Libya Rebel: 'There Are Spies Everywhere'

Tripoli braces for another potential clash
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 4, 2011 6:09 AM CST
Libya Rebel: 'There Are Spies Everywhere'
Libyan rebels fire in the air during a mass funeral for rebel gunmen killed in fighting in Ajdabiya, eastern Libya.   (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Gadhafi loyalists have set up checkpoints in Tripoli ahead of protests planned for today—the opposition has called for protesters to march out of mosques after noon prayers—and many fear more bloodshed. Several hours before prayers, streets were eerily empty, with few residents out. But security forces, who opened fire on protests after Friday prayers last week, killing and wounding a still unknown number, began to take up positions.

The AP reports that since last Friday, a wave of arrests and disappearances have hit the capital, with gunmen in SUVs dragging away suspected protesters whose faces have been caught on video; others search hospitals for wounded protesters to seize, show up at burials looking for Gadhafi opponents, and prowl Tripoli's streets, say protesters. "While you are speaking to me now, there are spies everywhere and people watching me and you," one man said, cutting short a conversation with an AP reporter. The AP also notes that the previously spotty Internet appears to have been completely cut in Tripoli as well as Benghazi. (More Moammar Gadhafi stories.)

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