What's Happening in Libya Explained
In mid February, Libyan dissident Najla Aburrahman begged Western media to pay attention to the
bloodbath unfolding in her country. "If the Libyan protesters are ignored," she wrote, "the fear is that
[Libyan dictator Moammar] Qaddafi—a man who appears to care little what the rest of the world thinks
of him—will be able to seal the country off from foreign observers, and ruthlessly crush any uprising
before it even has a chance to begin."
Why are Libyans unhappy?
Libya has been ruled for 42 years by a cunning, repressive, eccentric dictator who has frequently
described his own people as "backwards." More than half of his 6.5 million subjects are under 18.
Despite Libya's plentiful oil revenues, which represent most of the national budget, many children suffer
from malnutrition and anemia. Under Qaddafi's regime, corruption was rampant, dissidents were
brutally suppressed, and many citizens were afraid to say Qaddafi's name in public or in private for fear
of attracting suspicion. Instead, Qaddafi was often referred to as "the leader" and his son Seif (until now
heir-apparent) as "the principal." Discussing national policy with a foreigner was punishable with three
years in prison. Reporters Without Borders described press freedom in Qaddafi's Libya as "virtually
non-existent."
Oil is the economy in Libya and oil profits have bankrolled massive investments in education and
infrastructure—yet Libya lags far behind other oil-rich Arab states. Unemployment recently stood at 30
percent. People who have jobs often work only part-time. Basic commodities—including rice, sugar,
flour, gasoline—were heavily subsidized by Qaddafi's government and sold for a fraction of their true
cost. A 2006 article in The New Yorker described Libya's "prosperity without employment and large
population of young people without a sense of purpose."
How did all this start?
Inspired by pro-democracy uprisings across the Arab world, Libyan dissidents had planned a "day of
rage" for Thursday, Feb. 17. On February 15, security forces arrested a prominent lawyer named Fathi
Terbil, who had represented families of some of the 1,200 prisoners massacred by Libyan security forces
at Abu Slim prison in 1996. Once released later that day, Terbil set up a webcam overlooking Benghazi's
main square, where some of the families had been protesting. With help from exiled Libyans in Canada
and around the world, the video spread rapidly on the Internet.
Al Jazeera Arabic conducted a phone interview with Libyan novelist Idris al-Mesmari, who reported that
police were shooting at protesters—and then the connection was lost. (Mesmari was reportedly arrested
by Libyan authorities.) Shortly thereafter, thousands more began battling Qaddafi's troops, and hundreds
are reported to have been killed. "Both protesters and the security forces have reason to believe that
backing down will likely mean their ultimate death or imprisonment," says the New York Times. NATO
entered the conflict on March 19, after UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which authorized military
intervention to protect civilians, was adopted.
Libya unrest: Scores killed in Benghazi 'massacre'
Details have emerged of huge casualty figures in the Libyan city of Benghazi, where troops have
launched a brutal crackdown on protesters. More than 200 people are known to have died, doctors say,
with 900 injured. The most bloody attacks were reported over the weekend, as funeral marches were
said to have come under machine-gun and heavy weapons fire. One doctor, speaking amid the sound of
fresh gunfire on Sunday, told the BBC that "a real massacre" had happened. Human Rights Watch says
at least 173 people have been killed in Libya since demonstrations began on Wednesday.
"We are working to ascertain the facts, but we have received multiple credible reports that hundreds of
people have been killed and injured in several days of unrest - and the full extent of the death toll is
unknown due to the lack of access of international media and human rights organisations," spokesperson
Philip Crowley said in a statement.
In a rare public admission of the unrest in Benghazi, Libyan state TV said on Sunday that an "armed
people's base" in the city had come under attack and had its walls breached. That news emerged as anti-
Gaddafi activists on Twitter reported that a barracks in Benghazi had "fallen". There was no way to
confirm that report.
Libyan authorities have imposed severe media restrictions. Foreign media are largely absent from the
country and internet traffic from Libya has been throttled in recent days, web analysts report. Libyan
activists opposed to Col Gaddafi, as well as Libyans operating from outside the country, are using social
networks Twitter and Facebook and video-sharing site YouTube to share information and images of the
protests. But much of their information is extremely difficult to verify. Activists say they are reluctant
to provide specific details of new protest locations in case security forces decide to attack their rallies.
Reports are beginning to emerge of protests in the capital, Tripoli, but information is scarce and difficult
to confirm. One woman, who gave her name as Sara, told the BBC the situation in the city was "very
tense and very scary". "Tripoli is very important, it's got people from all over Libya. Everybody's
watching and waiting. Gaddafi makes us sick. This is a war," she said.
The doctor in Benghazi, known as Braikah, described to the BBC how casualties had been brought to
the city's Jala hospital - most of them with gunshot wounds. "Ninety per cent of these gunshot wounds
[were] mainly in the head, the neck, the chest, mainly in the heart," she said.
She said the Jala hospital mortuary had 208 bodies and another hospital had 12. However, it is not clear
whether all of these bodies stem from Saturday's violence.
Another doctor told the Associated Press news agency of similar numbers of bodies, but said they had
been taken to the morgue since the violence began earlier in the week. As Braikah spoke to the BBC
she said new gunfire was audible within Benghazi, alleging that security forces were firing on crowds of
people attempting to bury some of those killed in recent days. Her account could not be confirmed, but
many of Saturday's deaths are thought to have happened in the same way. Witnesses said troops had
used machine-guns, mortars, large-calibre weapons, and even a missile, against the mourners.
Opposition supporters said the attack was unprovoked, although security sources suggested some
protesters had thrown firebombs at a government compound.