Libia, scontri a Bengasi

La Libia. Censura sui media libici ma è iniziata la protesta anche in Libia: a  Bengasi, seconda città del paese, centinaia di manifestanti in strada. Quattordici feriti. Gli scontri nel distretto Sabri, soprattutto di notte. Tutto è iniziato per l’arresto dell’avvocato Fethi Tarbel che poi è stato liberato. Per giovedì previste manifestazioni. Su Facebook un gruppo che si chiama Révolte du 17 février 2011: pour en faire une journée de colère en Libye, Gli articoli dell’israeliano Haaretz e di Libération del 16.2.2011:

Libya protesters take to the streets in latest sign of Arab world unrest

Hundreds demonstrate in Libya’s second largest city, Benghazi, calling for Prime Minister al-Mahmoudi’s resignation; official state media makes no mention of anti-government demonstrations.

By News Agencies

<fb:like action=”recommend” font=”verdana” style=”position: relative; display: inline-block; “> Hundreds of Libyan protesters took to the streets of the country’s second largest city on Wednesday demanding that the government be ousted, in a sign that the unrest of the region has spread to the North African Arab nation.

Protesters in the port city of Benghazi chanted slogans demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi, witnesses said, clashing with government supporters.

There were no calls for longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi to step down. On Monday, however, several opposition groups in exile called for the overthrow of Gadhafi and for a peaceful transition of power in Libya.

As in the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, Libyans are using social networking websites like Facebook in calling for a nation-wide day of protests on Thursday.

Libya’s official news agency made no mention of the anti-government protests on Wednesday, saying only that supporters of Gadhafi were demonstrating in the capital, in Benghazi and in other cities.

But the online edition of Libya’s privately-owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, reported that a crowd of people angry at the arrest of a rights campaigner had gathered armed with petrol bombs and stones.

It said they protested outside a local government office to demand the release of the human rights activist, and then went to the city’s Shajara square where they clashed with police and government supporters.

The rioting ended by morning, said the website, and government supporters had taken over the square. Fourteen people were reportedly wounded, including 10 police officers, but none of the injuries were serious.

A Benghazi resident contacted by Reuters said the people involved in the clashes were relatives of inmates in Tripoli’s Abu Salim jail, where militant Islamists and government opponents have traditionally been held.

“Last night was a bad night,” said the witness, who did not want to be identified

“There were about 500 or 600 people involved. They went to the revolutionary committee [local government headquarters] in Sabri district, and they tried to go to the central revolutionary committee … They threw stones,” he said. “It is calm now.”

Meanwhile, a local rights activist told Reuters a few hours after the protests that the government had agreed to free 110 prisoners jailed for membership of banned militant organization the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.

The prisoners are the last members of the group still being held and will be set free from Tripoli’s Abu Salim jail, chairman of the Libya Human Rights Association Mohamed Ternish told Reuters.

Hundreds of alleged members of the group have been freed from jail after it renounced violence last year.

While making no mention of the opposition protesters, Libyan state television showed footage Wednesday of a rally in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, of government supporters

Participants chanted slogans accusing Qatar-based television news channel Al Jazeera – which was instrumental in revolts in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt – of broadcasting l

Quatorze blessés en Libye lors de manifestations

Des affrontements à Benghazi ont opposé les forces de l’ordre et des manifestants «saboteurs», selon un journal libyen.

Quatorze personnes ont été blessées mardi dans des affrontements à Benghazi en Libye entre des manifestants «saboteurs» et les forces de l’ordre, a rapporté mercredi un journal libyen.

Citant le directeur de l’hôpital, le journal Quryna a affirmé que parmi les blessés figuraient «trois saboteurs et 10 membres des forces de l’ordre»sans donner de précision sur le quatorzième blessé.

«Aucun d’eux n’a été grièvement touché», a-t-il ajouté.

Les forces de l’ordre étaient intervenues, selon le journal, pour mettre fin à des affrontements entre des partisans du leader libyen Mouammar Kadhafi et des «saboteurs» parmi des manifestants qui s’étaient rassemblés pour réclamer la libération d’un avocat représentant des familles de prisonniers tués en 1996 dans une fusillade dans la prison d’Abou Salim à Tripoli.

Des sources concordantes avaient auparavant indiqué que la police libyenne avait dispersé par la force dans la nuit de mardi à mercredi un sit-in contre le pouvoir à Benghazi, deuxième ville du pays, à 1.000 km à l’est de Tripoli.

Peu après des centaines de partisans du dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi ont défilé dans plusieurs villes du pays, a-t-on indiqué de même sources.

Ces manifestations interviennent avant une «journée de colère» libyenne prévue jeudi, selon des appels lancés sur Facebook.

Sous le slogan «Révolte du 17 février 2011: pour en faire une journée de colère en Libye», un groupe Facebook, qui appelle à un soulèvement contre le régime de Mouammar Kadhafi, est passé de 4.400 membres lundi, à 9.600 mercredi matin.

Mardi, des membres des familles de prisonniers dans la prison d’Abou Salim se sont rassemblés devant un poste de police pour réclamer la libération de leur coordinateur, l’avocat Fethi Tarbel, selon le journal en ligne Al-Manara.

Me Tarbel, dont les motifs de l’arrestation sont inconnus, a été libéré sous la pression des familles, selon le site du journal Quryna, proche de Seif Al-Islam, fils du colonel Kadhafi.

(So