Libya: Snipers shoot mourners, killing at least 1

Maggie Michael
USA Today
February 19, 2011

CAIRO — Moammar Gadhafi’s forces fired on mourners in the eastern city of Benghazi, wiped out a protest encampment and clamped down on Internet service throughout Libya Saturday as the regime tried to squelch calls for an end to the ruler’s 42-year grip on power.

Libyan protesters were back on the street for the fifth straight day, but Gadhafi has taken a hard line toward the dissent that has ripped through the Middle East and swept him up with it.

Snipers fired on thousands of people gathered in Benghazi, a focal point of the unrest, to mourn 35 protesters who were shot on Friday, a hospital official said. At least one person was killed Saturday and a dozen more shot in the head and chest, he said.

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