BENGHAZI, Libya, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Police in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi fired tear gas and used batons to disperse crowds angry with the government of Moammar Gadhafi, witnesses said.
Much of North Africa, the Middle East and Iran are awash with protests inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
Demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans Wednesday in front of a police station in Benghazi complaining about the "corrupt rulers of the country," sources told al-Jazeera.
Libyan media reported that demonstrators were armed with Molotov cocktails and threw stones at security forces. Sources to al-Jazeera said plain-clothes security officers responded with tear gas, hot water and batons.
Protesters are calling for a "Day of Rage" for Thursday in the hopes of bringing an end to the rule of Gadhafi after 41 years in office.
Protests, rare in Libya, began in solidarity with the relatives of victims of a prison massacre in 1996, al-Jazeera claims. At least two protesters were killed during clashes with security forces. The government has apparently organized pro-Gadhafi demonstrations in response to the opposition.
The Arab satellite station, which Egyptian authorities suggested played a role in stoking unrest in the country, said it was pulled off the air by cable service providers in Libya.
