Libyan Protest Tops 200

Posted on Feb 19, 2011

AP / Evan Vucci

Demonstrators gather near the White House in Washington on Saturday in a show of solidarity with the Libyan protesters.

The death toll in protests against the four-decade-plus rule of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya is now more than 200 people, with 900 injured amid warnings from government media that anyone opposing the regime risked “suicide.” —JCL

Update: BBC reports that the death toll now exceeds 200. (The above text has been updated with this information).

The Guardian:

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is confronting the most serious challenge to his 42-year rule as leader of Libya by unleashing his army on unarmed protesters.

Unlike the rulers of neighbouring Egypt, Gaddafi has refused to countenance the politics of disobedience, despite growing international condemnation, and the death toll of demonstrators nearing 100.

The pro-government Al-Zahf al-Akhdar newspaper warned that the government would “violently and thunderously respond” to the protests, and said those opposing the regime risked “suicide”.

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