Opposition says over 560 killed in Libya protests (2nd Lead)

[maddezmom]

Source: M&C

Cairo/Tripoli - More than 560 people have been killed in Libya since the unrest began, according to estimates by the opposition. About 1,400 people were still missing, broadcaster Al Arabiya reported Tuesday.

An unconfirmed number of bodies of people killed in the protests in Janzour, a town on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli, were lying on the streets Tuesday, an opposition news website reported.

The Libya al-Youm website reported that armed men were preventing people from leaving Janzour.

However, the mood in Benghazi, which saw some of the worst bloodshed of the Libyan uprising, was calmer Tuesday. But protests continued as hundreds slept outside the city's central courthouse overnight, a resident told the German Press Agency dpa by telephone.



Read more: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/africa/news/article_1621117.php/Opposition-says-over-560-killed-in-Libya-protests-2nd-Lead

[maddezmom]

1. 'African mercenaries' helping Gaddafi

Stockholm - "African mercenaries" have been brought in to Libya and are shooting at anyone who tries to go outside, exiled Libyans in Sweden said Tuesday, quoting witnesses back home.

"They are African mercenaries bought by Gaddafi. They come from Chad and Nigeria among other places," Shaban Egale, 50, tells AFP, pointing out that "many Libyan soldiers have taken the side of the demonstrators".

"Those who are shooting are elite soldiers and mercenaries," insists Egale, one of around 50 people braving a snowstorm in central Stockholm to protest the violence in Libya during the past week of demonstrations against Moamer Kadhafi's four-decade rule.


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"I spoke for a few minutes on the phone with my cousin Yacine in Tripoli this morning. He told me that if people went outside, mercenaries shot at them," says Joe Twaeih, a 37-year-old Libyan refugee who has been living in Stockholm for nine years.

"They are not Libyans. He knows that because he heard the soldiers speaking French together," he told AFP as the demonstrators shouted "Down with the dictator!" and "Gaddafi, murderer!" at Sergels Torg in the heart of Stockholm.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/African-mercenaries-helping-Gaddafi-20110222