The uprising sparked six days ago by the arrest of a peaceful dissident in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, spread over the weekend to Tripoli, the capital. Al Jazeera Arabic has confirmed that the regime has been attacking protesters by airplane and artillery barrages within the city. Nonetheless, hundreds of thousands of protesters are now in the streets.
With elements of the military reportedly defecting, the Tuareg and Werfallah, two of Libya's largest tribes joining the opposition, a sheikh threatening to cut off the country's oil pipelines, elements of the military defecting and high-level officials of the government, including six ambassadors, the Libyan U.N. delegation and the justice minister resigning, it seems clear that the many Libyan expatriates and exiles interviewed by outside media Sunday who said they believe the regime's days are numbered have got it right.
But, unlike the toppling of authoritarian governments in Tunisia and Egypt, it appears certain that more blood will be spilled before the end comes to the 41-year-old rule of the erratic and ruthless Muammar al-Gaddafi. {Some of the dead can be seen here. Caution: Extremely graphic. UPDATE: Removed because YouTube perhaps thinks it's too graphic.} On Sunday evening, in the wake of protests and vicious government response in more than a dozen cities, Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and one of his heirs apparent, delivered a rambling, combative, contradictory, much-ridiculed and some might describe as delusional speech saying, in essence, that the regime would fight to the last bullet.
The speech was followed, according to numerous reports on social media, by the government's brutal militias fanning out across Tripoli. There have been reports of looting by both militias and protesters, burned buildings and vehicles, and death everywhere. Militiamen today have been warning they will shoot anyone who comes out of their houses. Citing medical sources, Al Jazeera reported that at least 61 people were killed overnight in the capital. Without doubt, more have been killed today.
But, as has been the case all along, getting a good grip on the number of fatalities is no easy matter. Using hospital reports, Human Rights Watch says at least 233 have been killed. All that is certain, however, is the "at least." And some social media are reporting many hundreds dead.
In fact, because there are still few, if any, professional journalists in the country - Al Jazeera has long been banned - the only reports until recently have been those provided by cellphone and social media. (My family, with strong ties to Libya, has been unable to reach Libya by phone since early this morning amid reports that landlines, cellphone service and the Internet have been cut off by the government there.)
Included in these reports have been videos of protesters in cities like Zentan and Tobruk, on opposite sides of the country, burning the centers of the Greens, Gaddafi's militant ideological stalwarts, and, in one instance, toppling concrete slabs representing the dictator's "Green Book," a stifling and highly derivative treatise on political, social and economic affairs that supposedly guides the country's governance. Other videos have shown yellow-helmeted thugs clashing with protesters.
But, as in any war zone, even ones well-populated by veteran journalists with records for reliability, rumors are running rampant. On Sunday, it was widely reported on Twitter that the dictator was on a plane to Brazil or Venezuela. Previously, it was reported that Saif had been shot by his younger brother Moatessem, the country's grim-faced national security adviser and the other son believed to be heir apparent.
Outside governments have said rather little publicly about the rapidly evolving situation. Human Rights Watch has called on the African Union, the European Union, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other governments with ties to Libya to::
• Publicly demand an end to unlawful use of force against peaceful protesters;
• Announce that those responsible for serious violations of international human rights law must be held individually accountable and will be subjected to appropriate measures;
• Impose an embargo on all exports of arms and security equipment to Libya; and
• Tell Libya to restore access to the internet.
Other reports can be seen here:
• 17 February Libya
• Dozens killed in Libyan capital as Arab leaders struggle to calm unrest
• Libya protests spread as barrier of fear crumbles
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Highlights of Gaddafi son's address
• ACTION for Libya - President Obama, the Libyans Need You NOW+
• Eyes on Egypt & Region Liveblog #115+
• Libya a personal matter at my house