In February 2011 Libyans and the world watched how the rebels in Benghazi stormed the army barracks or Fadil Katiba, a few days after the flame of the revolution inspired by the “Arab Spring” was lighted; and one of the hallmarks of that rebellion against the Gaddafi regime for which the residents of Libya’s second largest city continue to derive pride from is that it took them only three days to liberate themselves after overcoming the “Katiba”.
Attacking the Katiba of course required immense courage and self-sacrifice. Though if the army holding it had not backed off or joined the rebels it would have been another story most probably resulting in carnage. Most of the Libyan military in that part of the country either joined the rebellion or stayed put somewhere. I like to believe that this was not out of fear but rather to avoid further bloodshed when they realised that the protesters were innocent civilians and some probably family members. This shows that the army/police held off to save lives and that they cared about their compatriots. Another example are the Libyan pilots that Gaddafi sent to bomb Benghazi who also aborted their mission and defected to Malta. They never shelled their own compatriots in the east of the country.
In 2011, I was scared to death of what the Gaddafi forces would do, but when I saw and read about how they behaved in the Katiba during those early days full of confusion and the large number of defectors from their ranks who rebelled against dictatorship and the personal stories experienced by others across Tripoli and other cities, one of which was to save my own mother’s life in 2011, I knew there was hope in them and that blood is not water as the proverb says. My morale was boosted and I felt that since many of these well trained combatants had their hearts in the right place we would eventually be fine when the war ends and they felt safe to rejoin the Libyan society without fear or intimidation or vengeful retaliation.
Unfortunately, after the NATO intervention and the conclusion of the 2011 war with the brutal killing of Gaddafi, the police, military and other members of the security apparatus and even ordinary employees of the Libyan government were systematically mistreated and mistrusted regardless if they had defected or stayed home. There were also many revenge missions on entire cities accused of having aided or abetted Gadaffi loyalists . This injustice which was not unanimously condoned contributed to further breaking the social bonds in the country.
In the second half of 2012 the honeymoon period ended brutally with the slow rise and infiltration of the Islamists tendencies in many parts of the country who were of course emboldened by their major contribution to the liberation of the country from Gaddafi and their goal to seize an opportunity to have a say in Libyan politics. Though Libyans showed many times at the ballot that they were against this lot, many did not effectively stand up to them in real life whether in Benghazi, Tripoli or any other city. After all this group was mostly harassing women, burial grounds , banking methods, social behaviour by favouring polygamy and therefore those topics were seen to be secondary to the all important ones of having a constitution and disarmament.
Local homegrown Islamist militias in Benghazi started to increasingly terrorise the city in that period with assassinations and kidnapping and especially in 2013 and were courageously repelled by the civilian population. According to the narrative they were helped by their ideological buddies from Misrata with supplies, but they were definitely locals fighting their own people in their own city. Tripoli at that time was full of the militia rebels which had descended on it from all cities and of course liked what they saw and stopped wanting to leave. Who would blame them? Imagine you live in a remote village in the US and you arrive in New York as a hero and get to enjoy it for free since you have military power ? The militias in Tripoli having outlived their welcome became burdensome and started meddling in politics/economy/international relations/day to day life in addition to each seeking personal gains or favours for their area, region, city or positions….Each time fighting with each other and resulting in damage to some part of Tripoli and to the death of civilians, until Tripoli residents had enough and stood up to them in the last quarter of 2013 resulting of course in the massacre of civilians in Gargour.
During the election in 2014, the Islamists who lost again contested the results and militias that had backed off mostly from Misrata descended on Tripoli, destroyed Tripoli international airport and other infrastructure and resulted in the evacuation of most companies and foreign institutions and international community from Libya to Tunisia. The parliament which was elected by the voters had to run to Tobruk as it was not welcome in Benghazi ( not sure why) and the ruling entity in Tripoli re-shuffled and re-arranged themselves to satisfy the invaders of 2014 .. Meanwhile in Benghazi, FM Haftar had started to rise as he promised to eradicate terrorists/Islamists who were playing havoc in Benghazi and he was joined by his tribe but also by numerous numbers from the old Libyan military (Gaddafi army) and several rebel militias in Benghazi in the Karama operation.
The Karama operation, regardless of personal ambition ( everyone has them) sounded like a better deal than the Fajr guys who destroyed the peace in Tripoli. Karama was an alliance led by members of the Libyan army. The same army that refused to kill its own sons and daughters in 2011. It therefore respected its people, it wanted to be part of Libya, it wanted to have a vital role in saving the country from the people who led it to the abyss and since the Benghazinos trusted it and did not mind the means it was taking to clean up their city, I felt that Libya would be in good hands if the military rule returned to it once again. After all many seemed to agree that it was the only way to get rid of undemocratic usurpers ( I know it sounds like an oxymoron but when you are desperate for peace any straw helps). Then the UN surprised us with another addition: the GNA ! So we had HOR in Tobruk, Libyan Army in Benghazi, parliament of 2014 post Fajr in Tripoli and then GNA in Tripoli and not sure how many warlords in the south. The Libyan Army ( with whoever was allied to it ) in Benghazi was busy for many years fighting a war in that city. Sometimes it was difficult to figure out who was killing who and we prayed that they knew what they were doing and since this was the will of the residents of Benghazi then it was good. Meanwhile Misrata was busy rooting out ISIS from Sirte with logistical support from western countries. The militias in Tripoli on the other hand were busy fighting each other over turf and making life difficult for its residents with a battle breaking out once or twice a year….. No one was able to make them join a real army or be under one commander nor disarm. I have no idea where the old Libyan army from that part of the country was ? Probably in exile or just hiding in other cities… Tripoli residents were increasing from an influx of IDPs from Benghazi, Derna, Sirte, Tawergha, Sebha etc… either running away from war or seeking better economic opportunities. Tripoli residents were increasingly suffering since 2014 not only from the strain of overpopulation but also from power cuts, fuel shortages, water cuts, lack of cash in banks, 200% rise in prices, gigantic inflation.. etc… It was not sustainable…but they were not much able to do anything about the militias as these became part of the mechanism of various authorities in the city controlling things. Each battle between the militias weakened one faction until the Misratis mostly left back to their town and we ended up with our own local militias as the best employer in town. One day another militia from outside Tripoli, from the city of Tarhouna decided to take a chance too in late 2018, they were repelled with heavy losses on both sides. Apparently the bulk of the Libyan army from the west of the country was part of that invading militia. In the meantime efforts all over the country and internationally were being made to finally getting all Libyan factions to meet around a peace table inside Libya -for once instead of the circus rigmarole of other cites in Europe/Africa/Asia. A few days before this peace process took place, the Libyan Army in the east of Libya which had emerged victorious in Benghazi and Sebha ( south) surprised the residents of Tripoli and the world with an attack on the city.
To be honest a large number of Tripolitanian city dwellers myself amongst them had trust in this army and its noble aspirations. After all let us not forget that it contained numerous elements of the old Libyan army ( as mentioned before) who showed restraint and humanity towards their compatriots and therefore we believed in its nobility especially after seeing all the footage of the training of cadets in Benghazi and elsewhere and how professional they all looked. I imagined the Libyan Army marching beautifully into Tripoli in a show of strength to save us. The civilians are unarmed so will not put up a fight especially if they are anticipating and waiting for the protector and to join the ranks.. But the timing was weird and the combatants did not look like the forces we saw on TV and there was no peaceful entrance into the city. The first thing done was shell civilian infrastructure making life so much harder and changing the whole scenario. Still people were hopeful there must be a plan…. The commander of the Libyan army had promised to protect the city, to spare civilians, he said that he was there for us and we had every reason to trust him. In order for stability to prevail many agreed that Libya must be ruled by one entity and the people have had it with the misery brought forth by militias but we also learned to live with them in anticipation of the success of the talks that would help divide the resources and power equitably among Libyans - since this was the main reason of most of the disagreements. The problem is that the liberation of Tripoli did not take the 48hrs promised but has dragged on since April 2019 and we are now already in January 2020. It brought with it foreign mercenaries and interventions and arms sales from different countries. It brought with it so much hate speech and Tripoli residents don’t know why is there such hatred if they are the victims and a whole army has moved 1000 km in order to liberate and protect them. They want the protection of the army, they want to be saved by their Libyan army and they want it to be just and humane and professional like it did in 2011 and during the years it saved Benghazi from terrorism. We want to see a Libyan Army helping the citizen in need, carrying children, elderly, women, manning the borders, giving blood, protecting private property etc… This is the image I have of them in my head and I wonder why is the social media full of atrocities? Please please share with us good footage and deeds. Don’t keep us in the dark because that feeds misunderstandings… We had enough of terror so don’t add to it…
