Riots break out in Libyan city as regional unrest deepens

Crowds armed with petrol bombs and rocks clashed with police and government supporters overnight in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi in a rare show of unrest in the oil exporting country.

According to local media reports and witnesses, protesters gathered outside a government office demanding the release of a human rights activist. The crowd then marched to the city’s Shajara square where the clashes began.

Libya has been tightly controlled by leader Muammar Gaddafi for over 40 years but has also felt the ripples from popular revolts in its neighbours Egypt and Tunisia.

The online edition of privately-owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Libya’s second largest city of Benghazi, said rioting was now over and that government supporters had taken over the square, although tensions have remained high.

Fourteen people were injured including ten police officers, although none of the injuries are reported to be serious.

The clashes came ahead of a “Day of Rage” planned by demonstrators on Thursday.

Rallies across Libya

Witnesses 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,” he said.

Libyan state television said separately that rallies were being held across the oil exporting country on Wednesday in support of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Libyan state television showed footage 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 neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt – of broadcasting lies.

Bahrain protests continue

Meanwhile in Bahrain, over a thousand protesters, also inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, poured into the capital to mourn a second demonstrator killed in clashes this week.

Demonstrators gathered at a funeral procession for a man shot dead when police and mourners clashed at an earlier funeral procession on Tuesday.

“The people demand the fall of the regime!” protesters chanted, with the men pounding their chests, a Shi’ite symbol of sacrifice and anguish.

The two deaths have emboldened protests in Bahrain, a small oil producing island off Saudi Arabia where a Sunni king rules a Shi’ite majority who complain of discrimination and poverty.

Protestors appear to be calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa rather than King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, who has the final say in politics.

Sheikh Khalifa, the king’s uncle, has governed the Gulf Arab state since its independence in 1971 and is seen as being mostly concerned with keeping the ruling family’s grip on politics and the economy.

“We are requesting our rights in a peaceful way,” said Bakr Akil, a 20-year-old university student, wearing a sheet stained with red ink that he said was a symbol of his willingness to sacrifice his life for freedom.

“I am optimistic that our big presence will achieve our demands,” Akil said.

Women dressed in black abaya cloaks followed the procession with their own chants calling for peace and Bahraini unity.

Internet ‘slow’

Elsewhere in Bahrain capital Manama, witnesses said about 2,000 protestors had spent the night in tents at Bahrain’s Pearl Roundabout, similar to the number marching on the streets a day earlier.

A number of protesters posted videos of the gathering on the internet. Users in Bahrain complained of an unusually slow web connection leading to speculation of censorship and alleged intervention by the authorities. Live streaming website Bambuser said a number of users appear to have their profiles blocked in Bahrain.

The demonstrators from Bahrain’s Shi’ite majority say the ruling Sunni minority shuts them out of housing, healthcare and government jobs.

The main Shi’ite opposition bloc Wefaq, which boycotted parliament to protest the clampdown by Sunni security forces, said it would hold talks with the government on Wednesday.

Iran clashes

In Iran state television reported clashes breaking out between pro and anti-government supporters in Tehran on Wednesday.

On Tuesday tear gas and rubber bullets were fired to disperse thousands of protesters gathered in the capital.

“Students and the people attending the funeral ceremony of the martyred student Sanee Zhaleh have clashed with a limited number of people apparently linked to the sedition movement and forced them out by chanting slogans of death to hypocrites,” state TV said.

Zhaleh was shot dead during an opposition rally on Monday. The government have blamed anti-government protesters for the death, but opposition websites say the security forces are responsible.