JNN 16 Feb 2011 : Libyan security forces have clashed with thousands of pro-democracy protesters and arrested scores of opposition supporters in the Libyan city of Benghazi.

Clashes erupted on Tuesday night after police forces detained an outspoken critic Fethi Tarbel, of President Muammar Gaddafi.

Medics say at least 40 people were injured in clashes between the government vigilantes and protesters.

The demonstrators chanted anti-government slogans and set fire to vehicles.

Libyans are reportedly planning to hold mass rallies on Thursday, as the people-powered revolution continues to sweep the Arab World.

The demonstrations come days after a revolution ousted president Hosni Mubarak from power in Egypt.

Media Reports say Gaddafi fears his country may soon face protests similar to those in Tunisia and Egypt.

Sources say Gaddafi has held a series of meetings in recent days with top officials within his regime to discuss concerns in the event of large-scale protests.

Gaddafi has been in power for over 40 years after assuming control in a military coup during the 1960s.

A recent report published in Mail Online under the title “Now even Mad Dog Gaddafi faces a Day of Rage” writes that even Libyans are now daring to hope that the 41-year-long rule of Gaddafi might be coming to an end.

The report added that underground opposition groups and civil society movements were planning to hold mass pro-democracy protests in major cities across the country in the coming days.

“Behind the closed doors of their homes, they discussed whether the winds of change might blow through their own country,” the report said.

The online edition of  Libya’s privately owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi, reported that demonstrators had petrol bombs and threw stones.

“There were about 500 or 600 people involved. They went to the revolutionary committee (local government headquarters) in Sabri district, and they tried to go to the central revolutionary committee … They threw stones,” he said.

A video clip posted on the YouTube site by someone who said it was recorded in Benghazi on Tuesday night showed a crowd of people outside what looked like a government building chanting:La ilaha il lal lah “No God but there is only One God!” and “Corruption is the enemy of God.”

Quryna newspaper said people demanding the release of the rights activist, Fethi Tarbel, were armed with petrol bombs and threw stones at police in Benghazi’s Shajara square

People in Benghazi and the region around it have a history of distrust of Gaddafi’s rule. Of the hundreds of people jailed in Libya over the past decade for membership of banned Islamist militant groups, many are from the city.