By Al Russell.
Tripoli, 24 August:
A public park and library are to be built on the former site of Muammar Qaddafi’s private . . .[restrict]compound at Bab Al-Aziziya.
Former Prime Minister Abderrahim Al-Kib was there yesterday evening and sat on a bulldozer as work got underway to clear rubble at the bombed-out site, as a crowd looked on in celebratory mood.
The event came on the first anniversary of the capture of the compound by revolutionary forces, its guards having surrendered on 23 August last year, three days after the rest of the capital was liberated. Since the revolution the site has primarily been used as a rubbish dump, although there have been reports of families living there to avoid the high rents being charged in Tripoli.
The transformation of the former dictator’s home into a public space is an important symbolic step in Libya’s transition to democracy.
“A lot of people round here are very excited about this, it’s a huge step forward for the area” one local man told the Libya Herald. [/restrict]
