SALON.COM– Violence escalates in Libya. Unconfirmed reports say Gadhafi has fled as protesters march on compound.
UPDATE (2:10 P.M. EST)
Libyan fighter pilots who defected to Malta earlier this morning told
Maltese that they’d been ordered to drop bombs on protesters, the
Guardian reports.
UPDATE (1:10 P.M. EST)
A number of sources are reporting that
Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi may have fled the country as
protesters take hold in the capital city of Tripoli. Reuters reported
that a British foreign minister had seen information suggesting that
Gadhafi was headed to Venuzuela. The government of Hugo Chavez has denied those reports.
Meanwhile, as violence mounts, Ibrahim Dabbashi, the Libyan deputy ambassador to the United Nations, has reportedly said that the Libyan dictator “has declared war on the Libyan people and is committing genocide.”
EARLIER
Al Jazeera reports
that security forces using fighter jets have opened fire on protesters
maching on Libyan President Muammar Gadhafi’s compound in Tripoli. As
phone lines have been cut throughout the country, incoming reports are
largely unconfirmed, and foreign embassies are evacuating their
personnel.
Al Jazeera summed up the events in Libya with an inside report about the regime’s efforts to crush the uprising:
DISTURBING FOOTAGE- Peaceful, unarmed protesters get gunned down by the Libyan army in broad daylight.
Adam Clark Estes blogs the news for Salon. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @adamclarkestes More: Adam Clark Estes
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Photo by flickr user mshamma
Hugo Chavez is an ally of Gadhaf. Condem Chavez he is evil.