Egyptian migrants flee to Tunisia after being attacked by security forces, Human Rights Watch says

[News_Editor]

Egyptian migrants flee to Tunisia after being attacked by security forces, Human Rights Watch says

2011-02-27 03:30:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

TRIPOLI (BNO NEWS) -- Libyan security forces and pro-government groups attacked anti-government protesters and Egyptian migrant workers in the western city of Zawiyah, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Saturday.

"West of Tripoli in Zawiyah city, government security forces firing on demonstrators are causing bloodshed and chaos," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at HRW.

"Pro-Gaddafi thugs have terrorized Egyptian migrant workers, causing hundreds to flee to Tunisia," she added.

Egyptian migrant workers told the US-based organization that Libyan security forces shot at protesters who had defied government orders to stay inside their homes and who tried to hold a demonstration after Friday prayers.

According to a witness, approximately 3,000 protesters, some of whom carried guns, were in the main square. The witness said that he later saw a group of men carrying several bodies, apparently in the direction of the cemetery. No estimated death toll was given, however.

Several migrant workers said that opposition forces controlled much of Zawiyah, but that government security forces controlled surrounding areas and had set up checkpoints on the outskirts.

The migrant workers also said they were trapped in their homes for days, following a speech on February 21 by Seif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in which he blamed the uprising in Libya on foreigners.

For the past several days, thousands of foreign migrant workers have streamed out of Libya across the Tunisian border. Several thousand Egyptians have been stranded at the border in tents set up by the Tunisian army, awaiting evacuation by the Egyptian government.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council met on Saturday to consider action against Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's government.

Libya has been plunged into chaos as massive anti-government protests continue nationwide, resulting in a violent crackdown by security forces which included aerial bombardments on protesters. At least 300 people and as many as more than 1,000 people have been killed in the uprising, but confirmed information has been difficult to obtain due to reporting restrictions by Libyan authorities.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-02-27

[brahmburgers]

From the frying pan in to the flame. This is the sort of pressure release that await people in Arab countries - which trade real democracy for icon worship. Same scenario in Thailand and the hero worship of Thaksin - which led to the same sort of scenarios Arab countries are having now. It's a bad mix: lack of real democracy coupled with peoples' aching compulsion to kowtow to a male hero figure. That's why most SE Asia, Arab and Latin American countries have been rife with abusive power-tripping leaders - and is why their demise always ends ugly.

Out of the ashes, more of the same will rise: Men with massive egos coupled with draconian suppression of meaningful dialogue - will continue to crop up in all those regions - until people build and maintain real democratic institutions.

.....just wait until the Saudis revolt - then we'll see some real fireworks.

[Steely Dan]

From the frying pan in to the flame. This is the sort of pressure release that await people in Arab countries - which trade real democracy for icon worship. Same scenario in Thailand and the hero worship of Thaksin - which led to the same sort of scenarios Arab countries are having now. It's a bad mix: lack of real democracy coupled with peoples' aching compulsion to kowtow to a male hero figure. That's why most SE Asia, Arab and Latin American countries have been rife with abusive power-tripping leaders - and is why their demise always ends ugly.

Out of the ashes, more of the same will rise: Men with massive egos coupled with draconian suppression of meaningful dialogue - will continue to crop up in all those regions - until people build and maintain real democratic institutions.

.....just wait until the Saudis revolt - then we'll see some real fireworks.

Just hope the biggest ugliest icon of them all doesn't replace the existing ones, I'm referring to the one who it is forbidden to draw.

[geriatrickid]

Not a very wise move to attack the Egyptian workers.

The ruling classes of Egypt have never been fond of Libya and have nearly come to blows before. If Libya harms any Egyptians, it may very well have a visit from the Egyptian military. A "liberation" would act to restore the blemished reputation of Egypt's military and restore its position as a leader in the arab world and in North Africa.

[Credo]

Wow, a record. First post brings up Thaksin in a completely unrelated thread.

One can only hope that these battles don't start crossing borders. If we think the current situation is bad, just think about clashes between countries.