Pro-Qaddafi Force Opens Fire on Protesters: Quryna

Several people were killed and others wounded on Monday after forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi opened fire to disperse a protest in the capital, the online edition of Quryna newspaper reported.

The protest in the Tajoura neighbourhood gathered close to 10,000 protesters, the Libyan newspaper said, quoting its correspondent in the capital Tripoli.

"When the protesters reached the Souk Juma, they were joined by armed men from the Qaddafi battalion who were dressed as civilians and opened fire on the unarmed youths ... Many among the youths were wounded and killed," it said, referring to a market in Tripoli.

"The armed men then took the corpses of the dead, the wounded and even the bystanders who were near the wounded," it added. The report could not be immediately verified.