Protest at Libyan Embassy downtown turns violent
Posted May 13, 2011 04:27:19 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA, On — Two opposing sides of Libyan-Canadians met in a loud, rowdy and at times violent protest downtown.
One side was carrying pro- Moammar Gadhaffi signs, while the other was full of people wearing the country’s flag and Libyan t-shirts.
Here is a video of that side:
The groups were divided about Gadhaffi, some calling him a hero and other’s condemning him.
They were also split between those for and against the NATO air strikes in the North-African country.
The two crowds were yelling and chanting at each other from opposing sides of Metcalfe Street just north of Slater Street in Ottawa’s downtown at around 3:00 on Friday afternoon.
When a man on the pro-Gadhaffi side crossed the street, anti-Gadhaffi protestors rushed him, forcing police to step in and remove the man who claimed he was not involved.
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya said afterward that he supported both sides, saying Ghadaffi was “a bad person” but that bombing was not an appropriate solution.
He also said the police were just doing their job by asking him to leave.
Alladin Zuggar helped to organize the anti-Gadhaffi side of the protest and told 1310News the other protestors had come from Montreal and Toronto to call for an end to the air strikes.
Among them was Mustaffa who called Ghadaffi a hero and a revolutionary leader.
“We support him, we support our country … we support a political solution ,” he said. “There is no democracy come by the bombing.”
Zuggar said here in Ottawa they wanted to meet those protesters to show them “that Gadhaffi has no supporters here,” he said.
“What he has done is being recognized by international criminal court as massacre, as violence beyond anybody’s belief.”
He said many in Ottawa support the NATO mission and thank Canadian troops for getting involved. Zuggar says to expect more demonstrations in the coming weeks.
