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Libya: Dozens Killed After Army Opens Fire In City Of Zawiyah | World News | Sky News

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8:46pm UK, Friday March 04, 2011

Libya: Protesters Killed As Army Opens Fire

Alex Crawford in Zawiyah, and Kat Higgins

Dozens of people have been killed and many more injured after the army opened fire on protesters in the Libyan city of Zawiyah, according to reports.

Video: Sky News' Alex Crawford reports from Zawiyah.

It is thought pro-Gaddafi forces entered the city and fired at protesters, who returned fire.

A number of people were shot, including a rebel commander who was killed.

This set off another march by thousands of people, many of them unarmed, who were subsequently shot at by the military, using rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire.

Many of the demonstrators were shot in the head, neck and chest.

Pro-Gaddafi forces also launched an attack in the forecourt of the hospital where the injured are being treated.

The western port city, which is about 30 miles from the capital Tripoli, has been under siege by the dictator's security forces for around a week.

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:: Home Office: Ship carrying £100m in Libyan currency is seized by UK border control.

:: In north Yemen, rebels claim military forces fired rockets at their anti-government protest, killing two people.

:: Prince Harry postpones visit to Dubai, saying it would insensitive given the unrest in the region
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The rebellion in Zawiyah - the closest rebel-held territory to the capital and also the site of an oil refinery - has been an embarrassment to Colonel Gaddafi's regime, which is trying to show it controls at least the west of the country.

A government spokesman said it hopes to regain full control from the rebels "possibly tonight", prompting fears of more heavy fighting.

Another regime official told AFP news agency: "Western Libya is totally in government hands but the east is problematic."

Rebels said at least four people were killed in clashes with regime forces near the eastern oil town of Ras Lanuf.

Opposition groups fired a barrage of mortar bombs and rockets at a military base and the army returned fire, reports said.

Rebel sources claimed they had taken the airport in the town, which lies on a strategic coastal road.


View Libya Protests in a larger map

They are aiming to take control of the military base overnight.

However, according to Reuters Libya's deputy foreign minister says pro-Gaddafi forces are now in control of the town.

Khaled Kaim also said the government had accepted a peace initiative put forward by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Mr Kaim said the initiative stated a committee would be formed by African, Asian and Latin American countries "to help the international dialogue and to help the restoration of peace and stability".

Earlier in Zawiyah, as the anti-government protesters made their way towards the military lines on the outskirts of the city, the army opened fire.

Many people ran away and they were shot as they fled.

There were then frantic calls for ambulances which were shot at as they arrived at the scene.

Libya Rebels

Libyan rebels want a no-fly zone to prevent air attacks

There was a feeling that there was a deliberate attempt to kill the protesters, not to just frighten them.

There did not seem to be much firing over the heads of the demonstrators, or any attempt to scare them away.

But former justice minister Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of Libya's rebel National Libyan Council, has vowed: "Victory or death."

He told crowds in Al Bayda: "We are people who fight, we don't surrender. Victory or death.

"We will not stop till we liberate all this country. The time of hypocrisy is over. Gaddafi must go."

Explore the unrest spreading in the Middle East

Mustafa Gheriani, a spokesman for the rebel February 17th Coalition, said forces loyal to Col Gaddafi had also bombed an arms depot on the outskirts of Libya's second city Benghazi.

AP news agency reported that at least 17 people were killed in an explosion at a weapons dump near the city.

Interpol has delivered a global "Orange Notice" alert against Col Gaddafi and 15 members of his inner circle to help police around the world enforce UN sanctions.

The international police agency said information on the leader and other Libyan nationals would be circulated so border agents could enforce travel bans and freeze assets as set out under sanctions imposed last the weekend.

Sky's Dominic Waghorn reports from Brega

Meanwhile, in Tripoli's Tajoura district, loyalists fired tear gas canisters at a crowd of around 1,500 protesters who were demanding an end to Col Gaddafi's rule, reports said.

Gunshots were also heard. One journalist said: "They fired teargas. I heard shooting. People are scattering."

In Ajdabiyah in the east, Col Gaddafi's air force reportedly carried out a second day of airstrikes as he tries to quash the uprising.

A warplane struck just outside the perimeter of the rebel-held Haniyeh base which stores large amounts of ammunition, but did not hit it, rebels said.

There have also been reports the key oil town of Brega was bombed for a third day.

Col Gaddafi's son Saif told Sky News that air raids were designed only to intimidate the rebels rather than cause deaths.

Battle For Libya: Why Brega Is Important

Brega has seen violent clashes between pro and anti-Gaddafi forces. It is believed a man from Manchester may have been killed there.

Opposition groups have called for a no-fly zone in Libya to prevent air assaults by pro-regime forces.

And they say they will only talk to the government if Col Gaddafi resigns or goes into exile.

Western nations have urged the dictator to quit and are considering various options. But they are wary of any military action which may further destabilise the country.

Aid agencies say help is desperately needed inside Libya - but efforts to provide assistance are being blocked by Col Gaddafi's government.

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Your Comments

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dashur

Posted by: dashur on March 4, 2011 6:00 PM
Comments by people like Rex just make me smile. What other country goes into another country, tries to put it in order, leaves without taking land, and helps it rebuild after the fact. I guess its hard to forget most other countries when they invade just take the land and kill off the natives.
Rex Von Reason

Posted by: Rex Von Reason on March 4, 2011 5:51 PM
The Yanks have been involved in every war since 1945, and want to control the World. For decades they wanted a war with Russia (remember 'The Evil Empire?')
I'm glad Wikileaks has exposed their mass slaughter of a 100,000 Iraq people.
liveandlearn

Posted by: liveandlearn on March 4, 2011 5:50 PM
To suggest that the whole of Libya were celebrating the Lockerbie bomb disaster is utter nonsense. It is always the mindless few who do such things to claim a bit of Television coverage which never fails to deliver, because that’s life. Gaddifi is another who doesn’t believe in a ballot box, unless every ticket as his name on it and that is what these people are trying to change. He and his son will end up being tried for crimes against his people wherever they flee to, because warning shots will have already reached his ears.
Frank Berman

Posted by: Frank Berman on March 4, 2011 5:49 PM
Do Obama, Cameron and the other Western Leaders really want the "Arab" world to change to democracy?

Gadaffi brought down PA AM Flight 103 but the UK continued buying oil and even released the terrorist, the man who committed the biggest terror attack prior to 9/11, and still does so!

What is being missed is that if the USA and the others do NOT help the Libyan people and Gadaffi retains power, that makes a laughingstock of the Iraqi war and dictators and potentates will laugh all the way to the bank!

It seems that oil is much dearer than blood!

pinkerbell

Posted by: pinkerbell on March 4, 2011 5:48 PM
Posted by: fedupoap on March 4, 2011 5:21 PM

just hope that this shower governing us has the guts to tell the yanks ,when due to their lifeblood(oil ) is being threatend "Sorry your on your own this time"

What a load of tripe! Libya sells its oil to the whole world, not just to USA!
(Incidentally, this uprising is secular, nothing to do with religious sects, so the clown who said we should support Gadaffi against the Shiites is off his trolley!)

pinkerbell

Posted by: pinkerbell on March 4, 2011 5:40 PM
Rex Von ReasonPosted by: Rex Von Reason on March 4, 2011 5:23 PM

If the Yanks want another war leave them to it.

That is absolute nonsense. The Libyan people are protesting against the 43 year tyranny of Gadaffi and his henchmen. They are fighting for their freedom and democracy. The USA does not 'want another war!'

C0MM0NSENSE

Posted by: C0MM0NSENSE on March 4, 2011 5:38 PM
Webbo - what utter drivel. They were not celebrating Lockerbie in Libya when the plane crashed. Unless you know something history doesn't? They celebrated the release of the bomber last year - and you can hardly blame the Libyan people for that. They were told an innocent hero was returning home.

You clearly hate people and life so why are you still here?

pinkerbell

Posted by: pinkerbell on March 4, 2011 5:29 PM
webboPosted by: webbo on March 4, 2011 5:13 PM

A few years ago the Libyans were celebrating when Pan am flight crashed in Scotland now they want our help.

NO, NO, NO! Gadhaffi committed that atrocity...... not the oppressed Libyan people!

Rex Von Reason

Posted by: Rex Von Reason on March 4, 2011 5:23 PM
If the Yanks want another war leave them to it.
keyo

Posted by: keyo on March 4, 2011 5:22 PM
Although the facts cannot be verified, typical from Sky news and its reporters, time to change Sky News to Jackanory, first to read us a story Alec Crawford.
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