Britain slams Gaddafi over bloody repression of unarmed protesters hundreds of protesters feared dead

A wave of upheaval is sweeping across the Middle East, North Africa and beyond with protesters taking to the streets to demand democracy and the removal of governments.

Foreign Secretary William Hague described Libya’s use of force on protesters as “dreadful and horrifying”. He warned the son of the country’s dictator Muammar Gaddafi that Britain was alarmed at the reports of “large numbers of people” being attacked and killed by security forces. The phone conversation with Saif Gaddafi came amid continuing reports of violent attacks by Libyan special forces and foreign mercenaries on unarmed protesters.

Last night the Foreign Office warned against non-essential travel to Libya and urged Britons without a pressing need to remain in the country to leave by commercial means, if it is safe to do so.

The death toll in Libya’s second city, Benghazi, is feared to be at least 200, with one activist claiming it was now up to 300. On Saturday pro-Gaddafi forces fired machine-guns at mourners at a funeral for demonstrators killed in earlier clashes.

The continuing violence comes as the 11th straight day of anti-government protests took place in Yemen. Thousands of people marched in cities across Morocco yesterday, to demand democracy.

There was also an online call for protests to take place in Beijing, Shanghai and 11 other major Chinese cities. The call for a “Jasmine revolution” was apparently modelled on the demonstrations in the Middle East.