Libya premier denounces ‘terrorists’ as fighting rages

Crackdown in Libya is shaping up to be the most brutal repression of anti-govt protests that began in Tunisia and Egypt.

Libya’s premier denounced a plot to turn his country into a terrorist base,as anti-regime protests reached the capital and world powers denounced an iron-fisted crackdown said to have cost hundreds of lives.

As the death toll continued to rise,world leaders stepped up their pressure over strongman Moammar Gaddafi’s response to the unprecedented challenge to his four-decade rule of the oil-rich North African country.

State television announced that Gaddafi’s son,Seif al-Islam,would address the nation. The 68-year-old Gaddafi has himself made no public comment since violence erupted on Tuesday.

Story continues below this ad

In what was the first high-level public reaction to six days of bloody protests,Prime Minister Baghdadi Mahmudi told EU ambassadors in Tripoli,without elaborating,that there are “very precise plans,destructive and terrorist,that want Libya to become a base for terrorism.”

He said Libya has the “right to take all measures to preserve its unity,stability and people,and to assure the protection of its riches and preserve its relations with other countries,” state news agency Jana reported.

Mahmudi also lashed out at “foreign news media,” whose reports he said were a “mixture,without distinction,of reality and lies.”

But in a significant crack in the regime’s public face,Libya’s envoy to the Arab League announced he was “joining the revolution.”

Story continues below this ad

“I have submitted my resignation in protest against the acts of repression and violence against demonstrators (in Libya) and I am joining the ranks of the revolution,” Abdel Moneim al-Honi said.

Ironically,Libya currently holds the rotating presidency of the 22-member Arab League.

While Mahmudi gave no details to support his claims,an official said on Sunday that security forces had foiled an attempt by saboteurs to set fire to oil wells at the Sarir field.

He said six Libyans had been arrested and that the “gang received its weapons from outside Libya and got its instructions through the Internet.”