Libyan Anti-Qaddafi Protesters’ Death Toll Mounts

Libyan security forces launched overnight attacks on anti-government protesters seeking to emulate the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, increasing the death toll over five days of unrest to more than 170, Human Rights Watch said.

The U.S. and U.K. expressed concern about the escalation of violence. U.K. Foreign Minister William Hague in a call today told Saif Qaddafi, son of the Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, that the Libyan government’s actions “were unacceptable and would result in world-wide condemnation,” the Foreign Office in London said in an e-mailed statement.