Libya protests: Gaddafi's son warns of civil war

His comments came in a lengthy TV address to the nation broadcast as anti-government protests spread to the capital Tripoli.

He admitted that the police and army had made "mistakes", but said the death toll was far lower than reported.

He said opposition groups and outsiders were trying to transform Libya into a group of small states. If they succeeded, he said, foreign investment would stop and living standards would drop drastically.

Sayf Gaddafi also criticised the foreign media for what he termed their exaggeration of the extent of the violence in Libya.

Heavy gunfire could be heard across Tripoli on Sunday evening, and witnesses spoke of tear gas and live ammunition being used against protesters by the security forces.

In the hours before Sayf Gaddafi's speech was broadcast, crowds in Tripoli could be heard chanting slogans calling for the toppling of the regime.

Verifying information from Libya has been difficult amid a government clampdown on the internet and media communications, but credible reports suggest a police station in the capital was burnt down and a building belonging to the country's ruling party was also attacked and set ablaze.

Security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition in the Gourghi area of the city, according to witnesses, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Benghazi, the country's second city, appears to be largely under the control of protesters after four days of unrest. Unconfirmed reports say an army general there has defected to the opposition.

Hospitals in the city are said to be struggling to cope with casualties, with one doctor saying he had received 50 bodies on Sunday afternoon alone.

Libya's envoy to the Arab League, Abdel Moneim al-Honi, also announced he was "joining the revolution" in "protest against the acts of repression and violence against demonstrators".

In his rambling TV address - the first comment on the unrest by a senior figure from the Libyan leadership - Sayf Gaddafi poured scorn on protesters, talking of "drunkards and thugs" driving tanks about the streets of Benghazi.

"Libya is not Tunisia or Egypt," he declared.

He accused "opposition elements" living abroad of trying to initiate an Egypt-style Facebook revolution and said security forces had pre-empted the plot.

Troops had opened fire on protesters because they were not trained to handle civil unrest, he argued.

But he warned that if a civil war started, Libyans would be "mourning hundreds and thousands of casualties", and Libya would slide back to "colonial" rule. Kazinform cites BBC. See www.bbc.uk.co for full version