Travellers warned as violence rages in Libya

The travel advice for Libya has been upgraded to urge Australians to reconsider their need to travel to all areas of the country outside Tripoli, as the death toll from four days of violent protests topped 100.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has warned there is an unsettled security situation and the threat of a terrorist attack.

Travellers are being urged to exercise a high degree of caution in the capital Tripoli.

The unrest, the worst in Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's four decades in power, started out as a series of protests inspired by popular revolts in neighbouring Egypt and Tunisia but was met by a fierce security crackdown.

The bloodshed peaked in Libya's second city of Benghazi on Saturday when mourners heading to the funerals of people killed by security forces targeted a military barracks on the route to the cemetery.

They threw firebombs at the barracks and troops responded with live rounds in which "at least 12 people were killed and many more injured," said Ramadan Briki, chief editor of the Libyan newspaper Quryna, citing security sources.

Human Rights Watch raised its death toll from the previous 84 to 104 after the incident.

It said that death toll, compiled from interviews with witnesses and hospital officials, was "conservative."

The Libyan government has not released any casualty figures or made any official comment on the violence.

A Benghazi hospital doctor said victims had suffered severe wounds from high-velocity rifles.

Another witness, who said he had helped take victims to hospital in Benghazi, said the country is "in the midst of a massacre".

Speaking to Al Jazeera television, a Benghazi resident warned that the flashpoint city was turning into a scene of "out of sight massacres".

"It feels like an open warzone between protesters and security forces," said Fathi Terbeel, a protest organiser in Benghazi.

"Our numbers show that more than 200 people have been killed ... God have mercy on them."

Witnesses in Benghazi say security forces are now confined to a compound from which snipers were firing at protesters.

One woman says she is scared of what will happen to protesters when no-one is watching.

"In the absence of international media, we know what happens to anybody here," she said.

"We will be wiped out. We plead to the international human organisations and to the UN, please, please, we don't have weapons but they will kill us, they will wipe out Benghazi."

World leaders, including US president Barack Obama, have condemned the violence and are urging restraint.

In London, British foreign secretary William Hague described reports that heavy weapons fire and sniper units were being used against demonstrators as "clearly unacceptable and horrifying".

Protests rage

In Bahrain, the Crown Prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has appeared on national television calling for calm.

It comes as thousands of protesters stream back into Pearl Square in the capital, to continue anti-government demonstrations.

Riot police who had earlier used tear gas and opened fire on demonstrators, are now pulling back and leaving the square on orders from the prince.

He has promised protesters' their demands will be addressed.

"Bahraini people, I hope that we can cooperate and unite and communicate with all political forces in the country," he said.

"Help us to calm down the situation in order to declare a day of mourning for those we lost yesterday."

In other parts of the Arab world, violent demonstrations continue to rage.

In Iraq 10 protesters were injured in clashes with Kurdish security forces in the latest violent rally, calling for officials to combat graft and improve basic services, after protests earlier in the week left two dead.

Authorities in Djibouti have detained three top opposition leaders the day after a rally to demand regime change erupted into violence that left two dead.

In Kuwait, riot police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of stateless Arabs who demonstrated for a second day demanding basic rights and citizenship.

Meanwhile, thousands of Moroccans are expected to join nationwide protests on Sunday to demand that King Mohammed hand some of his powers to a newly elected government and make the justice system more independent.