Gadhafi's "voluptuous blond" his his keep Says She's Going Home Benghazi: Libya's Liberated Cit

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On the heels of news reports that Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was arming civilian supporters against the protesters, now comes news that military forces loyal to Gaddafi are shooting people from ambulances and using antiaircraft guns against crowds of demonstrators in Tripoli, according to witnesses. Furthermore, the government is alleged to have removed dead bodies—as well as the wounded—from hospitals in an effort to disguise the rapidly increasing death toll in the country. According to Heba Morayef, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, top officials of the biggest Tripoli hospitals remain loyal to Gaddafi and are underestimating the number of fatalities. There have also been unconfirmed reports that an armed rebel force, rumored to be around 2,000 men, is headed for Tripoli on Saturday. The U.N. is meeting to consider multinational sanctions against Gaddafi, including arms and asset freezes and travel bans, and several countries, including the U.S., France, Germany, and Britain, have pressured the International Criminal Court to investigate alleged crimes against humanity.

PROTESTERS IN BENGHAZI, A MAJOR CITY IN THE EAST, FOUGHT THE GOVERNMENT AND WON. NOW THEY’RE BUILDING THEIR FUTURE. BABAK DEHGHANPISHEH REPORTS FROM “FREE LIBYA.” PLUS, SHOCKING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS FROM LIBYA’S STREETS.
THE YOUNG MEN IN THE BLACK TOYOTA CAMRY SPEED DOWN THE SEASIDE ROAD, THE THUNDERING WAVES UNABLE TO DROWN OUT THE SOUND OF THEIR FIRING GUNS. ACROSS THE ROAD, A MAN WEARING GREEN CAMOUFLAGE PANTS AND A CHECKERED BLACK-AND-WHITE KEFFIYEH LIFTS HIS AK-47 AND BLASTS AN ENTIRE CLIP IN THE AIR.
OPPOSITION PROTESTERS IN BENGHAZI, LIBYA, ON FRIDAY. (HUSSEIN MALLA / AP PHOTO)
THIS ISN’T A BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF THE TOWN; IT’S A CELEBRATION IN EASTERN LIBYA WHICH PROTESTERS HAVE LIBERATED FROM THE GOVERNMENT’S CONTROL. AT THE BORDER WITH EGYPT, BLACK GRAFFITI SCRAWLED ON A WALL TELLS VISITORS ABOUT THE TERRITORY THEY’RE ABOUT TO ENTER: “FREE LIBYA.” AND PROUD FIGHTERS IN MISMATCHED UNIFORMS SCRAMBLE TO HAVE THEIR PICTURES TAKEN IN FRONT OF THEIR HANDIWORK. “IMAGINE SOMEBODY HAS TIED YOUR HANDS AND BLINDFOLDED YOU FOR 42 YEARS,” SAYS COL. ADEL BEN OMRAN, 49, AN AIR FORCE OFFICER WHO DESERTED TO JOIN THE PROTESTERS. “AND THEN THEY UNTIE YOU. IT’S LIKE YOU’RE IN HEAVEN.”
IN BENGHAZI ITSELF, MEN HANG OFF A SEAFRONT WALL, CLAPPING AND SINGING BOISTEROUSLY OUT OF TUNE. FAMILIES WAVE THE GREEN, BLACK, AND RED FLAG OF LIBYA THAT DATES BACK TO THE TIME OF THE MONARCHY. POSTERS AND EFFIGIES MOCKING THE COUNTRY’S PSYCHOTIC LEADER MUAMMAR GADDAFI ARE UBIQUITOUS. ONE MAN HAS TIED A GREEN SCARF, THE COLOR OF GADDAFI’S FLAG, AROUND THE NECK OF HIS DOG. “THIS IS AN INSULT TO THE DOG,” HE SAYS WITH A GRIN.
BENGHAZI, AS ITS RESIDENTS LOVE TO POINT OUT, IS THE TOWN WHERE IT ALL BEGAN. PROTESTS KICKED OFF WHEN A PROMINENT LAWYER WAS DETAINED ON FEB. 15, AND QUICKLY SPREAD AFTER ACTIVISTS CALLED FOR A NATIONWIDE ANTI-REGIME RALLY TWO DAYS LATER. WITHIN A WEEK, DISENCHANTED YOUTHS, POLITICAL ACTIVISTS, DISGRUNTLED TRIBAL LEADERS AND—PERHAPS MOST IMPORTANTLY—DEFECTING MILITARY LEADERS WRESTED CONTROL OF LARGE SWATHS OF EASTERN LIBYA, SHAKING THE REGIME OF ONE OF THE MOST BRUTAL DESPOTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
ONE MAN HAS TIED A GREEN SCARF, THE COLOR OF GADDAFI’S FLAG, AROUND THE NECK OF HIS DOG. “THIS IS AN INSULT TO THE DOG,” HE SAYS WITH A GRIN.
THE UPRISING IN LIBYA WAS INSPIRED IN PART BY THE RECENT UPRISINGS IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT; ORGANIZERS EVEN TOOK A PAGE FROM THEIR FELLOW PROTESTERS’ PLAYBOOK. IN LIBYA, YOUNG ACTIVISTS RALLIED SUPPORTERS THROUGH A FACEBOOK PAGE CALLED THE “GRANDCHILDREN OF AL MUKHTAR,” A REFERENCE TO OMAR MUKHTAR, A BELOVED ANTI-COLONIAL HERO.
BUT THAT MAY BE WHERE THE SIMILARITIES WITH THE OTHER UPRISINGS END. GADDAFI HAS MORE IN COMMON WITH SADDAM HUSSEIN THAN HE DOES WITH HOSNI MUBARAK OR TUNISIA’S ZINE AL ABEDDINE BEN ALI. LIKE HUSSEIN, THE LIBYAN DICTATOR SKILLFULLY AND BRUTALLY PLAYED RIVAL TRIBAL GROUPS AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR YEARS AND, LIKE HUSSEIN, GADDAFI WASN’T SHY ABOUT USING VIOLENCE ON HIS OWN PEOPLE TO CLAMP DOWN ON DISSENT. IN BENGHAZI, THAT MEANT MOWING DOWN PROTESTERS WITH ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS.
OPPOSITION FIGHTERS EAGERLY SHOW OFF THE 14.5 MM ROUNDS THEY’VE FOUND AROUND THE CITY, AS WELL AS STOMACH-CHURNING VIDEOS OF SHREDDED BODIES. THE QUESTION THAT MANY LIBYANS ASK IS WHO EXACTLY IS BEHIND THESE HORRIFIC ATTACKS. MANY BLAME THEMURTAZEQA, OR MERCENARIES.
JIHAD GATLAWI, A 26-YEAR OLD BUSINESSMAN, WAS AMONG THE DEMONSTRATORS IN CENTRAL BENGHAZI LAST WEEK AND TELLS OF SEEING HUNDREDS OF MEN IN YELLOW HARDHATS ATTACKING PROTESTERS WITH PISTOLS AND STICKS. “I SAW THEM SHOOTING AND BEATING PEOPLE ALL AROUND ME,” SAYS GATLAWI, GESTURING HIS HANDS WILDLY TO RECREATE THE CHAOTIC SCENE. “I COULDN’T BELIEVE MY EYES.” MANY, HE SAYS, APPEARED TO BE FOREIGNERS.readmore Gadhafi's "voluptuous blond" his his keep Says She's Going Home Benghazi: Libya's Liberated Cit