LIBYA: Jubilant Libyans take to the streets of Tripoli as the country declares 'Liberation'

Record ID: 589760

  • Title: LIBYA: Jubilant Libyans take to the streets of Tripoli as the country declares 'Liberation'
  • Date: 24th October 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LIBYAN MAN ALI MARWAN SAYING "This is now the second stage of building. We want the people to be God fearing in this kind community as long as our brother Mustafa Abdel Jalil is here I am hopeful for goodness and national and religious loyalty."
  • Embargoed: 8th November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya, Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7LCAPYEPEP4770UIS8EXJUPQH
  • Story Text: Libya's new rulers declared the country freed from Muammar Gaddafi's 42 years of one-man rule on Sunday (October 23), saying the "Pharaoh of the times" was now in history's garbage bin and a future of democracy and postwar reconciliation beckoned.
    Although the main celebration took place in Benghazi, hundreds of cheering and flag-waving Libyans gathered in Martyr's Square in the capital Tripoli to watch the announcement.
    The crowd sang the Libyan national anthem after being told: "Libya is free".
    Once the ceremony ended, a man in the crowd told Reuters he hoped for stability in the new Libya.
    "Freedom comes at a high price. We have contributed martyrs and we thank God almighty. We will contribute to contribute and God willing Libya will see a happy life, prosperity and satisfaction. We wish that there will be general stability throughout Libya. We ask God almighty," said Abdel Al-Buaishi a Tripoli resident.
    Another man said he had faith in the ability of Libya's National Transitional Council Chairman Abdel Jalil to hold the country together.
    "This is now the second stage of building. We want the people to be God fearing in this kind community as long as our brother Mustafa Abdel Jalil is here I am hopeful for goodness and national and religious loyalty," said Ali Marwan.
    Some fear Jalil, a mild-mannered former justice minister, will find it hard to impose his will on his fractious revolutionary alliance, pointing to Misrata's insistence on displaying Gaddafi's body and that of his son Mo'tassim and to the lack of a clear account about how they met their end.
    The declaration of liberation is intended to set the clock ticking on a process to set up a multiparty democracy, a system Gaddafi railed against for most of his 42 years in power.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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