Africa, Libya Protest | featured news

Hundreds of demonstrators call for Moammar Kadafi's downfall in Tripoli but are quickly dispersed by security forces. Rebels continue to hold nearby Zawiya after an assault organized by one of the embattled leader's sons.

If the U.S. military is hesitant to enact a no-fly zone over Libya, the Army is capable of giving the opposition the capacity to use anti-aircraft defenses themselves, Sen. Joe Lieberman suggested Thursday.

The Libyan government has accepted a Venezuelan plan that seeks a negotiated solution to the uprising in the North African country, a spokesman for President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday.

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The US defence department says it is repositioning some of its forces around Libya as Western nations consider options for possible intervention against Muammar Gaddafi's regime.

 Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi opened fire Friday on protesters streaming out of mosques and marching across the Libyan capital to demand the regime's ouster, witnesses said, reporting multiple deaths. In rebellious cities in the east, tens of thousands held rallies in support of the first Tripoli protests in days.

Opponents of Libyan strongman Moammar Kadafi pressed their battles for control of major cities to the east and west of the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday, drawing gunfire from government troops as they fought in the town of Zawiya.

Moammar Gaddafi, Libya's strongman ruler, is commonly portrayed as an egomaniacal buffoon - an autocrat with an affinity for incomprehensible speeches and a flair for the melodramatic.

Stocks fell sharply and oil prices spiked to their highest level in two years on Tuesday as investors worried about the increasingly violent unrest in Libya.

Blames foreign influences for revolt as top officials resign to protest government attacks on civilians; opposition seizes control in some areas.

Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro says it's too early to criticize Libya's government - but just the moment to denounce something says is planned: A U.S.-led invasion of the North African nation.