Libya: Some Still Sing for Gaddafi

0

People take part in a protest at Martyr?s Square in Tripoli, against transforming the country into a federal state 9 March 2012.

New Libyan media outlets broadcast remotely still pledge their allegiance to the former dictator while attacks are carried out in Libya allegedly sponsored by former regime supporters living abroad.

In a few months Libyans will celebrate the second anniversary of the February 17 revolution which brought down Muammar Gaddafi?s regime.

There will be an official celebration on Libyan satellite television channels which now number over 30.

No one knows how the event will be marked on two recently launched stations ? Al-Wadi (The Valley) and Watanna (Our Homeland) ? that broadcast from Cairo.

Initially, Al-Wadi was perceived as an ordinary Libyan channel with no particular sympathy for the country?s former dictator.

However, at the beginning of Ramadan, pro-Gaddafi presenters ? who had fled to Egypt when the opposition stormed Tripoli ? began to appear on its screen.

The most notable were Widyan and Ashraf al-Sherif, who took the opportunity to heap abuse on the revolutionaries.

Widyan was captured by rebel forces when they entered the Libyan capital, but she was released, fleeing to Tunisia and then to Egypt.

There, she met some of the former regime?s supporters and set up a television station with them, sponsored by Libyan businessmen from Bani Walid who were close to Gaddafi.

On the last night of Ramadan, Widyan appeared on screen with Ashraf Sherif. Behind them was a large map of the Jamahiriyya, the Gaddafi-inspired political system imposed on Libya.

They discussed Eid al-Fitr rituals in every city. When it came to Tripoli, Widyan pointed her finger at Omar al-Mukhtar Street in the capital. She then repeated this bizarre gesture.

The next day, on the first morning of Eid, the capital woke up to two car bombs in the very same street.

A clip of her gesture then made the rounds on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, where the majority of users took it to be a clear reference to the explosions.

Send your news stories to [email protected] Follow News Ghana on Google News

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here