JAPAN: Protesters gather at the Libyan Embassy in Tokyo demanding leader Muammar Gaddafi stands down
Record ID:
465146
JAPAN: Protesters gather at the Libyan Embassy in Tokyo demanding leader Muammar Gaddafi stands down
- Title: JAPAN: Protesters gather at the Libyan Embassy in Tokyo demanding leader Muammar Gaddafi stands down
- Date: 24th February 2011
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (FEBRUARY 23, 2011) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF LIBYAN EMBASSY SIGN READING (ENGLISH): 'PEOPLE'S BUREAU OF THE GREAT SOCIALIST PEOPLE'S LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRYA, TOKYO' CROWDS GATHERING CROWDS SHOUTING IN ENGLISH: 'ONE TWO, THREE, FOUR, GADDAFI NO MORE' MAN SHOUTING PROTESTERS SHOUTING SLOGANS IN ARABIC GADDAFI CARICATURE PROTESTER SHOUTING IN JAPANESE: 'WE WILL FIGHT TOGETHER' (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) INTERPRETER AT JAPANESE-ARABIC INFORMATION AGENCY, ADEL SULIMAN, SAYING: "I think he crossed the line, the red line and everyone in Libya is now against him." MORE OF PROTESTS JAPANESE POLICE GUARDING THE AREA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN STUDENT AND JAPANESE RESIDENT ABDUL KHALIQ BILHAJ SAYING: "If he gets back in power again he will kill all who were against him, including us. So we will not allow him back to kill us, our families and children." PROTESTERS SHOUTING IN ARABIC MAN HOLDING A TUNISIAN FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (English) TUNISIAN STUDENT AND JAPANESE RESIDENT, AYMEN CHAOUCHI, SAYING: "I have never seen such savage and barbaric persecution. This regime is hiring mercenaries from Africa, we saw them on the social network. We saw the picture and the video of those mercenaries. This regime is bombarding his own people with airplane. This regime is killing people with heavy machinery guns." (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) PROTESTER STEPPING ON GADDAFI AND HIS SON'S POSTER PROTESTERS RIPPING POSTERS OF GADDAFI AND HIS SON
- Embargoed: 11th March 2011 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Japan, Japan
- Country: Japan
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA2ZN5K1GCNP5XQMBBRVKYNUT0M
- Story Text: About 50 Libyans living in Japan and their supporters gathered in front of the Libyan diplomatic mission in Tokyo on Wednesday (February 23) in protest against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and denouncing his government's violent crackdown on civilian protests.
The protesters, many of them university students studying in Japan, gathered outside the 'People's Bureau Of The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahirya', or defacto embassy in Tokyo, calling for an end to Gaddafi's regime.
"I think he crossed the line, the red line and everyone in Libya is now against him," said interpreter Adel Adel Suliman and one of the leaders of the rally.
"If he gets back in power again he will kill all who were against him, including us. So we will not allow him back to kill us, our families and children," added 36-year old Abdul Khaliq Bilhaj, a PHD student at the Nihon University.
Many protesters carried caricatures and banners with slogans denouncing both Gaddafi and his son Saif.
On Tuesday (February 22), a defiant Gaddafi said he was ready to die "a martyr" in Libya, vowing to crush the growing revolt which has seen eastern regions break free of his 41-year rule and bringing deadly unrest to the capital.
Protests in Libya were inspired by similar movements in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt and some Tunisians gathered in Tokyo in solidarity with Libyan protests.
"I have never seen such savage and barbaric persecution. This regime is hiring mercenaries from Africa, we saw them on the social network. We saw the picture and the video of those mercenaries. This regime is bombarding his own people with airplane. This regime is killing people with heavy machinery guns," said 29-year old Tunisian Aymen Chaouchi who is in Japan studying at the Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology.
While Japanese police kept guard in front of the Libyan embassy, the protest ended peacefully. It culminated with protesters stamping on and ripping apart posters of Gaddafi and his son - a gesture which is a high form of insult in Arabic culture. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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