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Libya - analysis

Libyan protesters call day of rage

Protesters are calling on Libyans nationwide to take part in a "day of anger" against President Moamer Kadhafi's government on Thursday. On Wednesday, 110 men jailed for membership of the banned Libyan Islamic Fighting Group were released.

Reuters/Ismail Zitouny
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Marches are being staged to commemorate the deaths of 14 protesters at an Islamist rally in the eastern city of Benghazi five years ago. But the protests are likely to be localised, according to Libya specialist George Joffe.

02:16

George Joffe, London

Michel Arseneault

“The Kadhafi regime has been primed for quite some days and has gone around warning people of the consequences if they do demonstrate,” says Joffe, a professor at King's College in London. “The security forces are going to be ready and I’m not certain you’re going to see the same kind of response as in Benghazi where there are very specific reasons why people wanted to demonstrate.”

Benghazi was the centre of a major Islamist campaign in the late 1990s. It was also there that 400 children were infected with Aids/HIV in 1998. Since then, there have been several demonstrations in the city over appropriate compensation for the epidemic.

“Benghazi’s always been an uncertain city,” says Joffe. “The demonstrations represent undoubtedly the knock-on effects of what’s happened in Tunisia and Egypt but they also reflect local conditions and circumstance.”

Tripoli is far better controlled, he adds.

“People are still very scared indeed of the power and the brutality of the Kadhafi regime so I’m not certain that people are going to be brave enough yet to come out on the streets to confront the regime.”

Joffe dismisses a possible connection between the release of the LIFG prisoners and the public unrest. It is the end of a long process in which 93 Islamists were released last year.

“The LIFG, the main agent for extremist Islam in Libya has been tamed,” says Joffe. “It’s been in prison for over a decade. In a sense this is tidying up a long-standing problem and I’m not certain it reflects any attempt by the regime to appease public opinion.”

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