An estimated 6000 people have been killed so far in Libya's two-week-long popular uprising against the 42-year-old regime of Muammar Qadhafi, the Libyan Human Rights League said on Wednesday.
"Victims in the whole country were 6000," Ali Zeidan, a spokesman for the Libyan Human Rights League told reporters at a joint press conference with the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
Zeidan noted that victims included some 3000 people killed in the capital Tripoli, 2000 in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, and 1000 in various other cities.
"This is what people told us, but it might be more," he added.
UN chief Ban Ki-Moon said on Friday that more than 1000 people had already been killed in the bloodshed. Libya's deputy UN envoy, for his part, has said that "thousands" had lost their lives.
Qadhafi on Wednesday blamed "Al-Qaeda" for creating the turmoil, warning adoring supporters of a conspiracy aimed at taking control of Libya and its oil.
Qadhafi, who has said that no more than 150 people had been killed in unrest caused by "terrorists," told an audience of loyalists in a speech broadcast live on state television that if the US or other foreign powers entered Libya they would face a "bloody war."
Zeidan said there were thousands of foreign mercenaries currently deployed in Libya, including 3000 in Tripoli and another 3000 on the city's outskirts, allegedly under the command of officers from Chad, Libya's southern neighbor.
The FIDH has said that at least 3000 people had been killed in the troubled North African nation.
The international rights watchdog said it was still trying to confirm the reports on which it had based its estimate. The group has promised to issue a more detailed breakdown of casualties at a later date.
