Tenogirl Forum Posts

Feb 25, 2011

RE: Libya - Latest Updates

25 February 2011 Last updated at 10:04 GMT BBC News
An eyewitness account:
As the Gaddafi regime struggles to keep its grip on the Libyan capital, one Tripoli resident - who did not want to be identified for his own safety - described the latest scenes to the BBC.

'At the moment Tripoli is still calm. People have mostly stayed behind closed doors since Sunday, although banks and a few shops opened their doors on Thursday - coffee stands, mini-markets mostly.
Students have not been going to school or university since Sunday's protests, despite repeated text messages ordering all teachers to go to work.
I do not know if schools opened, but I know that not a single student was seen anywhere in public, going or coming from school.
Petrol is being rationed at the moment, car owners can only refuel to the amount of about $4 (£2.50), according to several drivers. But petrol is cheap here and for most cars used in Libya that is almost half a tank's worth for small cars or a quarter for others
In the past couple of days, some of the public buildings that have been partially burnt and still standing were white-washed in what looks to be an attempt to hide scorched parts that are visible to the naked eye from the outside.
In the areas of Fashloom, Souk al-Juma, and others but particularly the aforementioned districts, Tripoli's poorest areas, all the streets have been immaculately cleaned.

People I know well have told me that on Sunday night and Monday morning, doctors were not allowed to document any of the bodies and injured that were brought in after the violent clashes.
They say plain-clothes men stationed at all hospitals were present and collecting dead bodies as well as those who are alive but injured with bullet wounds.
Medics do not know where they were taken. Neither do the families.
There have been no funerals in Tripoli in the past few days. I was also told by reliable people that many Libyan families were forced to sign papers that declare their sons were "killed by terrorists".
People here strongly believe there is a mass grave somewhere in the city collecting the latest dead.

There has been a campaign of fear running in the capital for the past four days.
Though there is very little evidence of any presence of security forces on the streets of Tripoli in broad daylight, people are well aware that the country's most powerful brigades are surrounding the capital, including the mercenaries and other armed security personnel who are on standby at their headquarters.
A reinforced network of plain-clothes security personnel and residential "snitches" have infiltrated the few shops or coffee shops which have opened, especially in the districts which have witnessed the most violent clashes between protesters and paramilitary troops, as well as what many describe as armed government supporters.'

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