LIBYA: Libyans gather to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, the first since the country was declared liberated after the conflict which deposed Muammar Gaddafi

Record ID: 863591

  • Title: LIBYA: Libyans gather to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the Festival of Sacrifice, the first since the country was declared liberated after the conflict which deposed Muammar Gaddafi
  • Date: 7th November 2011
  • Summary: GIRL HOLDING UP SIGN READING "THE FIRST EID WITHOUT THE COLONEL"
  • Embargoed: 22nd November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya, Libya
  • City:
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Conflict,Religion,Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVADBPTH6BCKL3N5CP4CE495X504
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: In Tripoli, Benghazi and Misrata, Libyans gathered on Sunday morning (November 6) for the prayer that marks the start of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, or Festival of Sacrifice.
    Worshippers in Tripoli began the day in Martyrs' Square - the renamed Green Square - in a religious gathering that was banned under former leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    The feast commemorates the Prophet Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son and it appeared that on many worshippers' minds was the deaths of anti-Gaddafi fighters in the conflict which ended last month with the fall of Sirte and the death of Gaddafi.
    "The martyrs in our hearts, martyrs in our blood, martyrs in our flesh, martyrs in our spirits, we will not forget them at all," Moftah Abdulhamid said as he participated in the Eid prayer in Misrata.
    Misrata became, for many, a symbol of the uprising against Gaddafi after it fell to the then rebels early in the war and withstood all attempts to retake it.
    "We hope that these people did not spill their blood for nothing, these martyrs are young men, just 23 and 20 years-old, they didn't sacrifice themselves just for politicians to just go on talking and looking after themselves or for people to go on suffering," said local resident Mohammed Saleh al-Taher who lost his brother in the fighting.
    "We want equality and we want people to live well. These men didn't die just for the sake of one person, they died for the country," he added.
    After his death last month, in the final moments of the battle for the coastal city of Sirte, Gaddafi's body was put on display in Misrata by city fighters, sealing its claim to have played a major part in the former leader's downfall.
    While many Libyans celebrated Eid by giving thanks for liberation from Gaddafi's rule and remembering those of the rebel movement who died, the joyful mood was not universal.
    In Sirte itself, the now shattered hometown of Muammar Gaddafi, the atmosphere was grim, with his tribal kin and loyal supporters in no mood to join festivities.
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