LIBYA: Newspapers in Arabic and Berber, previously banned by the Tripoli government publish freely in rebel-held region

Record ID: 600812

  • Title: LIBYA: Newspapers in Arabic and Berber, previously banned by the Tripoli government publish freely in rebel-held region
  • Date: 26th May 2011
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YOUNES AL HARAS, EDITOR OF 'LIBYA HURRA' (FREE LIBYA), SAYING: "The newspaper is constantly in demand and is constantly being well-received, and God willing it will continue to succeed, because after the revolution and after the end of the tyrant and the elimination of Gaddafi, we will have lots of opportunities and we will train our managers and will use them in a good way, God willing." VARIOUS OF JOURNALIST WRITING IN BERBER (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) AYMEN, JOURNALIST IN CHARGE OF BERBER PAGES: "We are creating a page in Berber in the 'Free Libya' newspaper. We began by writing the letters in Berber, so that children could learn them, and after that, a few words, of course they were simple words at the beginning, to enable young people to learn the language and the Berber writing, 'Tifinagh'. This newspaper is welcomed by readers and there's a good demand for it, which means people are reading and following it. In the future, we will try to publish Berber poems, for example, and write something about Berber history and Berber leaders, as well as customs and traditions, in the Berber language." NEWSROOM DOOR WITH 'FREE LIBYA NEWSPAPER' WRITTEN ON IT IN VARIOUS LANGUAGES VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS WORKING IN NEWSROOM PAGES WITH CARICATURES OF GADDAFI ON THEM JOURNALIST HOLDING UP PAGE OF 'AL HURRIYA' (FREEDOM) NEWSPAPER
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Communications,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8QTJ48L96M39KI236Z0TKMQQB
  • Story Text: Journalists in the rebel-held Western Mountain region of Libya are wreaking revenge on Muammar Gaddafi after decades of forced adulation and a long-standing ban on publishing in their local language.
    Docile titles once faithfully relayed the musings of the "Brotherly Leader" but now a flurry of new publications serves up daily helpings of invective and caricature at his expense.
    The first edition of 'Libya Hurra' (Free Libya) came out on March 6, just over two weeks after the uprising against Gaddafi began.
    Editor Younes Al Haras says the publication is already being widely read.
    "The newspaper plays an important role in raising the awareness of the rebels generally, whether it be at the fronts or the civilians inside the cities in the region. It has been widely distributed and has reached the east, as far as Yefren, and it has even reached the capital, Tripoli and, thank God, it has reached Tunisia and now after much effort, we got it on the Internet three weeks ago and we have started to publish some pages Facebook and, thank God, it is continuing," he said from the newspaper's offices in Jadu.
    Libyans say they used to use newspapers for nothing more than cleaning windows and wrapping gifts. But Al Haras says Libya Hurra is a publication people actually want to read.
    "The newspaper is constantly in demand and is constantly being well-received, and God willing it will continue to succeed, because after the revolution and after the end of the tyrant and the elimination of Gaddafi, we will have lots of opportunities and we will train our managers and will use them in a good way, God willing," he said.
    In western Libya, the Amazigh Berber tribes are an independent-minded ethnic minority which has long tried to defy central rule. Now, freed from Tripoli's grasp, their journalists are working in a language banned for four decades under Gaddafi.
    "We are creating a page in Berber in the 'Free Libya' newspaper," explained Aymen. "We began by writing the letters in Berber, so that children could learn them, and after that, a few words, of course they were simple words at the beginning, to enable young people to learn the language and the Berber writing, 'Tifinagh'. This newspaper is welcomed by readers and there's a good demand for it, which means people are reading and following it," he said.
    The Berbers in the Western Mountain region were among the first to raise the rebel flag in the uprising against Gaddafi, and have seized control of a chain of towns they inhabit running across the plateau from the Tunisian border.
    They see a chance to revive an identity denied them under the Libyan leader and wasted no time before they started publishing.
    "This newspaper started at the beginning of the 17 February revolution, in Benghazi. The newspaper is called 'Free Libya'. It's considered to be the first newspaper after the 17 February revolution, as a free, independent newspaper. It's an excellent initiative that it contains a page in Tifinagh, in Berber," said Mazigh Buzakhar, editor of a newsletter in Arabic and the language of Libya's Berber, or Amazigh, minority.
    The flurry of new publications in both the rebel-held east of Libya and the Western Mountain region have satisfied a thirst for independent news after decades of repression.
    But looking to a Libya without Gaddafi, the Berber have one more key concern: that their language hold equal status with Arabic in the new Libyan constitution.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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