The embattled Libyan regime passed out guns to civilian supporters, set up checkpoints Saturday and sent armed patrols roving the terrorized capital to try to maintain control of Moammar Gadhafi's stronghold and quash dissent as rebels consolidate control elsewhere in the North African nation.
President Obama strongly condemned the violence in Libya but failed Wednesday afternoon to call for the resignation of Moammar Gadhafi hours after the Libyan dictator unleashed a wave of terror in the streets of Tripoli against opponents demanding an end to his brutal regime of more than 40 years.
President Obama on Wednesday broke his public silence on the Libyan government's bloody crackdown on protesters, saying autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi's violent response is "outrageous and it is unacceptable."
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi vowed Tuesday to "die a martyr" rather than flee his embattled country, as tens of thousands of foreigners rushed across the borders to Tunisia or Egypt or caught emergency flights to Europe.
Deep cracks opened in Moammar Gadhafi's regime Monday, with Libyan government officials at home and abroad resigning, air force pilots defecting and a major government building ablaze after clashes in the capital of Tripoli.
The United States is "gravely concerned" about the widespread violence in Libya, as reports Sunday said the country's second-largest city, Benghazi, was in the hands of rebel soldiers and anti-government protesters who had occupied the official residence of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
The document dump of classified U.S. diplomatic cables is starting to jeopardize the positions of American ambassadors who sent the State Department candid reports on sensitive subjects, as foreign governments complain about the leaks and nervous officials in Washington try to deal with the fallout.
Libya has detained a Canadian man on suspicion of spying on a planned BP offshore drilling project for U.S. intelligence, a Libyan newspaper reported.
Britain's government says it has warned Libya that any celebration of Friday's anniversary of the release from jail of the Lockerbie bomber would be deeply offensive to the families of the mainly U.S. victims of the attack.
