AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Tens of thousands of protesters across Libya focused their attention on the capital on Friday afternoon, following the midday prayer.
As demonstrators in Tripoli took to the street, security forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, reportedly began firing on them. At least six had been killed, according to the Associated Press news agency.
There was heavy gun fire in various Tripoli districts including Fashloum, Ashour, Jumhouria and Souq Al, sources told Al Jazeera.
"The security forces fired indiscriminately on the demonstrators," said a resident of one of the capital's eastern suburbs that has seen previous clashes between opponents of the regime and its remaining loyalists.
"There were deaths in the streets of Sug al-Jomaa," the resident said.
The protests come a day after Gaddafi spoke on state television, accusing al-Qaeda for fermenting the uprising and drugging and brainwashing the country's youth. [The entire speech is available here.]
The death toll since violence began remains unclear, though on Thursday Francois Zimeray, France's top human rights official, said it could be as high as 2,000 people killed. >>> Al Jazeera and agencies | Friday, February 25, 2011
