Libyan opposition declares 'Day of Rage' against Gaddafi

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is apprehensive on possible student led demonstrations against him after opposition groups declared February 17th as a Day Of Rage against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera reports today.

During a meeting with a group of media professionals and journalists Gaddafi defended his Egyptian counterpart. "Mubarak is poor and can not buy his clothes, and thus we offer him our support." Mubarak’s family's wealth is estimated at about $ 70 billion. Gaddafi also defended the deposed President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, saying: "The Tunisians hate him because his wife is from Tarabulsi family."

He also blamed pan Arab network Al Jazeera for the pro democracy protests. Gaddafi warned Libyans not to get involved in any acts which will harm security or cause chaos, vowing that their tribes will be held responsible in the event of doing so.

After 41 years in power, Col Muammar Gaddafi is the longest serving ruler in Africa and the Middle East, and also one of the most autocratic. Protest of any kind in Libya is strictly prohibited, but there have been reports of unrest in the city of al-Bayda. The government also recently announced increased spending on public housing in a bid to head off growing disquiet.

But a jasmine revolution in Libya is considered a very unlikely prospect by most international observers. Ranier Fsadni, lecturer at the university’s Mediterranean Institute, said that Libya had in the past experienced internal discord, but it was common for oil-rich Arab nations to “reach into its deep pockets” to quell revolt. Fsadni was one of several speakers that discussed the Jasmine Revolution and the Egyptian uprising at Nationalist think-tank AZAD, and what they meant for the region.