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Report: 84 dead in Libyan protests

African Union President Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi is shown on the last working day of the G8 (Group of Eight) Summit in L'Aquila, Italy on July 10, 2009, before unveiling the plaque commemorating the earthquake in the main square of the Guardia di Finanza Inspectors' School where the Summit was held. (UPI Photo/Ettore Ferrari/G8Website)
African Union President Libyan Leader Moammar Gadhafi is shown on the last working day of the G8 (Group of Eight) Summit in L'Aquila, Italy on July 10, 2009, before unveiling the plaque commemorating the earthquake in the main square of the Guardia di Finanza Inspectors' School where the Summit was held. (UPI Photo/Ettore Ferrari/G8Website) | License Photo

TRIPOLI, Libya, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Protests in Libya against the government of military leader Moammar Gadhafi have left at least 84 people dead, a human rights group said Saturday.

Human Rights Watch said at least 35 people were killed in Benghazi, some 650 miles from the capital, Tripoli, and other deaths were also reported in the cities of al-Bayda, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Darnah, the BBC said.

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There was relative calm in Tripoli, where pro-Gadhafi contingents marched, the report said.

News media has been barred from entering the country since the unrest began early last week, The Daily Telegraph said.

However, reports emerged late Friday electricity in Benghazi had been shut off, along with Internet access, the BBC said. The Telegraph quoted the Arabic Al-Jazeera television network as saying its signal into Libya was being jammed and its Web site had been blocked.

Gadhafi has been in power since leading a military coup in 1969 and has made no statement about the upheaval.

However, the pro-government newspaper Al-Zahf Al-Akhdar said Friday the government would "violently and thunderously respond" to protesters, the BBC said.

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