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Journalism of Courage
Clashes erupted in Tripoli on Friday as security forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi used gunfire to try to disperse thousands of protesters who streamed out of mosques after prayers to mount their first major challenge to the governments crackdown in the capital.
As protesters attempted to march through the city,they were confronted with sometimes indiscriminate gunfire,and at least several people were reported wounded and killed,witnesses told news services and the opposition reported on websites.
Rebel leaders said they were sending forces from nearby cities and other parts of the country to join the fight. The renewed violence came even as the government prepared to open Tripoli for the first time to foreign journalists to demonstrate what Colonel Gaddafi and his sons had described as a return normal life there.
As the day progressed,reports of varying credibility from Libyan exiles and residents of tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets of Tripoli and even of Libyan army units joining them competed with another seemingly surreal appearance by Colonel Gaddafi on Libyan state television. It was impossible to know if it was live or pre-recorded.
It showed Colonel Gaddafi at what was supposed to be dusk on Friday speaking from a parapet overlooking the capitals central Green Square and addressing a large crow not of protesters but supporters. This is the formidable,invincible force of youth, he said. Life without dignity is useless. Life without green banners hoisted is useless,it is the life of pride,unity,and dignity,the green flag flying and hoisted.
Before prayers had even begun,security personnel deployed around mosques to prevent demonstrations,witnesses said. In their sermons,prayer leaders followed a text that had been imposed by the authorities calling for a return to stability and an end to sedition and acts of sabotage, worshipers quoted by news services said. The situation is chaotic in parts of Tripoli now, one resident told The Associated Press earlier in the day.
The series of determined stands by rebel forces especially in the strategic city of Zawiyah,near important oil resources and 30 miles from the capital,Tripoli presented the gravest threat yet to the Libyan leader. In Zawiyah,more than 100 people were killed.
As the crackdown continued,Anders Fogh Rasmussen,the NATO secretary general,said he had called an emergency meeting for Friday afternoon in Brussels. In New York,the United Nations Security Council was scheduled to meet Friday afternoon to discuss a proposal backed by France and Britain for sanctions against Libyan leaders.KAREEM FAHIM &
DAVID D KIRKPATRICK
