Libya protests: 'foreign mercenaries using heavy weapons against demonstrators'

As the violence in the Arab dictatorship continued, a regional medical coordinator in the eastern city of Benghazi said bodies were piling up in hospitals.

"We must be talking at least 150 dead since the start of the demonstrations last week, with many more seriously injured," he said.

"Tanks and helicopter gunships full of foreign mercenaries are fighting gangs of demonstrators. At least one dead man had been hit by an anti-aircraft missile, while other bodies are riddled with heavy machine gun fire."

Fighting has also broken out in the cities of Al-Bayda, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Darnah, with eye-witnesses reporting Molotov cocktails, rifles and even antique Arabic sabres being used by demonstrators.

Protestors in Ajdabiya even claimed that it was now a "a Free City" after the HQ of Gaddafi's Revolutionary Committee was burned down on Friday, along with 14 other buildings.

There were also reports of bystanders, including women and children, leaping to their deaths from high bridges as they tried to escape battle-hardened mercenaries from neighbouring countries like Chad.

Meanwhile, the government in Tripoli has shut down a range of media, including internet providers, social networking sites and the signals of western news channels.

Facebook and the website of Al-Jazeera, the international Arab TV network, were among the first to go, with journalists were also being refused entry into the country.

Click to read more...