Dozens reported killed in Tripoli unrest

TRIPOLI,  (Reuters) – Dozens of people were reported  killed in Tripoli overnight as anti-government protests reached  the Libyan capital for the first time and the building where the  country’s parliament meets was ablaze.
One of Muammar Gaddafi’s sons said the veteran leader would  fight the popular revolt that has shaken his 40-year rule until  “the last man standing”.
Anti-government protesters rallied in Tripoli’s streets,  tribal leaders spoke out against Gaddafi, and army units  defected to the opposition in a revolt that has cost the lives  of more than 200 people. Protesters said they had taken control  of two other cities.
Output at one of the country’s oil fields was reported to  have been stopped by a workers’ strike and some European oil  companies withdrew expatriate workers and suspended operations.
With autocratic governments already toppled by popular  uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, there was a sense that Gaddafi’s  iron grip was being severely tested.
“Libya is the most likely candidate for civil war because  the government has lost control over part of its own territory,”  said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha  Centre in Qatar.
European nations watched developments in Libya with a  growing sense of alarm after the government in Tripoli said it  would suspend cooperation on stemming the flow of illegal  immigrants across the Mediterranean.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, on a visit to the  region, said events in Libya were appalling and unacceptable.
Al Jazeera television quoted medical sources as saying 61  people had been killed in the latest protests in Tripoli.
It said security forces were looting banks and other  government institutions in Tripoli, and protesters had broken  into several police stations and wrecked them.
The building where the General People’s Congress, or  parliament, meets when it is in session in Tripoli was on fire  this morning, a Reuters reporter said.
Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi appeared on national  television in an attempt both to threaten and to calm people,  saying the army would enforce security at any price to put down  one of the bloodiest revolts to convulse the Arab world.
“We will keep fighting until the last man standing, even to  the last woman standing.”
Wagging a finger at the camera, he accused Libyan exiles of  fomenting the violence. But he also promised dialogue on reforms  and wage rises.
In an indication of disagreement inside Libya’s ruling  elite, Mohamed Bayou — who until a month ago was chief  government spokesman — said the leadership was wrong to  threaten violence against its opponents.
Bayou called on Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to start talks with  the opposition.