"Many of the dead and the injured are relatives of doctors here," he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Earlier, special forces had attacked hundreds of demonstrators, including lawyers and judges, who were camped out in front of a courthouse in Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city. His whereabouts were unclear on Saturday, with some saying he was holed up in a hotel in the city, where Colonel Qaddafi’s hold on power is not as strong as in the capital, Tripoli, in the west. The government response in Libya underlined an unintended consequence of the success of uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, where protests pouring into the streets day after day forced the departure of long-serving authoritarian leaders. To try to quell new outbursts of dissent, Saleh also has reached out to tribal chiefs, who are a major base of support for him.
– In direct contrast to the "delirious joy" in Bahrain, the death toll keeps climbing in Libya's protests. Moammar Gadhafi's minions killed another 20 people today, bringing the five-day total to at least 104, says Human Rights Watch. Gadhafi has effectively shut off Internet service and forbid media coverage, but witnesses told AP of attacks by police and government loyalists wielding guns, knives, and even anti-aircraft missiles. While the accounts are impossible to verify—and at least one puts the death toll closer to 200—a grim cycle has emerged, reports the New York Times: "Security forces fire on funeral marches, killing more protesters and creating more funerals." In Yemen, meanwhile, President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces also opened fire on protesters, killing at least one, reports AP.