* Headquarters of Islamist Ansar al-Sharia group targeted
* Group was linked to last week's attack on U.S. consulate
* Coordinated sweep of militia headquarters seen
BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Pro-government
demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Islamist Ansar
al-Sharia group in Benghazi on Friday and evicted fighters from
the site in a sweep of militia bases in the Libyan city, Reuters
witnesses said.
Militia fighters made a stand at another heavily fortified
compound across the eastern city, firing on demonstrators with
heavy machine guns and wounding several people, protesters 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, Ansar al-Sharia's main base in Benghazi - once the
base of forces of former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
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."
"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."
Adusalam al-Tarhouni, a government worker who arrived with
the first wave of protesters, said several pickup trucks with
the group's fighters had initially confronted the protesters and
opened fire. Two protesters were shot in the leg, he said.
"After that (the fighters) got into their trucks and drove
away," he said. "When we got in, we found four prisoners in the
compound and set them free."
The demonstrators also took over a compound belonging to the
Abu Slim brigade, another independent militia, and another
compound belonging to Ansar al-Sharia.
As the wave moved from location to location, the crowd
swelled until it had reached thousands. Hundreds of vehicles
backed up a highway as youths from across Benghazi converged on
the city's western Hawari district to raid the headquarters of
another militia. Gunfire could be heard from the compound.
"We came as peaceful protesters. When we got there, they
started shooting at us," student Sanad al-Barani said. "Five
people were wounded beside me. They used 14.5 calibre machine
guns."
An ambulance driver said around seven people had been
wounded.
Thousands of Libyans had earlier marched in Benghazi in
support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that the
United States 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."
'LIBYA LOST A FRIEND'
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 California-made film that triggered
it. Some protesters' placards 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?"