TRIPOLI - (AFP)
The son of Libya's strongman Moamer Kadhafi warned Monday the country would be destroyed by civil war if protests end his father's rule, in a speech broadcast as bursts of gunfire broke out in Tripoli. Saif al-Islam Kadhafi offered reforms to end the violent uprising gripping the oil-rich country, but he warned the protests were a foreign plot and would be crushed in a "bloodbath" if the government's offer was rejected. The turbulence gripping the Arab world following the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia also spread to Morocco, where thousands rallied for change across the country. Bahrain's Sunni Muslim ruling family came under increased pressure to open meaningful negotiations with the Shiite-led opposition, as protesters refused to be bowed and camped out in the capital Manama's Pearl Square.