* Obama, world leaders condemn violence, seek
response
*
Libya divided as east celebrates, capital seems calm
* Foreigners in difficulty,
oil prices push up
By Alexander Dziadosz
BENGHAZI,
Libya, Feb 24 (Reuters) - World leaders condemned
Mummar Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on a revolt that has split
Libya, but took little action to halt the bloodshed from the
latest upheaval reshaping the Arab world.
U.S.
President Barack Obama made his first public comments,
condemning as "outrageous" and "unacceptable" attacks on
protesters that have killed hundreds in 10 days and helped drive
oil prices to levels that threaten global economic recovery.
Yet, there seemed little cohesion and urgency in a global
response, even as
Washington and
Brussels spoke of possible
sanctions against a man whose 41 years in power have been marked
by idiosyncratic defiance of the West.
"It is imperative that the nations and peoples of the world
speak with one voice," Obama said. "The suffering and bloodshed
is outrageous."
The
oil exports which Gaddafi used to help end his isolation
in the past decade have given him means to resist the fate of
his immediate neighbours, the presidents of
Tunisia and
Egypt,
who were brought down by popular unrest in the past few weeks.
As many as 1,000 people may have been killed in
Libya, the
Italian
foreign minister said. Unconfirmed reports speak of
troops and African mercenaries firing on demonstrators in the
desert nation pumping nearly two percent of world
oil output.
Gaddafi's defiance has been backed by deeds, with the
deployment of aircraft on bombing runs.
Yet eastern areas where much of the
oil is concentrated,
have slipped from his control and with security forces defecting
to join the protesters, it was unclear just how long Gaddafi
could hang onto power.
In cities like
Benghazi and Tobruk, troops and police have
either withdrawn or have joined with diffuse and disparate
opposition groups to start providing some order and services.
That wave may have reached as far west as Misrata, a city
some 200 km (120 miles) east of
Tripoli where a statement which
purported to be from lawyers and judges said "honest" military
officers had helped remove agents of the "oppressive regime".
In
Tripoli, which remains largely closed to
foreign media,
locals said streets were calm after days of sporadic violence
but fear gripped people's households.
"I haven't heard gun shots, unlike in the last few days,"
said one resident living close to
Green Square in the city
centre which is a focus for gatherings.
Marwan Mohammed, a Tunisian crossing the border home after
leaving
Tripoli, said: "Lots of people are afraid to leave their
homes in
Tripoli and pro-Gaddafi gunmen are roaming around
threatening any people who gather in groups."
Oil wealth has made
Libya an important investor in Western
economies, as well as the sponsor of a host of projects in
Africa and elsewhere, winning Gaddafi potential allies in forums
like the
United Nations.
Differences among world powers over how to proceed, some
driven by concern not to jeopardise the safety of foreigners
caught up in the trouble, appear to limit prospects for
immediate international action.
The
Security Council agreed a statement on Tuesday calling
for an end to violence. But diplomats said a formal resolution
requiring U.N. action was not immediately likely.
France and
Germany have pushed EU states to consider
sanctions and have won agreement to look into the matter. Some
governments, including
Italy, warn of economic problems if
oil
and gas supplies are disrupted.
BENGHAZI REJOICES
Gaddafi, who has ruled
Libya with a mixture of populism and
tight control since taking power in a military coup in 1969, has
promised to "cleanse
Libya house by house" to crush the revolt.
He has deployed troops to the west of the capital to stop
the revolt that started in the east from spreading. In the east,
many soldiers have withdrawn from active service.
In
Benghazi, cradle of the uprising and home to tribes long
hostile to Gaddafi, thousands filled the streets, lighting
fireworks and waving the red, black and green flag of the
king
Colonel Gaddafi overthrew in 1969.
"We have been suffering for 41 years," said 45-year-old
Hamida Muftah. "Gaddafi has killed people ... We are a very rich
country, but most of the people are poorer than poor".
A
medical official said some 320 had died in
Benghazi alone
since protests against oppression and poverty began last week.
Libya's Quryna newspaper quoted a military source as saying
a bomber crew bailed out and left their aircraft to crash rather
than bomb
Benghazi. Earlier in the week, two pilots flew their
jets to
Malta to avoid, they said, attacking their own people.
The newspaper said rebels in
Benghazi started their own
publication with the slogan "We don't surrender, we either win
or die" -- the last words of anti-Italian
independence leader
Omar al-Mukhtar before his execution by the Italian authorities.
Gaddafi's children have spoken up in his defence and accused
foreign media of misreporting the week's events in
Libya.
"Libyans are the victims of the biggest joke," his son Saif
al-Islam told state TV. Gaddafi's daughter
Aisha appeared on
state television, denying a report she tried to flee to
Malta.
An estimated 1.5 million foreign nationals are working or
travelling in
Libya and a third of the population of seven
million are immigrants from sub-Saharan
Africa.
Witnesses described scenes of chaos as people tried to
leave. . "It's a Biblical exodus," said Italian
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Countries with strong business ties to
Libya scrambled to
evacuate thousands of citizens. A Turkish worker was shot dead
at a building site near the capital, Turkish officials said.
A British
oil worker said 300 people were stranded at a camp
in the east of
Libya, where he said local people had looted
oil
installations. He told the
BBC: "We are living every day in fear
of our lives as the local people are armed."
(Reporting by
Tarek Amara,
Christian Lowe, Marie-Louise
Gumuchian, Souhail Karam,
Firouz Sedarat,
Tom Pfeiffer; Brian
Love,
Daren Butler;
Dina Zayed,
Sarah Mikhail and
Tom Perry;
writing by
Alastair Macdonald and
Maria Golovnina, Editing by
Miral Fahmy)
