Libya Protests Spread to Capital

Who is he kidding? In a speech on state TV Sunday, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said protests against his father’s regime are greatly exaggerated, egged on by unions and Islamic groups, and that only 14 people had died as a result. His remarks are a stark contrast to witnesses who report the government’s crackdown as a “ massacre” and Human Rights Watch’s reports, which estimate the death toll at 209. Protests, meanwhile, are approaching the Qaddafis’ door, spreading to the nation’s capital, Tripoli, for the first time on Sunday. The Qaddafi regime has kept a tight lid on the protests, shutting off the nation’s Internet and blocking media communications.