Quote:

---

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday blamed the violence in his country on young people, who he said are taking some sort of pills and being exploited by Osama bin Laden.

Gadhafi also addressed Zawiya, saying, "We shouldn't leave" the town "without any control." Gadhafi's characteristically rambling remarks followed reports that anti-government forces have gained control of Zawiya, west of the capital, Tripoli.

Quryna newspaper reported that 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in an attack security forces launched. The wounded could not be transferred to a hospital due to heavy shooting, the Quryna report said. The forces surprised people by coming from the west, instead of Tripoli, the paper said.

When the protests began last week, Quryna carried regime propaganda. It later changed and began covering the protests and casualty figures.

A woman, who said her son was shot, told CNN, "Blood is all over the streets." The woman said unarmed people were being fired on indiscriminately and that she believed far more than seven people were killed. The hospital in Zawiyais "a disaster," she said, adding that some shooters were coming in and insisting that no one was killed.

Misrata -- also spelled as Misurata -- is in the hands of the opposition, who have driven out the mercenaries, according to witnesses and media reports. It is the country's third-largest city.

Witnesses and reports also said the town of Az Zintan was under opposition control. The opposition already controls Libya's second-largest city, Benghazi, where crowds cheered as international journalists drove through. The only shooting that could be heard was celebratory gunfire. "When they saw us arrive, they just exploded with cheers and clapping, people saying, 'Thank you, thank you,' in English, throwing candy and dates inside the car," CNN's Ben Wedeman said.

But Tripoli was a different story. Sounds of gunfire erupted at dawn Thursday as chanting crowds fled. Government security forces tightened their grip on the capital, according to sources. In one neighborhood, no one was allowed in or out. There's nobody walking in the street, nobody is trying to get out, even to look through the window," a resident who did not want to be identified for security reasons said. "It's a little scary." he caller said she is risking her life by talking to the media.
"I've been trying to keep my identity hidden," the woman said. "There are reported kidnappings happening in homes for anybody credible that is talking to the media and giving them the truth about what's happening in Libya."

Continuing a stream of defection among some Libyan diplomats, the ambassador to Jordan, Mohammed Hassan Al Barghathi, said Thursday he is resigning due to the unrest. He also paid condolences to Libyan families who lost their loved ones in the violence.

---