Libyan protest triggers increase in oil prices

CAIRO (AP):

Deep cracks opened in Moammar Gadhafi's regime yesterday, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a major government building ablaze after clashes in the capital of Tripoli.

Protesters called for another night of defiance against the Arab world's longest-serving leader despite a heavy crackdown.

Security forces appeared to be preparing a major assault in Tripoli to try to crush unrest that has swept eastern parts of the country, leaving the second-largest city of Benghazi in protesters' control, and was now overwhelming the capital of 2 million people.

At nightfall, state TV announced that the military had "stormed the hideouts of saboteurs" and urged the public to back security forces, while protesters called for a new demonstration in Tripoli's central Green Square and in front of Gadhafi's residence.

Military warplanes swooped low over the city in the evening, and snipers took up position on roofs around Tripoli, apparently to stop people from outside the capital from joining the march, according to Mohammed Abdul-Malek, a London-based opposition activist in touch with residents.

Communications cut

Communications to the capital appeared to have been cut, and residents' mobile phones could not be reached from outside the country. State TV showed video of hundreds of Gadhafi supporters rallying in Green Square, waving palm fronds and pictures of the Libyan leader.

Tripoli was largely shut down yesterday, with schools, government offices and most stores closed, except for a few bakeries, said residents, who hunkered down in their homes. Armed members of pro-government organisations called Revolutionary Committees hunted for protesters in Tripoli's old city, said one protester named Fathi.

The eruption of turmoil in the capital after seven days of protests and bloody clashes in Libya's eastern cities sharply escalated the challenge to Gadhafi. His security forces have unleashed the bloodiest crackdown of any Arab country against the wave of protests sweeping the region, which toppled the leaders of Egypt and Tunisia. At least 233 people have been killed so far, according to New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The chaos in Libya, an OPEC country that is a significant oil supplier to Europe, raised international alarm. Oil prices jumped $1.67 to nearly $88 a barrel yesterday amid investor concern. European nations were eying an evacuation of their citizens.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, visiting neighbouring Egypt, called the Libyan government's crackdown "appalling".