Machine-gunned by his mercenaries; Fifty more Libya deaths take toll above 300 as mourners are massacred.(News)

Byline: Nabila Ramdani, Vanessa Allen

MORE than 300 Libyans had lost their lives by last night in the Gaddafi regime's brutal response to protests against his rule.

The dictator unleashed commandos and mercenaries to massacre his own people as he sought desperately to hold on to power.

Security forces yesterday fired machine guns at funeral corteges for the second consecutive day.

Witnesses described a cycle of violence in which protesters were killed on the streets and troops then opened fire on the crowds who gathered to mourn them.

At least 50 deaths were reported yesterday alone, following five days of demonstrations. Another 900 people were thought to have been injured.

The biggest challenge to Gaddafi's 41-year rule has been in the eastern port of Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, which was described as a 'war zone'. But there have also been uprisings in nearby al-Bayda and Darnah. And last night there were even reports of protests in the leader's stronghold, the capital Tripoli.

Libya has taken the most brutal approach to the popular revolts sweeping through the Middle East.

In Bahrain, thousands set up a 'tent city' in Pearl Square in the capital Manama after days of unrest which left six dead. Thousands of troops were deployed in the Iranian capital Tehran to stop anti-government rallies.

Protests also hit Yemen and Tunisia, and the unrest spread to Morocco for the first time. Thousands marched in the capital Rabat, demanding greater democratic reform, and there were demonstrations in Casablanca and Marrakesh. Some 3,500 UK nationals live in Libya, mostly in Tripoli, and many have fled their homes to return to Britain.

The Foreign Office said 50 people in eastern Libya were being helped to 'a place of safety'.

It has warned against non-essential travel to the country and urged Britons to leave unless they had a 'pressing need' to stay.

The bloodiest scenes were in Benghazi, where tens of thousands gathered to bury the protesters killed in clashes on Friday and Saturday and there were claims that troops were forced to retreat to their barracks, leaving demonstrators in control of the streets.

Government buildings were ransacked, a witness said, adding: 'The city is in a state of civil mutiny.' Officially, the national death toll was 173, but a doctor in Benghazi said she had seen 208 bodies brought into her hospital in one night.

The woman, from the Jalaa hospital, said: 'It's really a massacre. You can't count them, they're everywhere.' Journalists have been barred from entering the country and the government in Tripoli has shut down international news broadcasters and internet providers, and disrupted mobile phone networks.

Witnesses described seeing helicopter gunships, tanks and mercenaries from Chad and Sudan deployed against demonstrators armed with antique Arabic sabres and Molotov cocktails.

There were also unconfirmed reports of women and children leaping to their deaths from bridges to escape being gunned down.

Meanwhile, state television broadcast images from an alleged pro-Gaddafi demonstration in Tripoli and showed peaceful scenes in Benghazi of empty streets and grass being watered.

Government text messages were sent to mobile phone users, saying: 'We congratulate those who understand that interfering with national unity threatens the future of generations.'

CAPTION(S):

Firepower: Guns and rocket grenades on the streets of Benghazi yesterday

Charismatic: Gaddafi visiting Italy with one of his Amazonian Guard