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Libyan rebels closing in on Moammar Gadhafi stronghold
03/09/2011
Rebel fighters started closing in on one of Moammar Gadhafi's last strongholds on Saturday, after Libya's opposition leader said that rebel forces will lay siege to cities loyal to the ousted dictator.
The rebels are within 10 kilometres of Bani Walid, a town which sits between Tripoli and Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte.
Rebel officials said they encountered little resistance and are trying to persuade tribal elders in Bani Walid to surrender without a fight. The officials said the town has until Sunday to surrender.
"If they don't raise the rebel flag tomorrow, we will enter with force," said Abdel Razak al-Nathori, who commands one of the brigades advancing on the town.
Adbel-Baset Naama, a rebel official, said that anti-Gadhafi fighters also moved closer to the town from the west. Rebel forces from various area towns are gathering along the approaches to Bani Walid, Naama added. He also said they have cut off access to the town in three directions.
Earlier on Saturday, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council, told reporters that his military forces will be poised to attack Bani Walid, Sirte, Jufra and Sabha.
"We are by the grace of God in a position of strength, capable of entering any city, to deploy any of our fighters in any direction," he said.
"However, in our desire to avoid bloodshed and to avoid more destruction to public properties and national institutions, we have given an ultimatum of one week to the areas of Sirte, Bani Walid, Jufra and Sabha."
Gen. Omar al-Hariri, a rebel military commander, suggested on Friday that Gadhafi might either be in a suburb of Tripoli or in Bani Walid. He also acknowledged that the former Libyan leader probably has hideouts elsewhere.
Libia inyecta dinero congelado a Gaddafi para restaurar servicios esenciales
El objetivo es pagar los salarios y facilitar créditos blandos a los comerciantes para que puedan llenar sus almacenes y tiendas de productos.
Apremiado por la falta de electricidad, agua y gasolina en grandes partes de la capital, el Consejo Nacional de Transición (CNT) libio ha inyectado "cientos de millones" de dinaro en efectivo en la economía para tratar de recuperar el ritmo de vida en la capital.
Así lo reveló a Efe el viceprimer ministro y ministro de Petróleo, Alí Tarhouni, quien explicó que el dinero procede de los fondos del antiguo régimen descongelados por países como Turquía y los Emiratos Árabes Unidos.
El objetivo es pagar los salarios y facilitar créditos blandos a los comerciantes para que puedan llenar sus almacenes y tiendas de productos, y que la actividad económica vuelva así a las calles del país.
"Ya se entregaron más de 100 millones de dólares al Banco Nacional, que se han cambiado a dinares para ayudar a los comerciantes", explicó.
El jueves, en una conferencia celebrada en París, la comunidad internacional aprobó la liberación de 15.000 millones de dólares en fondos congelados al régimen de Gaddafi para facilitar la transición en Libia.
Representantes del CNT en Trípoli señalaron que otra gran parte de esos fondos desbloqueados se destinará a la compra de gasolina y otros combustibles fósiles, principal carencia de un país rico en petróleo.
La falta de gasolina en las estaciones de bombeo es la razón de que el agua corriente sea un lujo para gran parte de los hogares capitalinos, donde pese a las carencias aún reina la felicidad y el optimismo.
"Sí, es incómodo no tener agua y tener que hacer horas de cola para comprar gasolina. Pero era peor antes, que ni siquiera podíamos hablar", explica a Efe con una amplia sonrisa Hamid al Waladani, un empleado de banca de 32 años.
Casado y con dos hijos de siete y cinco años, este sábado se muestra exultante porque ha encontrado huevos, pan recién horneado y pescado fresco en las proximidades del puerto de Trípoli.
"En poco tiempo todo habrá vuelto a la normalidad. Estoy seguro, estoy seguro de que todos los libios vamos a tener una vida mejor", agrega mientras invita a este corresponsal a compartir la comida en su hogar de clase media.
Consciente de que la restauración de los servicios esenciales es la primera batalla que debe ganar si quiere garantizar el éxito de la revolución, la autoridad de transición libia ha creado brigadas vecinales para mantener la seguridad en los barrios y limpiar las calles, atestadas de basura.
Ataviados con chalecos de color naranja, partidas de hombres eran visibles en numerosas esquinas de Trípoli llenando contenedores y escoba en mano.
El objetivo es que en un periodo no superior a dos semanas el agua corriente y la electricidad dejen de ser un lujo, las calles reluzcan y el bullicio vuelva a los parques, el paseo marítimo, los colegios y las calles comerciales.
A esa tarea han comenzado a unirse también las distintas agencias de la ONU, cuyos funcionarios ya son visibles en un país que hasta ahora se hallaba casi aislado y desacostumbrado a la presencia de tantos extranjeros en la calle.
Tanto el Programa Mundial de Alimentos como la Agencia de la ONU para la ayuda a los refugiados (ACNUR) ya operan en diversos puntos de la capital.
Ambas se han hecho cargo de la asistencia a los miles de inmigrantes, en su mayoría subsaharianos, que se han quedado atrapados y desamparados en el país.
La mayoría de ellos -y en particular los de raza negra- tienen aún mucho miedo de salir a la calle, ya que temen que las milicias los arresten y les acusen de ser ex mercenarios a sueldo del antiguo hombre fuerte del país, el coronel Muamar Gadafi.
Su situación, no obstante, es muy compleja, ya que se trata de un grupo muy heterogéneo.
"Hemos encontrado de todas las nacionalidades de África y de todas las condiciones. Hay desde personas que llevan años aquí como trabajadores legales a indocumentados que trataban de embarcarse en buques clandestinos rumbo a Europa", explica a Efe un miembro de ACNUR.
"La meta es que los que trabajaban puedan volver a sus puestos lo antes posible, ya que eran una de las principales fuerzas laborales del país en sectores como la construcción y los servicios en tiempos de Gadafi", agrega.
"El problema es qué hacer con los indocumentados. La mayoría de ellos no quieren volver a sus países de origen, y tampoco quieren quedarse en Libia", apostilla.
Libya's other wealth: Archaeological treasures
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Libya's ancient sites may be threatened by the fighting over the past few months
- One archaeologist has tried to talk to the rebels one-on-one to raise awareness
Libya's other wealth
Before Moammar Gadhafi, there were the Phoenicians. And the Greeks. The Romans. The first Arabs. They're a reminder that no civilization -- and no leader -- is forever.
The Libyan transitional leaders have a lot to deal with once they stop being rebels, and begin shaping a new Libya: Keeping law and order, setting up a rudimentary government, dealing with money -- and oil.
But what about Libya's other wealth? Its archaeological treasures?
They are all over the country.
In the south, in Acacus, rock paintings 12,000 years old cross an entire mountain range.
In the east, the city of Cyrene holds a thousand years of history -- Roman general Mark Antony once gave it to Cleopatra.
And along the coast, the splendid ruins of Leptis Magna that were buried for centuries under the sand was said to be one of the most beautiful cities of the Roman Empire.
What will happen to these sites in the days ahead? If you look at history, their fate does not bode well.
"We're very worried," said Francesco Bandarin of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, or UNESCO.
Treasure already stolen
UNESCO is like the world's watchdog for protecting historical cultural sites and property.
You might think the worst time for preserving cultural sites are when the shooting and the bombing are under way. Not so, Bandarin said, from his office in Paris.
"The conflict moment is one thing," Bandarin said. "But the post-conflict moment is more risky. There isn't an administration, you have lots of weapons all over -- and then you have the take. This is what happened in Egypt, in Iraq, in Afghanistan -- that's exactly what happens."
It's already happened in Libya. Bandarin said someone stole the most important treasure of gold and silver from the time of Alexander the Great from Benghazi -- after the city was liberated from Gadhafi.
"It's called the treasure of Benghazi ... It was in a bank in Benghazi," he said. "Can you believe that this treasure has disappeared?"
Gadhafi's forces and the opposition fought around the Roman ruins at Leptis Magna and at the ancient theater and temples at Sabratha. It's not yet clear how much damage there is.
"We can't wait to get in there and find out," Bandarin said.
Connecting the past to the future
For now, UNESCO has only its moral authority to lean on to secure the cultural heritage sites, which include 5 that are listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.
One archaeologist has been on a quiet campaign to convince Libya's new leaders to make this a priority.
Hafed Walda was born in Libya and he's based in London. A Libyan friend convinced a rebel Army officer to call Walda to talk about Libya's cultural sites -- and the need to protect them.
The officer has a high school education -- and military training in Gadhafi's Army. He didn't study the Phoenicians or the Greeks in school.
"He knows the Romans and that's it," Walda said from his office in London.
Walda said his first talk with the officer, back in March, was about the need for the rebels to protect the sites -- for future generations of Libyans. He said the officer was polite -- but blunt.
"He came out clean. He said, 'People are more important. And I cannot really tell my officers to put too much work on this, when they're worried about their families and their areas and their children.'"
But the officer agreed to talk to the archaeologist again. They kept talking - night after night.
They've spoken maybe 20 or 30 times over Skype.
The archaeologist told the officer bits of history -- but he tried not to lecture.
"I started talking about the old city in Tripoli, because he can relate to that. It's been there since the Phoenicians. So I said, you have this treasure, and you're not aware of what you have! You have the modern Libya, the Turkish Libya, and the Islamic Libya.
"So I hit on the Islamic period, because he's quite a religious man. It helps that I know the place -- so I talked about some of the Islamic places and he felt part of it. Then I talked about how they were built on top of the other things -- the Byzantines, the Romans and the Phoenicians.
"I said, 'OK, how would you feel if they bombed the Mosque of the Camel [Tripoli's oldest mosque]'?"
And Walda told the officer that that mosque was built with old Roman columns, from Roman times. He wanted the officer to know how connected everything is.
"And that's when it began to click for him, because this is what he knows."
Walda says now, the officer is a convert to protecting Libya's archaeological sites and property. But he is only one Army officer.
Walda doesn't know if it will make any difference in the coming days. But he said he had to try.
UNESCO is poised to send in a team to examine the damage to the sites as soon as it's safe to do so, and they're planning a large international meeting in October to explore the future of Libya's archaeological sites.
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