Human Rights Watch says death toll in Libya clashes reaches 173

Tens of thousands gathered in Benghazi on Sunday for funerals of protesters killed by Libyan security forces as Human Rights Watch said overnight violence had doubled the death toll from four days of clashes to 173.

The unrest, the worst in Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi''s four decades in power, started as a series of protests inspired by popular revolts in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia, but was met by a fierce response.

Reporters have not been allowed into Libya''s second city but piecemeal accounts suggest its streets are largely under the control of anti-government protesters, who periodically come under attack from security forces firing out of their high-walled compound.

If the procession followed the pattern of the previous few days, it was likely to be fired on again from the Command Centre, starting a fresh round of fighting and mourning.

A Benghazi hospital doctor said overnight victims had suffered severe wounds from high-velocity rifles. "Civil mutiny"

Another witness, a leading tribal figure who requested anonymity, said security forces were confined to their compound.

"The state''s official presence is absent in the city and the security forces are in their barracks and the city is in a state of civil mutiny," he told Reuters. "People are running their own affairs."

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said about 90 people had been killed on Saturday in clashes in Benghazi and surrounding towns running into the night, taking the death toll from four days of violence to 173.

The witness who spoke of the funeral procession gathering said: "We fear a new massacre because the road leading to the cemetery is not far from a security barracks.

"We will not give up until the regime falls. We call on the United Nations to intervene immediately to stop the massacre."

Another witness in Benghazi told Reuters thousands of people had performed ritual prayers in front of 60 bodies laid out near Benghazi''s northern court.

He said hundreds of thousands of people, including women and children, had come out onto the Mediterranean seafront and the area surrounding the port. "The protesters are here until the regime falls," he said.