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This is an archive article published on February 21, 2011

Libya’s ambassador to India,senior diplomat to China resign to protest violence

Gaddafi's son warns country would face bloody civil war if protesters don't accept reform offers.

Libya’s ambassador to India and a senior Libyan diplomat to China have resigned in protest at their government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators calling for the ouster of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,news agencies reported today.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC),on its Arabic service website,said Ambassador to India,Ali al-Essawi,has also accused the government of deploying foreign mercenaries against the protesters. The BBC confirmed to Reuters it had spoken to Essawi.

There was no immediate comment from the Libyan embassy in New Delhi.

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Meanwhile,a senior Libyan diplomat posted in China has resigned and called on the Army to intervene in the bloody uprising against leader Muammar Gaddafi,the Al-Jazeera news network reported today.

The diplomat,Hussein Sadiq al Musrati,stepped down in an on-air interview with Al-Jazeera and “called on all diplomatic staff to resign”,the Qatar-based satellite television channel reported on its website.

The official also said Gaddafi “may have left Libya” and that there had been a “gunfight” between his sons,the network added,while noting it was unable to confirm those statements.

Musrati is listed as the second secretary in the Libyan mission to Beijing. Embassy staff told AFP on Monday that officials were not available for comment on the report.

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Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi warned Monday that the country was facing a bloody civil war if protesters refuse to accept reform offers,in a speech broadcast as gunfire rang out in the capital.

“Libya is at crossroads. If we do not agree today on reforms,we will not be mourning 84 people,but thousands of deaths,and rivers of blood will run through Libya,” he said.

Rights watchdogs have said hundreds are feared dead in a military offensive to crush the uprising against Kadhafi’s 41-year iron rule.

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