(Releads with demonstrators entering militia HQ)
* Libyans march in Benghazi to support democracy
* Islamist militia denies involvement in U.S. envoy's death
* Islamists hold counter-demonstration
BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Pro-government
demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Islamist Ansar
al-Sharia militia in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday,
aiming to evict fighters from the site, Reuters witnesses said.
Ansar al-Sharia has been linked to the attack on the U.S.
consulate in Benghazi last week in which the U.S. ambassador to
Libya and three other Americans died. It denies involvement.
Friday's action against the group appeared to be part of a
coordinated sweep of militia headquarters buildings by police,
government troops and activists following a mass public
demonstration against militia units earlier in the day.
Chanting "Libya, Libya", hundreds of demonstrators entered,
pulling down militia flags and torching a vehicle inside the
compound, th e group's main base in Benghazi.
The crowd waved swords and even a meat cleaver, crying "No
more Al Qaeda!" and "The blood we shed for freedom shall not go
in vain!"
"After what happened at the American consulate, the people
of Benghazi had enough of the extremists," said demonstrator
Hassan Ahmed. "They did not give allegiance to the army. So the
people broke in and they fled."
There was no sign of resistance from the militia at the
compound, once the base of forces of former leader Muammar
Gaddafi.
"It looks like they (militia fighters) wanted to defuse the
situation so they fled," Ahmed said.
"This place is like the Bastille. This is where Gaddafi
controlled Libya from, and then Ansar al-Sharia took it over.
This is a turning point for the people of Benghazi."
The demonstrators also took over a compound belonging to the
Abu Slim Brigade, another independent militia, and another
compound belonging to Ansar al-Sharia.
Thousands of Libyans had earlier marched in Benghazi in
support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that
Washington blames for the assault on its consulate. Hundreds of
Ansar al-Sharia supporters held their own protest.
The "Rescue Benghazi day" demonstration called for the
government to disband armed groups that have refused to give up
their weapons since the NATO-backed revolution last year.
"It's obvious that this protest is against the militias. All
of them should join the army or security forces as individuals,
not as groups," medical student Ahmed Sanallah, 27, said.
"Without that there will be no prosperity and no success for the
new Libya."
"DEFEND BENGHAZI"
Although the main demands of the marchers did not mention
the attack on the U.S. consulate, it seems to have provided a
strong impetus for the authorities to rally support behind the
country's weak government.
U.S. ambassador Christopher Stevens was well liked, and many
Libyans condemned the attack on the consulate despite being
angered by the anti-Islamic U.S.-made film that triggered it.
Some protesters' placards in English read: "We demand
justice for Stevens" and "Libya lost a friend".
Others had mixed views.
"I am out today to defend Benghazi. Killing the ambassador
is a completely separate thing," said 26-year-old Amjad Mohammed
Hassan, a network engineer.
"I don't give a damn about the killing of the ambassador
because the Americans offended the Prophet. I am just here for
Benghazi."
Benghazi, 1,000 km (600 miles) from Tripoli across largely
empty desert, is controlled by various armed groups, including
some comprised of Islamists who openly proclaim their hostility
to democratic government and the West.
Some are identified by local people as being among those who
were at the consulate protest last week. U.S. officials have
described the violence as a "terrorist attack".
Abu Al-Qaa, a demonstrator at the Ansar al-Sharia
counter-demonstration on Friday, said Stevens had been
"preparing for the entry of American troops into Libya".
"The will of the Prophet was to expel infidels from Muslim
lands so that Muslims prevail. Terrorizing your enemy is one of
Islam's tenets," he said.
He said he had fought American troops in Iraq where he was
arrested, sent back to Gaddafi's Libya and jailed for three
years. One banner at the Ansar al-Sharia demonstration read:
"Day to rescue Benghazi or day to rescue America?"
(Additional reporting by Omar Al-Mosmary and Ali Shuaib;
Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Andrew Roche)