About 100 people rallied near CNN’s downtown Atlanta headquarters Saturday to draw attention to violent efforts to put down the popular uprising in Libya.
Libya’s strongman, Moammar Gadhafi, is accused of ordering brutal retaliations in the civil war, using mercenaries, military aircraft and anti-aircraft guns. Some foreign diplomats have said at least 1,000 people have been killed in the uprising.
In Atlanta, Libyan-Americans and others waved the red, green and black Libyan flag and chanted “Down, down, with Gadhafi. Support human rights.”
Drivers in passing cars honked their horns.
“I’m here because this is not a struggle for Libya. It’s a struggle for everybody,” said Sameh Abdelaziz, who came to the United States from Egypt in 1988. “It’s very brave, people facing these airplanes and these guns.”
Ali Gebril, who left eastern Libya 30 years ago, said he helped organize Saturday’s rally “to express our anger and sadness and concern about the massacre.”
He said he is confident Gadhafi will fall and added he will be on the “first plane to Tripoli” to see friends and family.
Imen Hannachi, who came to Georgia Tech a year ago from Tunisia, said she is worried because of reports that Gadhafi loyalists have been targeting Tunisians and other foreign workers in Libya.
“He is mentally sick,” she said. “The only solution for them is to go back to Tunisia.”
She watched as her 2 1/2-year-old son, Ismail, slept in a stroller and her husband and others nearby yelled protest chants.
“I feel that some people are not aware of the real situation,” she said.
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