25 February 2011
Last updated at 06:10 ET
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The BBC’s Jon Leyne in Benghazi says that the city is trying to return to normal
Reports from Libya indicate thousands may have been killed or injured as the government crackdown escalates “alarmingly”, UN human rights head Navi Pillay has said.
For the past week, fighting has raged between anti-government forces and troops loyal to Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, in power for 42 years.
Libya’s food supply chain is at risk of collapse, says the UN’s food agency.
Nato defence ministers will hold emergency talks later on Friday.
Around the capital, Tripoli, an elite brigade commanded by Col Gaddafi’s son Khamis is believed to be dug in.
The UK and France are pushing for an arms embargo and a war crimes investigation.
Libyan state TV has said the government will give each family 500 dinars (£250; $400) to cover increased food costs, while some public sector workers will receive a pay rise of 150%.
However, much of the country is now in the hands of anti-government forces.
At the scene
Anonymous eyewitness
Tripoli
At the moment Tripoli is still calm. People have mostly stayed behind closed doors since Sunday, although banks and a few shops opened their doors on Thursday – coffee stands , mini-markets mostly.
Students have not been going to school or university since Sunday’s protests, despite repeated text messages ordering all teachers to go to work. I do not know if schools opened but I know that not a single student was seen anywhere in public, going or coming from school.
Petrol is being rationed at the moment: car owners can only refuel in the amount of about $4 (£2.50), according to several drivers. But petrol is cheap here, and for most cars used in Libya, that is almost half a tank’s worth for small cars or a quarter for others.
In the past two days, some of the public buildings that have been partially burnt and are still standing were whitewashed in what looks to be an attempt to hide scorched parts that are visible to the naked eye from the outside.
In… Tripoli’s poorest areas, all the streets have been immaculately cleaned.
International response
In Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council is meeting in special session for the first time to discuss the crisis in Libya. Libya is an elected member of the council but some members have called for it to lose its seat.
“In brazen and continuing breach of international law, the crackdown in Libya of peaceful demonstrations is escalating alarmingly with reported mass killings, arbitrary arrests, detention and torture of protesters,” said Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The UN World Food Programme has said Libya’s food supply chain is at risk of collapse because imports were not getting into the country and food distribution is hampered by violence, the AFP news agency reports.
Nato’s North Atlantic Council of defence ministers will meet in emergency session on Friday afternoon. Nato secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said Nato has no intention of intervening in Libya.
However, thousands of foreign nationals from Nato member states have been fleeing the violence in Libya, which has gripped much of the country in the past week.
The evacuations posed a “massive challenge”, Mr Rasmussen said.
Help for UK nationals
- The Foreign Office is advising against all but essential travel to Libya
- UK nationals in Libya wishing to get on the charter flight are advised to call the following numbers:
- 020 7008 0000 from the UK or 021 3403644/45 from within Libya
Col Gaddafi has blamed the uprising on al-Qaeda, saying young people had been given hallucinogenic drugs to incite them to revolt.
Opposition supporters in Tripoli have said they are planning to protest in Green Square after Friday prayers at noon (1000 GMT).
There was fierce fighting in western towns on Thursday, as pro-Gaddafi forces tried to regain control of areas seized by the opposition.
A resident of Tripoli, who did not want to be identified, said the city was living in fear.
“We have families who are not allowed to take the bodies of the deceased… unless they sign papers declaring they were shot by the opposition to the current regime,” the man told the BBC
“There haven’t been funerals going on where obviously if you don’t have a body you don’t have a funeral. People haven’t been picking up their deceased.”
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Libyan crackdown ‘escalates’ – UN