Courtesy of Bryan Suits :
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1...amid-crackdown
Unprecedented challenge to Gaddafi amid crackdown
21 February 2011 | 09:29:41 AM
Source: SBS Staff and agencies
Libya's prime minister has said there is a plot to turn his country into a terrorist base, as anti-regime protests reached the capital and world powers denounced an iron-fisted crackdown said to have cost hundreds of lives.
Amid rumours of his departure, the challenge to Libyan leader Gaddafi was mounting with reports on Twitter, which Al Jazeera said in a live bloghad been backed up by witnesses, that anti-government protesters were effectively in control of the city of Benghazi.
Reports said that pro-Gaddafi militia in the city were 'being butchered.'
The news came amid unconfirmed reports on the network that troops were joining in the protests in the city.
And in another significant crack in the regime's public face, Libya's envoy to the Arab League announced he was "joining the revolution", AFP reported.
"I have submitted my resignation in protest against the acts of repression and violence against demonstrators (in Libya) and I am joining the ranks of the revolution," Abdel Moneim al-Honi said.
Ironically, Libya currently holds the rotating presidency of the 22-member Arab League.
The network also reported that the Libyan ambassador to China had resigned live on air....
And another official told AFP that Islamist gunmen had stormed a military depot and the nearby port of Derna on Wednesday and Friday and seized weapons and vehicles after killing four soldiers.
They also took hostages, both soldiers and civilians, and were "threatening to execute them unless a siege by security forces is lifted" in nearby Al-Baida.
With most of this week's violence concentrated in the east of the country, unrest hit the capital itself on Sunday night, one resident told AFP....
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http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226009267520
Libyan PM Gaddafi may have fled country, says Al Jazeera, citing unconfirmed reports
By staff writers From: news.com.au
February 21, 2011 9:51AM
LIBYA'S ambassador to China, Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, says Muammar Gaddafi may have left Libya.
Al Jazeera says Libya's ambassador to China, Hussein Sadiq al Musrati, resigned on air with Al Jazeera Arabic.
He reportedly called on the army to intervene, and has called all diplomatic staff to resign, the site said.
He said a gunfight between Mr Gaddafi's sons occurred and also claimed that Mr Gaddafi may have left Libya.
Al Jazeera has no confirmation of these claims.
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