Unrest spread across the Middle East and North Africa on Thursday as Bahrain launched a swift military crackdown on anti-government protesters and bloody clashes were reported in Libya and Yemen. Libyan protesters seeking to oust longtime leader Moammar Gaddafi defied a crackdown and took to the streets in four cities Thursday on what activists have dubbed a “day of rage”, amid reports that at least 20 demonstrators have been killed in clashes with pro-government forces. New York-based Human Rights Watch said Libyan internal security forces also have arrested at least 14 people. Hundreds of pro-government demonstrators also rallied in the capital, Tripoli, blocking traffic in some areas, witnesses said. An opposition website and an anti-Gaddafi activist said unrest broke out during marches in four Libyan cities Thursday. Organizers were using social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to call for nationwide demonstrations. “Today the Libyans broke the barrier or fear, it is a new dawn”, said Faiz Jibril, an opposition leader in exile. Gaddafi’s government has moved quickly to try to stop Libyans from joining the wave of uprisings in the Middle East that have ousted the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. It has proposed the doubling of government employees’ salaries and released 110 suspected militants who oppose him — tactics similar to those adopted by other Arab regimes facing recent mass protests. The official news agency JANA also reported that thousands of Gaddafi’s supporters planned a rally later Thursday in Tripoli as well as demonstrations in other cities to express “eternal unity with the brother leader of the revolution,” as the leader is known.
Witnesses in the capital said many government supporters were raising Libyan flags from their cars and chanting slogans in favour of Gaddafi. They said it was otherwise business as usual in the capital and stores remained open. Protests already have turned violent. Opposition website Libya Al-Youm said four protesters were slain by snipers from the Internal Security Forces in the eastern city of Beyida, which had protests Wednesday and Thursday. It’s not clear when the protesters were killed. The website also said there was a demonstration Thursday in Benghazi, Libya’s second-lLargest city.
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