Reuters – Mourners carry coffins containing the bodies of Libyans who were killed in the recent clashes in Benghazi …BENGHAZI, Libya – Militias loyal to Moammar Gadhafi opened fire Friday trying to break up marches by regime opponents defying a fierce clampdown to hold their first major protest in the Libyan capital Tripoli in days. Across rebellious cities in the east, tens of thousands held rallies in support of the Tripoli protesters.
Protesters chanting for Gadhafi's ouster streamed out of mosques near downtown Tripoli's Green Square and other districts after prayers, and they were confronted by troops and militiamen who opened fire, said several witnesses. Gunmen on rooftops in streets near the square shot down on marchers, they said.
One witness reported seeing three protesters killed in the Souq al-Jomaa area near the square, and another reported a fourth death in another district, Fashloum. The reports could not be immediately confirmed.
"There are all kind of bullets," said one protester near the Souq al-Jomaa, screaming in a telephone call to The Associated Press, with the rattle of shots audible in the background.
"The situation is chaotic in parts of Tripoli now," said another witness, who was among marchers in adjacent Algeria Square and said he saw militiamen firing in the air. Armed Gadhafi supporters were also speeding through some streets in vehicles, he said. Residents hiding in their homes also reported the sound of gunfire in other parts of the capital.
The call for regime opponents march from mosques after prayers was the first attempt to hold a major anti-Gadhafi rally in the capital since militiamen launched a bloody crackdown on marchers early in the week that left dozens dead. SMS messages were sent around urging, "Let us make this Friday the Friday of liberation," residents said. The residents and witnesses all spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Gadhafi loyalists have clamped down hard in Tripoli, the center of the eroding territory that the Libyan leader's regime still controls. The uprising that began Feb. 15 has swept over nearly the entire eastern half of the country, breaking cities there out of his regime's hold.
Even in the pocket of northwestern Libya around Tripoli, several cities have also fallen into the hands of the rebellion. Militiamen and Gadhafi forces on Thursday were repelled in trying to take back opposition-held territory in the cities of Zawiya and Misrata, near the capital, in fighting that killed at least 30 people.
Click image to see photos of protests in Libya
AFP/Jewel Samad
Starting Friday morning in Tripoli, pro-Gadhafi militiamen set up heavy security around many mosques in the city, trying to prevent any opposition gatherings. Armed young men with green armbands to show their support of Gadhafi set up checkpoints on many streets, stopping cars and searching them. Tanks and checkpoints lined the road to Tripoli's airport, witnesses said.
Thousands of protesters marched after prayers in Tajoura, a crowded impoverished district on the eastern side of the capital. One participant said they intended to head to Green Square downtown. The district has been the scene of clashes on previous nights, and at one point residents raised the old pre-Gadhafi flag of Libya's monarchy in the streets, the symbol of the uprising against the Libyan leader.
Tripoli, home to nearly a third of Libya's 6 million people, is the center of the territory that remains under Gadhafi's control
Several tens of thousands held a rally in support of the Tripoli protesters in the main square of Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi, where the revolt began and which is now part of the opposition-held territory in the east.
Muslim cleric Sameh Jaber led the prayers in the squares, telling worshippers that Libyans "have revolted against injustice."
"God take revenge from Moammar Gadhafi because of what he did to the Libyan people," the cleric, wearing traditional Libyan white uniform and a red cap, said in remarks carried by AL-Jazeera TV. "God accept our martyrs and make their mothers, fathers and families patient."
Signaling continued defiance, Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, vowed his family will "live and die in Libya," according an excerpt from an interview to be aired later Friday on CNNTurk.
Asked about alternatives in the face of growing unrest, Gadhafi said: "Plan A is to live and die in Libya, Plan B is to live and die in Libya, Plan C is to live and die in Libya.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch has put the death toll in Libya at nearly 300, according to a partial count. Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said estimates of some 1,000 people killed were "credible."
Slideshow:Anti-government protests in Libya 
Play Video Video:Evidence of clashes at Benghazi airport AFP 
Play Video Video:Thousands evacuated from Libya Reuters_____
Mroue reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sarah El Deeb and Ben Hubbard in Cairo contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110225/ap_on_re_af/af_libya
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