Yemen protests leave 4 dead, and now include women

Video: Libya feels tug of war amid prayer, bloodshed

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2. Closed captioning of: Libya feels tug of war amid prayer, bloodshed

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   >>> now to what's causing all of this. the same thing that's causing changes in the maps across middle east and north africa , the people's revolt, where the attention right now focused on libya and where it has escalated now in some regions into a real war for control of gadhafi 's empire. a lot of the action taking place in and around tripoli . nbc's jim maceda remains there for us tonight. jim , good evening.

   >> reporter: hi, brian. well, the wave of change that swept tunisia and egypt has hit a brick wall here in libya. today's day of rage protests were crushed almost before they happened. a suburb of tripoli after friday prayers and hundreds of worshippers turned into anti- gadhafi protesters as soon as they left the mosque. what followed was a crackdown. precise, deliberate and brutal. some protesters threw stones, but they never had a chance. riot police fired tear gas , rubber bullets , then live ammunition.

   >> now it is surrounded. what for? what for? at the end we will die.

   >> reporter: several protesters were wounded in the clashes. this was what the regime wanted to avoid, an anti- gadhafi protest right here last friday, which got out of hand. until police fired into the crowd, killing as many as ten protesters. the authorities were taking no chances today. on algeria square, site of tripoli 's largest mosque, again friday prayers. a small number of anti- gadhafi protesters exited the mosque and started to chant "down with the regime" and suddenly everything turned on a dime. shots were fired. and gadhafi supporters ran amuck. but in rebel-held benghazi today, protesters were free to demonstrate. nbc's stephanie gosk is there.

   >> reporter: here in the rebel capital, journalists are actually encouraged to leave their hotel and cover the protests. these are new recruits to the military. they have a message they want to spread today. victory or death.

   >> reporter: but it was death that struck outside benghazi tonight when two huge blasts at a weapons depot killed at least 20. the cause, still unknown. meanwhile gadhafi 's son, saif, had his own message.

   >> the libyan people, they woke up from the shock, did realize everything and now they are reacting and fighting back.

   >> reporter: and fighting was fierce just miles from tripoli . this claims to show the town under massive counter attack. unconfirmed reports say the town is back in pro- gadhafi hands. it's hard to see how the opposition can regain the upper hand. it doesn't have the military might to push into tripoli , while gadhafi has the money to buy lots of time. brian.

   >> jim , thanks. be safe there

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