Gaddafi Stifles Protests - Updated



Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
It appears Gaddafi is strongly resisting protest efforts.

With several hundred protesters clashing with police and Gaddafi supporters Wednesday in the city of Benghazi, Amnesty International voiced concern about a new crackdown.

Thursday, clashes between security forces and protesters broke out in Beyida killing four people, opposition website Libya Al-Youm has said. And according to AP, hundreds of people marched through the streets of Zentan, setting fire to security headquarters and a police station. In anticipation of a Tunisia-Egypt-like protest in Libya, Gaddafi argued that Libya does not need to import Western concepts of democracy. The North African leader believes that Libya is safer under his Third Universal Theory system- which entails a concept were citizens govern themselves through grassroots institutions called popular committees.

Amid observations from analysts indicating that an Egypt-style revolt is improbable in Libya because the Gaddafi regime is capable of solving these social problems with its bulky oil revenues, Libyan state television has been broadcasting images of pro-government rallies in cities across the country and whilst completely ignoring the protests.

It's not clear what exactly is going on in the streets.

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Gaddafi Warns Opponents
[Previous 2/12/11 post]
On the heels of turmoil in Tunisia and Egypt, the National Conference for the Libyan Opposition(NCLO) have scheduled a mass "Day of Rage" on February 17 to protest against Libyan Leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his regime.

In response, Gaddafi issued unprecedented warnings of dire consequences.

In the last few days, Gaddafi privately met with Libyan political activists, journalists, and media figures and he issued severe warnings that these professions would be held responsible should they participate in any way in disturbing the peace or creating chaos in Libya.

This was a source of frustration to those who attended these meetings and who had expected Gaddafi to inform them of his intention to carry out important political and economic reforms.

The opposition "Libya Al-Youm" website that is based in London quoted eye-witnesses who attended these meetings with Gaddafi, reporting that Gaddafi addressed the audience (the majority of whom were from cities in eastern Libya) in a tone of warning against the consequences of participating in any potential disturbances.[…]

Libyan activists have claimed that the Libyan intelligence service has been carrying out a large-scale campaign to shut down Libyan websites based outside of the country due to their ongoing coverage of the situation in Libya.

Fasten your seat belts, readers, the North African roller-coaster continues.