Anti-government Protests Spread to Libya

TRIPOLI, Libya  — Hundreds of Libyan protesters have taken to the streets of the country's second largest city to demand the government's ouster in the first sign that the region's unrest has spread to the North African Arab nation.

Witnesses say protesters in the port city of Benghazi chanted slogans Wednesday demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi. There were no calls, however, for longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi to step down.

As in the Egyptian and Tunisian uprisings, Libyans are using social networking websites like Facebook to call for a day of protests on Thursday.

There was no word of Wednesday's unrest on Libya's official news agency. It said only that supporters of Gadhafi were demonstrating in the capital, in Benghazi and in other cities.