Libyan city’s security forces switch sides

Zawiya, Libya (CNN) — Anti-government protesters took to the streets Sunday in Libya’s western city of Zawiya — including former security forces who said they have switched sides and joined the opposition.

Some buildings showed signs of damage, including a freshly burnt-out police station.

At least several Libyan cities are now in the control of the opposition, including Zawiya, about 55 kilometers (35 miles) from the capital city of Tripoli.

Leader Moammar Gadhafi’s regime clings to power in Tripoli after weeks of protests.

About 100,000 people have fled violence in Libya in the past week, reports suggest.

The Tunisian government reported Saturday that 40,000 people had crossed its borders since February 20, while Egypt reported 55,000 had crossed over since February 19, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Sunday. The evacuees include Tunisians, Egyptians, Libyans and many from Asian countries.

About 10,000 fled from Libya to Tunisia on Saturday, the Red Crescent said.

“Very large numbers of people amassed in the no man’s land between Libya and Tunisia in extremely cold conditions,” Red Crescent spokesman Joe Lowry told CNN Sunday. “People stood in the queue for six hours with no food, water, or access to sanitation.” The Red Crescent is affiliated with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

At least four people were carried away in stretchers due to crush injuries, and several lost consciousness as a result of the chaos.

“It was very worrying to see women passing their babies in cots over the crowd to keep them from harm,” Lowry said.

Gadhafi has showed no sign of relinquishing his power. On Sunday, the world waited to see whether the threat of sanctions will have any effect on a country where the death toll has reportedly topped 1,000.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Gadhafi “must go.”

“We have here a country descending into civil war with atrocious scenes of killing of protesters and government actually making war on its own people, so of course it is time for Col. Gadhafi to go,” Hague said Sunday, adding that he has revoked the diplomatic immunity in the United Kingdom of Gadhafi and his family.

But Gadhafi’s son, Saif, told CNN’s Nic Robertson Sunday he was confident the regime could survive the unrest and ultimately reunite Libya.

Saif al-Islam Gadhafi — a prominent member of the government — added that he wanted this reunification to be accomplished without violence.

On Saturday night, the United Nations Security Council voted 15-0 on a draft resolution that includes an arms embargo, asset freeze and travel bans for Gadhafi and several of his family members and associates. The draft resolution also refers the situation unfolding in Libya to the International Criminal Court, and Gadhafi and others could face an investigation for potential war crimes.

“This resolution will be a signal (to) put an end to the fascist regime that is still in existence,” said Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, Libyan ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier Saturday, he renounced support for Gadhafi, calling him “a leader who loves nobody but himself.”

But Fouad Ajami, a professor at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, told CNN Friday that Gadhafi survived sanctions before, in the aftermath of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

“The sanctions never worked,” he said. “Anyone with money … can break these sanctions.”

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kasa told CNN’s Nic Robertson on Saturday that possible U.N. sanctions on the country would be hasty.

“It is unjust for the Security Council to rush and make decisions,” Kasa said. “The Security Council should be more responsible to begin with and confirm what’s happening on the ground first. Our door’s wide open to the scenario, and everyone who is interested, we welcome them to come to Libya and see what’s going on.”

Military and security forces loyal to Gadhafi have killed more than 1,000 people, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has estimated.

Hours before the Security Council’s vote Saturday, Libya’s budding opposition picked a former top official as its interim leader.

Libya’s deputy ambassador to the world body, Ibrahim Dabbashi, indicated that he and fellow diplomats “support … in principle” a caretaker administration under the direction of former Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil.

City councils in areas no longer loyal to Gadhafi chose Jalil to head an interim government that would represent all of Libya and ultimately be based in Tripoli, according to Amal Bogagies, a member of the coalition of the February 17 Uprising, and a separate Libyan opposition source. Both are based in Benghazi, the eastern city that is under the control of the opposition.

Jalil was in Gadhafi’s government through Monday, when he quit to protest the “bloody situation” and “use of excessive force” against unarmed protesters, according to Libyan newspaper Quryna.

Days later, he told a Swedish newspaper he had evidence that Gadhafi ordered the 1988 bombing of a jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

Protests began February 15 in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city. At least several other cities are now thought to be under opposition control, according to eyewitnesses. There have been numerous reports of widespread violence — some of it perpetrated by foreign mercenaries and security forces loyal to Gadhafi, and some by protesters.

While CNN has staff in some cities, the network could not independently confirm reports for many areas in Libya. But CNN has compiled information through telephone interviews with witnesses.

In some of his strongest wording to date, U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday, “When a leader’s only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost the legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now.”

Later, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement urging Gadhafi to step down.

“Moammar Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his people, and he should go without further bloodshed and violence,” Clinton said. “The Libyan people deserve a government that is responsive to their aspirations and that protects their universally recognized human rights.”

Frightened residents said they stayed indoors Saturday, though unable to ignore the sound of gunfire or the words of Gadhafi in a public address the day before in which he vowed to keep unleashing force.

“We can destroy any assault with the people’s will, with the armed people,” he said on state television Friday. “And when it is necessary, the weapons depots will be open to all the Libyan people to be armed.”

About 100 people lined up at one bank near Zawiya after hearing they could cash in on government-issued vouchers. Libya’s central bank announced that all banks will start exchanging vouchers worth 500 Libyan dinars ($406) on Sunday, state TV reported. The Libyan government announced every family would receive that amount to help cover increased food costs.

The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders said in a statement Saturday one of its teams was in Benghazi. Their arrival, and a promise of future aid, marked one of the first humanitarian inroads into Libya in recent weeks.

Operations at several embassies — including those of Great Britain and the United States — in Tripoli have been effectively shuttered for the safety of their personnel. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he planned to speak with Obama in Washington on Monday.

For now, Libyans themselves are left to wait to see what happens next.

“We wait and see what tomorrow will bring,” a Tripoli man said Sunday. “We pray for a quick ending to this nightmare, with minimum bloodshed. No one is naive, however, to believe that Gadhafi is going to go easily.”

CNN’s Ben Wedeman, Salma Abdelaziz, Talia Kayali, Richard Roth, Jack Maddox and Whitney Hurst contributed to this report.