By Farah Waleed.
Benghazi, 16 August 2014:
Despite the constant flow of grim news from Benghazi in recent days, the situation in the . . .[restrict]city is far more varied that might be expected. Since the takeover of the Saiqa Special Forces camp in Buatni by Ansar Al-Sharia and 17 February Brigade at the end of last month, Benghazi residents are experiencing completely different patterns of lifestyle depending on which area of the city they find themselves in.
No evidence of war can be seen in the centre of the city where shops are open and people are shopping in the crowded streets. Music can be heard spilling out of cafes and cars and life seems to be going on as normal. For all Ansar’s claims to be in charge of Benghazi, its power does not seem to extend there. It is very much limited to the south of the city. As for the north east of the city, it is the tribes and General Khalifa Hafter’s forces that are in control.
Just because neither Ansar nor Hafter control the centre, it does not mean that politics and the nation’s current crisis are ignored there. Quiet the contrary. Residents take clear sides opposing or supporting the House of Representatives (HoR). Discussions, sometime heated, about politics and the clashes happen at cafes, shops and even while waiting in traffic.
The scene is different in those areas controlled by Ansar Al-Sharia. Benghazi’s southeast neighbourhoods of Laithi, Gwarsha, Buatni, Hawari and Gunfudah, and some of the city’s suburbs are heavily controlled by them and their allies. People had been forced to leave their homes in these districts because of the fighting – the worst in the city since the overthrow of Qaddafi.
It has been circulated on social media that at Ansar-controlled checkpoints guards check mobiles and laptops looking for anything that might indicate loyalty to a side, arresting those that are found to be against Ansar. The scenario is particularly dangerous if the person stopped is a member of the army or police.
The latter have disappeared from Benghazi streets and most of the police stations are simply piles of rubble having been destroyed by shells or bombs.
Residents throughout the city who have not headed to Turkey, Jordan or Egypt are having to cope as best they can.
Street cleaners are on strike, saying they have not been paid for a long time which means that garbage is piling up causing foul odours.
Also on the streets, most of the traffic lights are not working and frustrated and often aggressive drivers have been taking the law into their own hands. As it is, the roads are full of potholes because the lack of maintenance, although that goes back to Qaddafi times. But the result is a large number of car accidents and heated arguments among the motorists.
Meanwhile, the city’s Benina Airport, the primary airport for all of eastern Libya, is also closed because of the clashes, forcing those trying to get out to drive some 200 kilometres east to Labraq airport.
In addition, the University of Benghazi has been closed since May. On Thursday, it told staff to return tomorrow, Sunday 17 August, and resume classes as of Saturday, 30 August. However, although the university says the decision was prompted by demands from students and their parents as well as local organisations and the Municipal council to restart, there is little chance it is going to happen. With few signs of increased stability and security, students and staff alike are reluctant to return.
Many residents are expressing their frustration with Ansar Al-Sharia and the Muslim Brotherhood. A 35-year-old bank teller, who did not want his name to be published, told the Libya Herald , “as long the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist movements and militias still exist in Libya, I can say Libyans will not enjoy peace at all”.
He added: “I challenge any of these groups or their supporters to tell us what they have done for the Libyan people politically, militarily, economically or in terms of security. The best proof of what extremists are able to achieve is in Somalia, or with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.”
“I just want to say to the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamists,” Belkhais said, “why do you not ask yourselves what the leaders of these movements are doing outside of Libya?”
Within the city and in Tobruk, where parliament is meeting, there are ongoing calls for a ceasefire. Benghazi’s elders too have called for one, but the warring sides each have their own conditions and do not see those conditions as having been met yet.
On Wednesday, parliament voted to disband all militias in a bid to end the worst clashes between armed factions in Benghazi and Tripoli particularly, and in Libya generally.
The decision to disband them has resulted in many disparate views among the people of Benghazi. The city has witnessed demonstrations in support of parliament, but also in support of the militias. Those who support the Libya Shields militias see them as the protectors of the revolution, claiming that what is happening now in Tobruk with the parliament is a coup against the legitimacy of the General National Congress.
With input by Aimen Amzein [/restrict]
