Gadhafi's son warns of civil war; Libya protests go on

The son of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi warned early Monday that persisting mass protests could lead to civil war, while the government continued to crackdown violently on demonstrators.

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi said on state television that the army continues to back his father, who has ruled the North African country for more than four decades.

In a lengthy speech, the younger Gadhafi said that protesters had seized some military bases and weapons, including tanks. He also admitted that the army had made mistakes in handling the demonstrations and pledged to introduce political reforms in the coming days.

"We are not Tunisia and Egypt," he said, and vowed at another point in his address that the regime would "fight until the last man, the last woman, the last bullet."

The televised speech came after Libya's representative to the Arab League said that he had resigned his post to protest the government's decision to shoot at demonstrators in the eastern city of Benghazi. One of Libya's major tribes also reportedly withdrew its support for Gadhafi.

On Sunday, government forces fired on thousands of mourners in Benghazi for the second day straight. They were marching in a funeral procession for anti-government protesters killed in previous demonstrations when government forces opened fire with machine guns. Witnesses said four people were wounded, two seriously.

The violence echoed events a day earlier, when snipers from government forces fired on mourners attending another funeral for slain protesters in the same city. At least 15 people were killed in that attack.

Protesters in the oil-rich country are frustrated by Gadhafi's authoritarian and eccentric rule.

The demonstrations have been centred in Benghazi, the country's second-largest city. However, there were reports that demonstrations had spread to the capital of Tripoli and to a coastal city to the west by late Sunday.

A doctor at a hospital in Benghazi told the Associated Press on Sunday that his morgue had at least 200 dead from six days of unrest, and that staff were unable to treat all of the wounded from Saturday's violence because the hospital had run out of supplies.

However, Libyan authorities have been restricting media access to the protest areas, making it difficult to establish an accurate count of those killed.

In Benghazi, eye witnesses told the Associated Press that protesters threw firebombs and stones at government forces as they attempted to take over a presidential compound. Troops sympathetic to the protesters chased pro-Gadhafi forces from the compound.

In the city of Sabratha, resident Khaled Abu Bakr said protesters drove the police out of their local headquarters and set the building on fire. In their place, neighbourhood committees have been created to keep the city safe.

"The police dropped their weapons," he told The Associated Press. "We contacted the army headquarters and they are sympathetic."

Libyan state TV also aired images of burned and looted buildings in the aftermath of days of protests. But it's unclear whether protesters caused the damage.

The government has moved to stifle online communication, hoping to halt activities for organizers of the demonstrations. U.S.-based Arbor Networks said Internet use in Libya ground to a halt shortly after 2 a.m. local time Saturday, with protesters confirming they were unable to get online.

People in Libya also say they can no longer make telephone calls on their land lines.

But the crackdown appears to be the most violent on the anti-government protesters who have turned out in large numbers in several countries across North Africa and the Middle East, ever since a 26-year-old vegetable vendor set himself on fire in Tunisia two months ago.

The resulting uprising in Tunisia spread to Egypt -- ousting the leaders of both countries -- and then to Bahrain, Yemen, Libya, Algeria and Morocco. Outside the region, unrest has erupted in places such as Djibouti in East Africa, and China.

Inger Lorsignol, a Canadian working and living in Tripoli, told CTV.ca by email Sunday that most foreign families have been evacuated from the country, and many of the flights out of Libya are full.

Lorsignol said that a sense of worry was palpable in the capital, where people stocked up on food and water out of concern that the instability will grow.

"In the city of Zawiyah, just about 30 kilometres west of Tripoli, a lot of shootings and actual killings have been going on," Lorsignol said. "This is awfully close."

With files from The Associated Press