went on state TV early Monday, vowing to fight and warning that if protests continue, a civil war will erupt in which Libya's oil wealth "will be burned." He vowed to fight until "the last bullet."

He also promised "historic" reforms if protests stop. State TV said Monday he had formed a commission to investigate deaths during the unrest. Protesters ignored the vague gestures.

Fire raged Monday at the People's Hall, the main building for government gatherings where the country's equivalent of a parliament holds sessions several times a year, the pro-government news website Qureyna said.

It also reported the first major sign of discontent in Gadhafi's government, saying Justice Minister Mustafa Abdel-Jalil resigned to protest the "excessive use of force" against unarmed demonstrators.

There were reports of ambassadors abroad defecting. Libya's former ambassador to the Arab League in Cairo, Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, who resigned his post Sunday to side with protesters, demanded Gadhafi and his commanders and aides be put on trial for "the mass killings in Libya."

"Gadhafi's regime is now in the trash of history because he betrayed his nation and his people," al-Houni said in a statement.

Libya's ambassador to India, Ali al-Essawi, said he resigned because he could not tolerate the authorities "killing peaceful people." A Libyan diplomat in China, Hussein el-Sadek el-Mesrati, told Al-Jazeera, "I resigned from representing the government of Mussolini and Hitler."

And the Libyan Embassy in Malaysia distanced itself from the regime, issuing a statement strongly condemning "the barbaric, criminal massacre" of civilians. However, none of the embassy's diplomats quit.

Two Mirage warplanes from the Libyan air force fled a Tripoli air base and landed on the nearby island of Malta, and their pilots — two colonels — asked for political asylum, Maltese military officials said.

The backlash began Sunday after protesters streamed into the central Green Square in Tripoli, sparking scenes of mayhem. Snipers fired from rooftops and militiamen attacked the crowds, shooting and chasing people down side streets, according to witnesses and protesters.

The witnesses reported seeing casualties, but the number could not be confirmed. After midnight, protesters took over the main Tripoli offices of state-run satellite stations Al-Jamahiriya-1 and Al-Shebabiya, a witness said.

"Gunfire was echoing across the capital all night last night," said Adel Suleiman, a Jordanian adviser to the Libyan Central Bank governor.

"I saw scores of burned cars and shops in the capital," said Suleiman, who was among about 260 Jordanians evacuated from Tripoli.

A Jordanian engineer who identified himself as Abu Saleh, 30, said armed militias were in Green Square on Monday morning, and many of them appeared to be foreigners from other parts of Africa "who were shooting randomly at people and in the air. Some of them were carrying swords."

He said he also saw bloodstains on the road on the way to the airport and "pictures of Gadhafi were also torched."

Fragmentation is a real danger in Libya, a country of deep tribal divisions and a historic rivalry between Tripoli and Benghazi. The system of rule created by Gadhafi — the "Jamahiriya," or "rule by masses" — is highly decentralized, run by "popular committees" in a complicated hierarchy that effectively means there is no real center of decision-making except Gadhafi, his sons and their top aides.

An expert on Libya said she believed the regime was collapsing.

"Unlike the fall of the regime in Tunisia and Egypt, this is going to be a collapse into a civil war," said Lisa Anderson, president of the American University in Cairo, and a Libya expert.

Seif has often been put forward as the regime's face of reform and is often cited as a likely successor. His younger brother, Mutassim, is the national security adviser, with a strong role in the military and security forces. Another brother, Khamis, heads the army's 32nd Brigade, which according to U.S. diplomats is the best-trained and best-equipped force in the military.

In Benghazi, cars honked their horns in celebration and protesters in the streets chanted "Long live Libya" on Monday, a day after bloody clashes that killed at least 60 people.

Benghazi's airport was closed, according to an airport official in Cairo. A Turkish Airlines flight trying to land in Benghazi to evacuate Turkish citizens was turned away Monday, told by ground control to circle over the airport, then to return to Istanbul.

There were fears of chaos as young men — including regime supporters — seized weapons from the Katiba and other captured security buildings. "The youths now have arms and that's worrying," said Iman, a doctor at the main hospital. "We are appealing to the wise men of every neighborhood to rein in the youths."

Youth volunteers directed traffic and guarded homes and public facilities, said Najla, a lawyer and university lecturer in Benghazi. She and other residents said police had disappeared from the streets.

After seizing the Katiba, protesters found the bodies of 13 uniformed security officers inside who had been handcuffed and shot in the head, then set on fire, said a doctor named Hassan, who asked not to be identified further for fear of reprisals. He said protesters believed the 13 had been executed by fellow security forces for refusing to attack protesters.

Tunisia's official news agency said at least 2,300 Tunisians fled neighboring Libya on Sunday and Monday out of concerns over the unrest, crossing at the border post of Ras Jedir. Other reports suggest the figure was much higher.

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AP correspondents Hamza Hendawi in Cairo, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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Unrest spreads to Libyan capital as Arab protests simmer (Reuters)

TRIPOLI/MANAMA (Reuters) – Violent unrest against Libya's Muammar Gaddafi spread to the capital Tripoli on Sunday and his son vowed to fight until the "last man standing" after scores of protesters were killed in the east of the country.
Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam said in an address on state TV the army stood behind his father as a "leader of the battle in Tripoli" and would enforce security at any price. His comments were the first official reaction from the Libyan authorities since the unrest began.
As he spoke, police used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters in Tripoli, where gunfire was heard, vehicles were on fire and protesters threw stones at billboards of Gaddafi, who is facing the most serious challenge to his four-decade rule.
Revolutions which deposed the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt have shaken the Arab world and inspired protests across the Middle East and North Africa, threatening the grip of long-entrenched autocratic leaders.
In the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, thousands of protesters gathered in a square in Manama, calling for political change and awaiting promised talks with the island's Sunni rulers.
After days of violence, the mood among the mainly Shi'ite protesters appeared to be more conciliatory.
Libya, however was witnessing the bloodiest episodes yet in two months of unrest convulsing the Arab world.
A resident in Tripoli told Reuters by telephone he could hear gunshots. "We're inside the house and the lights are out. There are gunshots in the street," he said. "That's what I hear, gunshots and people. I can't go outside."
An expatriate worker said: "Some anti-government demonstrators are gathering in the residential complexes. The police are dispersing them. I can also see burning cars."
Al Jazeera television said thousands of protesters clashed with supporters of Gaddafi in Tripoli's Green Square.
The violence spread to Tripoli after days of protests in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, in which at least 233 people have been killed, according to Human Rights Watch.
Communications are tightly controlled and Benghazi is not accessible to international journalists, but the picture that has emerged is of a city slipping from the grasp of security forces in the biggest challenge to Gaddafi's rule since the "brotherly leader" seized power in a 1969 military coup.
Habib al-Obaidi, head of the intensive care unit at the main Al-Jalae hospital in Benghazi, said the bodies of 50 people, mostly killed by gunshots, had been brought there on Sunday afternoon. The deaths came after scores were killed on Saturday.
Two hundred people had arrived wounded, 100 of them in serious condition, he said.
Members of an army unit known as the "Thunderbolt" squad had come to the hospital carrying wounded comrades, he said. The soldiers said they had defected to the cause of the hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets and had fought and defeated Gaddafi's elite guards.
"They are now saying that they have overpowered the Praetorian Guard and that they have joined the people's revolt," another man at the hospital who heard the soldiers, lawyer Mohamed al-Mana, told Reuters by telephone.
A Libyan tribal leader threatened to block oil exports to the West within 24 hours if the government does not stop the "oppression of protesters." Another tribal chief told al Jazeera Gaddafi had to leave the country.
GADDAFI'S SON PROMISES REFORM
Saif al-Islam, who has in the past pushed a reform agenda in Libya with only limited success, said the protests threatened to sink Libya into civil war and split the country.
He said reports of hundreds killed were an exaggeration, but acknowledged the police and army made mistakes in dealing with the protests.
The General People's Congress, Libya's equivalent of a parliament, would convene on Monday to discuss a "clear" reform agenda, while the government would also raise wages, in an apparent attempt to address some of the protesters' demands, he said.
The clamour for reform across a region of huge strategic importance to the West and the source of much of its oil began in Tunisia in December. The overthrow of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali then inspired Egyptians to rise up against strongman Hosni Mubarak, overthrowing him on February 11.
The tide has challenged Arab leaders, including many who have long been backed by the West as vital energy suppliers and enemies of Islamist militants. While each uprising has its own dynamics, from religion to tribalism, all protesters seem united by frustration over economic hardship and a lack of political freedom under entrenched elites.
Unrest also hit Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco, Oman, Kuwait, Algeria and Djibouti over the weekend as people took to the streets demanding political and economic change.
In Iran, thousands of security personnel deployed in the streets of Tehran and other cities to prevent protesters rallying in spite of a ban, opposition websites said.
U.S. SAYS GRAVELY CONCERNED
The United States said it was "gravely concerned" by the situation in Libya and warned its citizens to delay trips there.
In Bahrain, the main opposition party said it wanted the crown prince to show signs of addressing opposition demands before any formal dialogue could start.
Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, of the ruling Sunni Muslim dynasty, made conciliatory moves after days of violence in which at least six people died.
"All political parties in the country deserve a voice at the table," he told CNN. "I think there is a lot of anger, a lot of sadness...We are terribly sorry and this is a terrible tragedy for our nation," said the prince, who is seen as a reformist.
Ibrahim Mattar, a lawmaker of the main opposition Wefaq party, said protesters, thousands of whom were camping out in Pearl square, wanted more than words.
"We are waiting for an initiative from him, with a scope for dialogue," he said, adding that the prince should "send a small signal he is willing to have a constitutional monarchy."
Shi'ites, who make up 70 percent of the population, complain of unfair treatment in Bahrain, an ally of the United States, whose Fifth Fleet is based there.
The opposition is demanding a constitutional monarchy that gives citizens a greater role in a directly elected government. It also wants the release of political prisoners.
Speculation was growing that Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, in office since independence from Britain in 1971, would be replaced by the crown prince.
In Tunisia on Sunday, security forces fired into the air as tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered downtown to call for the replacement of the interim government -- a sign that problems are not all swept away with the removal of a dictator.
In Yemen, shots were fired at a demonstration in the capital Sanaa on the ninth consecutive day of unrest. Thousands were demanding the departure of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who called for dialogue with the opposition.
But the coalition of main opposition parties said there could be no dialogue with "bullets and sticks and thuggery," or with a government "which gathers mercenaries to occupy public squares ... and terrorise people."
At least 2,000 protesters gathered in a square in Morocco's capital on Sunday to demand King Mohammed give up some powers.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Diana Abdallah; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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Libyan protesters take to streets after deaths (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Thousands of anti-government protesters were on the streets of Libya's eastern city of Benghazi early on Friday, a day after "day of rage" demonstrations led to fatal skirmishes with the security forces.

BBC radio, quoting a witness, said protesters against Muammar Gaddafi's four decades long rule had clashed with security forces, who were using guns, and doctors had counted the bodies of 10 people.

In the nearby eastern town of Al Bayda, where sources told Reuters earlier that five people had been killed, people were bringing tents to camp out on the streets, the BBC reported.

Funerals of those killed were expected in both Benghazi and Al Bayda on Friday. The funerals could act as a catalyst for more protests.

On Thursday, deadly clashes broke out in several towns after the opposition called for protests in a rare show of defiance inspired by uprisings in other Arab states and the toppling of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak and Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Political analysts say Libya oil wealth should give the government the capacity to smooth over social problems and reduce the risk of an Egypt-style revolt.

Tight controls on media and communications in Libya made it difficult to assess the extent of the violence, but on Friday unverified reports on social network sites said up to 50 people had died.

Gaddafi's opponents say they want political freedoms, respect for human rights and an end to corruption. Gaddafi says Libyans enjoy true democracy.

Pro-government supporters also were out on the streets early on Friday, according to CNN. The broadcaster said images transmitted on Libyan state television labeled "live" showed men chanting slogans in support of Gaddafi.

The pro-Gaddafi crowd was seen singing as it surrounded his limousine as it crept along a road in the capital packed with people carrying his portrait. Fireworks lit up the night sky. The worst clashes on Thursday appeared to have taken place in the eastern Cyrenaica region centered on Benghazi, where support for Gaddafi has historically been weaker than in other parts of the country.

Earlier, a resident in Al Bayda told Reuters by telephone: "The situation is still complicated ... The young people do not want to listen to what the elders say."

Phone connections to the town, which is 200 km (125 miles) from Benghazi, were not working on Thursday evening and officials were barring journalists from flying to Benghazi from Tripoli.

Libya's Quryna newspaper reported the regional security chief had been removed from his post over the deaths of protesters in Al Bayda. Rights watchdog Amnesty International said security forces opened fire on protesters in Al Bayda, killing a man identified as Nacer Miftah Gout'ani. (Writing by Matthew Jones; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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