Tripoli: Seven people were killed in the Libyan city of Benghazi as the government tried to overshadow an opposition “Day of Anger” with its own rally here on Thursday.
Meanwhile, clashes broke out in the city of Zentan, southwest of the capital, in which a number of government buildings were said to have been torched.
Gunfire rang out in several parts of the city on the third straight day of protests against the long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Separately, lawyers demonstrated in front of a courthouse in Benghazi — Libya’s second city after Tripoli — to demand a constitution for the country.
The websites Al Youm and Al Manara, monitored in Nicosia, said at least four people were killed in the city of Al Baida, 200 kilometres (120 miles) east of Benghazi, on Wednesday.
Sites monitored in Cyprus and a Libyan human rights group based abroad reported earlier that the anti-Gaddafi protests in Al Baida had cost as many as 13 lives.
“Internal security forces and militias of the Revolutionary Committees used live ammunition to disperse a peaceful demonstration by the youth of Al Baida,” leaving “at least four dead and several injured,” according to Libya Watch.
Videos circulating on the Internet showed dozens of young Libyans apparently gathered on Wednesday night in Al Baida chanting, “The people want to bring down the regime,” and a building which had been set on fire.
Rights group Amnesty International denounced the use of excessive force.
In Tripoli, the situation was calm on Thursday. A pro-regime rally was organised in Green Square, near the capital’s waterfront, with students being bused in to take part.
Traffic was lighter than usual and the security presence on main roads slightly boosted, after text messages went out on Libya’s mobile telephone network on Wednesday warning against street protests.
The messages, circulated from “the youth of Libya,” warned against crossing “four red lines: Muammar Gaddafi, territorial integrity, Islam and internal security.”
“We will confront anyone in any square or avenue of our beloved country,” the messages read.
The Revolutionary Committees, the backbone of Gaddafi’s regime, have warned they would not allow anti-regime protesters to “plunder the achievements of the people and threaten the safety of citizens and the country’s stability.”
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