2/25 Libya updates: US sanctions and how to take action

After a day in which Tripoli, the Libyan capital, was described as a "ghost town," clashes between protesters and Qaddafi supporters today resumed along with reports of heavy casualties. Qaddafi himself appeared in public to address a group of supporters in Tripoli's Green Square. In the past few days Qaddafi has blamed the mass demonstrations on influence from al Qaeda and hallucinogenic drugs.

Estimates of casualties continue to rise with France's top human rights official, Francois Zimeray, citing more than 2,000 deaths. Local and foreign mercenaries appear to be taking a large role in crowd suppression with one group of men arrested in Benghazi reputed to have been brought in from Chad.

Defections of Libyan diplomats continue as a group of Libyan UN diplomats stationed in Geneva have now resigned. Libya's Interior Minister, Gen Abdul Fatteh Younis, has urged Qaddafi to resign.

Reports have indicated that the Obama administration is currently pursuing sanctions on Libya in response to the violence and Switzerland has frozen Qaddafi's assets there.

Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition has created a petition to UN Ambassador Susan Rice, asking for the implementation of a no-fly zone over Libya and the creation of a reconstruction fund, among other asks. Sign this petition today by sending a letter to Ambassador Rice and help end mass atrocities against the civilians of Libya.