Some are calling it the Arab Spring - the anti-government uprisings that have been rolling across the Middle East and North Africa. But now Libya is in chaos - a brutal crackdown by government forces has meant a staggering number of protesters are dying. We speak to Najla Abdurrahman - a Libyan dissident inside the country.

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PART ONE

It's Tuesday, February 22nd.

Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has condemned Libya for using violence against its own people.

Currently, Of special concern to Berlusconi: people who are female, and under 18.

This is The Current.

Libya Protests - Najla Abdurrahman

We started this segment with the sound of urban warfare in the Libyan city of Benghazi. According to reports coming out of Libya at least 200 hundred are dead. Other reports put the numbers of dead much higher. And one of the world's longest ruling dictators is threatened in a way he never has been before ... on the verge most of his citizens hope of being deposed.

Some Libyan-Canadians are all too familiar with the brutality of the Libyan regime. Omar Bengezi is a plastic surgeon who lives in Hamilton, Ontario. He explained what happened to his brother after he insulted the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Thousands of Libyans like Omar Bengezi have been forced to leave their homeland because of their political views. Najla Abdurrahman is the daughter of a political dissident in the Libyan opposition party. She has helped support the Libyan demonstrations from the U.S. by contributing to a website to get the latest video and audio reports out from the frontlines of the protests. She was in Washington this morning.

Libya Protests - Ibrahim Sahad

While this unfolding battle could well spell the end of the Gadhafi era, efforts by some Libyan exiles to bring down the regime have been going on for decades. One of the oldest of the anti-Gadhafi groups is the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. We were joined by Ibrahim Sahad, who is the organization's Secretary General. He was in Washington.

Related Links:

• What If Libya Staged a Revolution and Nobody Came? by Najla Abdurrahman - Foreign Policy
• Opposition figure says Libya uprisings ignored by Tanya Nolan - The World Today
  
  

Other segments from today's show:

• TransCanada Pipeline
• Multiverse: Brian Greene