Foodstuffs prices skyrocketing in Libya

PanARMENIAN.Net - Residents of Libya's capital say prices for basic foodstuffs are skyrocketing and long lines form at bakeries for rationed bread as Moammar Gadhafi loyals clamp down in Tripoli.

One resident said that the price of rice, a main staple, has gone up 500 percent amid the crisis, reaching the equivalent of $40 for a five kilogram (10 pound) bag. Bakeries are limited to selling five loafs of bread per family. She said most Tripoli residents are staying in their homes as pro-Gadhafi security forces man checkpoints around the city of 2 million, The Associated Press reports.

The Libyan regime has been battling protesters demanding Gadhafi's ouster, with the country's east now under the control of rebels backed by troops who have defected.