- Title: LIBYA: Libyan families move into remains of Gaddafi fortress.
- Date: 12th July 2012
- Summary: AYAH FEEDING DOG DRIVING VIEW OF BAB AL-AZIZIYA COMPOUND
- Embargoed: 27th July 2012 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Libya
- City:
- Country: Libya
- Topics: Economy,Social Services / Welfare
- Reuters ID: LVA8PL79GFYO7E9XPYP37ZWY6M7D
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: Poor Libyan families have moved into Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli, setting up homes amid the rubble.
It used to be the impenetrable fortress of Muammar Gaddafi's regime. Only workers or members of the toppled Libyan leader's inner circle could see inside.
Tripoli fell to Western-backed rebels in August last year. Now dozens of families have moved into the few buildings still standing in the charred remains of Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound, setting up homes amid the rubble.
Economic hardship has forced them to take residence in the compound, which is now occupied by Libyans who cannot afford to pay rent for housing.
"We need (the government) to provide us with houses, because there are many families that are suffering, and there are also many people who've been suffering since the time of the old regime. Now, our hope is that God will helps us. We are also relying a lot on the new government, and God willing the new government will settle our problem, but I hope they do it swiftly," says Mahmoud who is collecting metal for recycling.
Their move highlights the collision between two parts of Libyan society.
On one side are the elite who benefited from Gaddafi's largesse, and on the other are ordinary people who, while not poor by regional standards, only saw a small share of Libya's huge energy wealth.
"We are aiming to have a descent life in the new Libya. We need (the government) to provide us with houses. The most important thing is the housing. We are seeking a decent life, we do deserve it, because (the country) has everything, but we (the people) are deprived of everything. Thank God that the era of injustice has gone," says Mubarka, who lives in the compound with her child.
Rebels forced Gaddafi to abandon his Tripoli stronghold, a huge complex of houses, offices and storage buildings which was targeted by NATO warplanes several times during the war. They burned, looted and defaced what for years was a forbidding symbol of the autocratic leader's power.
Walls of the Bab al-Aziziya compound came tumbling down in late August, but piles of rubble have yet to be moved. Children ride bikes and run around fallen basketball hoops and empty ammunition boxes.
The black, green and red flags of the now ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) dot the landscape.
Some residents say they don't feel safe living in the compound and want the new government to provide them with better living conditions.
"We need (the government) to compensate us with a newer house instead of living like this. We need a better life. I hope it'll be better than what we are living in now. Living here means facing many troubles, so we want to a better place," says Ayah.
After the eight-month war that ended with Gaddafi's capture and killing in October, nowhere is the Libyan rebels' victory more apparent than in the complex from where the former strongman used to taunt his foes.
The names of the rebel brigades who captured the compound are now commemorated in graffiti sprayed all over the walls.
A statue of a golden fist crushing a fighter jet, a memorial Gaddafi erected outside a building that was bombed by the United States in 1986 and he dubbed "the House of Resistance", has been moved to the coastal town of Misrata.
The families that have set up home are not the only ones who have taken up the premises. On Fridays, vendors set up stalls selling everything from food, clothes to electronic goods.
The NTC, which is struggling to impose its authority on a country awash with weapons, has yet to announce concrete plans for Bab al-Aziziyah but there has been talk of turning the complex into a park. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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