Libyan crackdown on protesters kills 24!
CAIRO, Egypt - February 18, 2011 - A "day of anger" against Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi turned into a bloodbath when security forces gunned down at least 24 people in two of the country's biggest cities, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
In a detailed account of the unrest in Benghazi and Al-Baida, the New York-based organization - quoting unidentified witnesses - told of security forces opening fire with live ammunition on peaceful demonstrators on Thursday.
"The security forces' vicious attacks on peaceful demonstrators lay bare the reality of Moamer Qaddafi's brutality when faced with any internal dissent," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Libyans should not have to risk their lives to make a stand for their rights as human beings."
Qaddafi, 68, is the longest-serving leader in the Arab world, but his oil-producing North African nation is bookended by Tunisia and Egypt, whose longtime leaders have fallen spectacularly in the face of popular uprisings.
Opponents of his regime used Facebook to call for a national "day of anger" for Thursday, but Kadahfi sought to counter its impact with his own pro-regime rally in the heart of the capital Tripoli.
Hundreds joined the rally in Green Square, near the capital's waterfront, hoisting banners proclaiming "Qaddafi, father of the people" and "the crowd supports the revolution and its leader".
