LIBYA: Crowds continue to act as 'human-shields' at the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli

Record ID: 574870

  • Title: LIBYA: Crowds continue to act as 'human-shields' at the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli
  • Date: 1st April 2011
  • Summary: TRIPOLI, LIBYA (MARCH 31, 2011) (REUTERS) BUILDING THE LIBYAN GOVERNMENT SAY WAS DAMAGED BY PREVIOUS ATTACKS VARIOUS OF DAMAGED BUILDING METAL PARTS SAID TO BE PARTS OF A MISSILE THAT HIT BUILDING CROWD CHANTING MEN CARRYING PICTURE OF GADDAFI, CHANTING VARIOUS OF WOMAN CHANTING VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ON A STATUE OF A HAND CRUSHING A US WARPLANE VARIOUS OF CHILDREN ON TOP OF STATUE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ZUHRA, GADDAFI SUPPORTER, SAYING "You keep talking about human rights but you keep bombing our Libyan citizens. We are here and not afraid, we are not afraid of your no-fly zone. We will always protect our leader and we have been in Libya fighting with armed gangs and terrorists." VARIOUS OF CROWD CHANTING
  • Embargoed: 16th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: War / Fighting,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA5ONS412IPAFDZ0A9EXOFVS4XU
  • Story Text: Inside Gaddafi's heavily fortified compound in the capital Tripoli, crowds of supporters have been gathering every night to form a human shield to protect the Libyan leader against Western air strikes.
    On Thursday (March 31), they danced and chanted patriotic songs late into the night as soldiers manning anti-aircraft guns watched the sky over the capital from the back of their pickup trucks.
    "You keep talking about human rights but you keep bombing our Libyan citizens. We are here and not afraid, we are not afraid of your no-fly zone. We will always protect our leader and we have been in Libya fighting with armed gangs and terrorists," said Zuhra, a teenage girl at the rally.
    Groups of militiamen and civilians, some shooting AK-47s into the air in jubilation, milled around outside the compound's main gate, shouting slogans and waving flags.
    Rebels massed for a counter-attack against Muammar Gaddafi's forces in eastern Libya on Thursday, encouraged by news of covert U.S. support and the defection of Tripoli's foreign minister.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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