Riot breaks out in Libyan city of Benghazi

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – Hundreds of people clashed with  police and government supporters overnight in the eastern Libyan  city of Benghazi, a witness and local media said, in a rare show  of unrest in the oil exporting country.
Libya has been tightly controlled by leader Muammar Gaddafi  for over 40 years but has also felt the ripples from popular  revolts in its neighbours Egypt and Tunisia.
Libyan state television said that rallies were held in the  early hours of this morning across the country in support  of Gaddafi, who is Africa’s longest serving leader.
Reports from Benghazi, about 1,000 km (600 miles) east of  the Libyan capital, indicated the city was now calm but that  overnight, protesters armed with stones and petrol bombs had set  fire to vehicles and fought with police.
The protesters were angry about the arrest of a human rights  campaigner and demanded his release.
The online edition of Libya’s privately-owned Quryna  newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, said 14 people were hurt  in the clashes, including 10 police officers. It said none of  the injuries was serious.
“Last night was a bad night,” a Benghazi resident, who did  not want to be identified, told Reuters by telephone.
“There were about 500 or 600 people involved. They went to  the revolutionary committee (local government headquarters) in  Sabri district, and they tried to go to the central  revolutionary committee … They threw stones,” he said.
“Now Benghazi is quiet. The banks are open and the students  are going to school,” the same witness said later.
Some Libyans complain about high unemployment, income  inequality and limits on political freedoms, but analysts say an  Egypt-style revolt is unlikely there because the government can  use its vast energy revenues to placate unhappy citizens.
A video clip posted on the YouTube site by someone who said  it was recorded in Benghazi last night showed a crowd of  people outside what looked like a government building chanting:  “No God but God!” and “Corruption is the enemy of God.”