Angry Libyan protesters attacked the state broadcaster and set government buildings ablaze yesterday as the son of leader Muammar Qaddafi warned the country faces civil war and “rivers of blood.”
With gunfire crackling in the streets of Tripoli and Human Rights Watch putting the death toll at 233 since Thursday, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, 38, vaguely promised reforms as he condemned the revolt as a foreign plot.
The elder and famously mercurial Qaddafi, 68, the longest-serving leader in the Arab world, remained out of sight as a human rights group said several cities were in the hands of the protesters, including Sirte, where he has long received foreign visitors.
“Libya is at a crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms ... rivers of blood will run through Libya,” Saif al-Islam Qaddafi said in a fiery, but rambling televised speech that betrayed a note of desperation within his father’s 41-year regime. “We will take up arms ... we will fight to the last bullet. We will destroy seditious elements. If everybody is armed, it is civil war, we will kill each other ... Libya is not Egypt, it is not Tunisia.”
Within hours of the statement, protesters in Tripoli attacked state broadcast offices and set branches of the People’s Committees that are the mainstay of the regime ablaze overnight, witnesses said yesterday.
“The headquarters of al--Jamahiriya Two television and al-Shababia radio have been sacked,” one witness said by telephone on condition of anonymity.
Broadcasts on both channels were interrupted on Sunday evening, but resumed yesterday morning.
A number of witnesses said protesters had torched public buildings in the capital overnight, including the interior ministry, People’s Committee offices and also police stations.
“Protesters burned and -ransacked the ministry of interior building,” in central Tripoli, one witness said by e-mail.
Earlier, heavy gunfire erupted in central Tripoli and several city areas for the first time since the uprising began in eastern Libya, witnesses and a journalist reported.
“When we heard the unrest was approaching, we stocked up on flour and tomatoes. It’s definitely the end of the regime,” the resident of a suburb east of Tripoli told reporters in Cairo by telephone.
TRAVEL WARNING
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday advised Republic of China citizens to avoid travel to Libya for the time being.
The ministry issued a red travel warning — the highest in its four-color travel advisory system — after large-scale clashes between security forces and demonstrators in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi led to heavy casualties over the weekend and violence spread to urban areas in western Libya.
At the moment, only the surrounding areas of Tripoli remain relatively stable and quiet, the ministry said in a statement.
The Libyan government has cut off cellphone and Internet services, limiting international communications mainly to telephone calls via fixed lines, the ministry said.
Citizens who are already in Libya for business or travel should avoid those areas where the demonstrations are being held and should closely follow the news for reports on the political developments there, the ministry said.
Taiwanese in Libya who encounter problems or need emergency help should contact Taiwan’s representative office in Tripoli, the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the ministry issued a yellow travel alert — its second-lowest level — for the East African state of Djibouti, where a police officer was killed last Friday in clashes between law enforcement officers and anti-government demonstrators.
The yellow-level warning advises tourists to travel with caution and reconsider their itinerary.
Taiwanese citizens on pleasure or business trips in Djibouti should contact Taiwan’s representative office in Saudi Arabia if they need help, the ministry said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF REPORTER AND CNA
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