* Headquarters of Islamist Ansar al-Sharia group targeted
* Group was linked to last week's attack on U.S. consulate
* Libyans march in Benghazi to support democracy
BENGHAZI, Libya, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A Libyan Islamist
militia was swept out of the eastern city of Benghazi in a
popular protest against the armed groups that ran into the early
hours of Saturday morning, Reuters witnesses said.
Looters carried weapons out of the vacated Ansar al-Sharia
military base compound as men clapped and chanted: "Say to Ansar
al-Sharia, Benghazi will be your inferno."
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.
The 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 on Friday.
Chanting "Libya, Libya," hundreds of demonstrators entered,
pulling down militia flags and torching a vehicle inside Ansar
al-Sharia's headquarters in Benghazi - once the base of forces
of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, which tried to put down the
first protests that sparked last year's uprising.
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," demonstrator Hassan
Ahmed said. "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 they got into their trucks and drove away," he
said, adding protesters had freed four prisoners found inside.
As protesters left Ansar al-Sharia's headquarters, the crowd
swelled, reaching thousands as it headed toward its military
base, which was shared with another militia group.
Protesters said the militiamen opened fire as they arrived
and several people were wounded.
An ambulance driver said around seven people had been
wounded. "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."
After the crowd entered that compound, Libyan army trucks
sped away from the base carrying government troops cheering in
victory and crying out, "God is greatest."
Vigilantes armed with machetes and clubs blocked the highway
leading away from the compound, stopping cars to prevent looters
from driving off with heavy weapons.
"We went into the camp and we didn't find anyone. We just
took these Kalashnikovs," said one youth of the rifles.
The demonstrators also took over a compound belonging to the
Abu Slim brigade and another Ansar al-Sharia compound.
"RESCUE BENGHAZI"
Thousands of Libyans had marched in Benghazi on Friday 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.
Friday's "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," student Ahmed Sanallah said. "Without that there
will be no prosperity and no success for the new Libya."
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.
Slain 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 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
demonstration, 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 had fought U.S. troops in Iraq where
he was arrested, sent back to Libya and jailed for three years.
One banner at the Ansar al-Sharia demonstration read: "Day
to rescue Benghazi or day to rescue America?"