Libya: Protests Against Gaddafi Start Ahead of Schedule

This post is part of Global Voices special coverage on Libya Uprising 2011.

Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has been ruling Libya for more than four decades. According to Wikipedia, he is the longest serving of all current non-royal national leaders in the world. Hoping to emulate recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, Libyan pro-democracy activist have been calling for protests against the 41-year-old autocratic rule of Gaddafi. They set February 17 as a “Day of Rage”, using social networking websites to convince millions to take to the streets and peacefully call for change. But it seems that Libyans are too eager to voice their rage and anger at their leader as many decided to demonstrate today.

In the city of Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, protesters gathered in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the “corrupt rulers of the country.” The response of the authorities was reportedly heavy handed.

This video, posted on YouTube by enoughgaddafi is from Benghazi:

Another video from the same demonstration in Benghazi by enoughgaddafi:

This post is part of Global Voices special coverage on Libya Uprising 2011.

4 comments

  • […] Libya: Protests Against Gaddafi Start Ahead of Schedule (globalvoicesonline.org) […]

  • Linda

    The people are being used so the greedy can move in and make North Africa oil sands just like they are doing in Canada. Better to stick together and not ruin your own property. Think of how much time and money goes into building. Think of the lives that have stood for so long. These protests are a distracton to bring you all down. Wake Up!

  • […] Libyans have been protesting for five days, since February , against President Gaddafi and his government. Protests began with demonstrations against what protesters described as the country's corrupt rulers. […]

  • […] Libyans have been protesting for five days, since February , against President Gaddafi and his government. Protests began with demonstrations against what protesters described as the country's corrupt rulers. […]

Join the conversation

Authors, please log in »

Guidelines

  • All comments are reviewed by a moderator. Do not submit your comment more than once or it may be identified as spam.
  • Please treat others with respect. Comments containing hate speech, obscenity, and personal attacks will not be approved.

Receive great stories from around the world directly in your inbox.

Sign up to receive the best of Global Voices!

Submitted addresses will be confirmed by email, and used only to keep you up to date about Global Voices and our mission. See our Privacy Policy for details.

Newsletter powered by Mailchimp (Privacy Policy and Terms).

* = required field
Email Frequency



No thanks, show me the site