On Oct. Being one of the most prosperous countries in the African continent, thanks to its vast oil fields, after the fall of Gaddafi, the North African country was divided between rival governments in the east and west, and among multiple armed groups competing for quotas of power, control of the country and its wealth. Gaddafi ruled for 42 years, leading Libya to a significant advance in social, political and economic matters that were recognized and admired by many African and Arab nations at the time.
Despite his controversial government, Gaddafi came to represent an important figure for anti-imperialist struggles for his position mainly against the U. It is for this reason, his life and death became pivotal events in Libya and key to understand the current situation.
However, the U. When oil reserves were discovered in , the exploitation of wealth did not translate into benefits for the people. According to political analyst Thierry Meyssan, during the monarchy, the nation was mired in backwardness in education, health, housing, social security, among others.
The low literacy rates were shocking, according to Meyssan, only , inhabitants of the four million could read and write.
But it was in that the Senussi dynasty was overthrown by a group of officers led by Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi who proclaimed true independence and removed the dominant foreign forces from the country. One of Gaddafi's immediate policies was to share the benefits and wealth to all Libyans. Since Gaddafi took power, oil has been the main resource in the hands of the leader of the newly proclaimed Libyan Arab Republic.
How Gaddafi came to be in Sirte — if not the reason that he went to one of the few locations still strongly supportive of him — remains murky. It is believed he fled from Tripoli shortly before it fell in August. Motorcades carrying his wife and daughter to Algeria, and at least one other son to Niger, were spotted and the details leaked to the media by Nato. But the convoy carrying the dictator appears to have been missed. For his escape, Gaddafi had only one highway to travel — leading south of the capital to Beni Walid, 90 miles from Tripoli, the only highway not in rebel hands.
A further detour would then have been necessary to avoid the rebels who were pushing in all directions out of the coastal city of Misrata, involving the convoy driving south-east, deeper into the Libyan desert, to the only traffic junction leading to Sirte at Waddan.
The rebels were deeply divided over where Gaddafi was. Some believed he had fled on one of the convoys carrying his wife and other sons that were spotted crossing south to Niger and east to Algeria. Still others thought he had driven to the fabled Bunker, a possibly mythical concrete complex constructed deep in the desert by the dictator for such an emergency.
They were all wrong. And like Gaddafi, Dhao was not supposed to be in Sirte. Instead, it was widely reported that Dhao had fled Libya in a convoy of cars heading for Niger. But as the weeks of the siege of Sirte went on, it became clear this was not true. A day later Dhao was interviewed by a television crew. The rebels were surrounding the whole area, so we had heavy clashes with them and tried to escape towards Jarif and break out of the siege. After that the rebels surrounded us outside the area and prevented us from reaching the road to Jarif.
They launched heavy raids on us which led to the destruction of the cars and the death of many individuals who were with us. I do not know what happened in the final moments, because I was unconscious after I was hit on my back. Some things do not ring true.
According to Dhao, Gaddafi was moving from place to place and apartment to apartment until last week, but given the state of the siege of Sirte at that stage it seems unlikely that he could have entered the city from outside.
The net was closing around the last loyalists who were squeezed into a pocket, surrounded on all sides, that was becoming ever smaller by the day. Dhao made no mention either of the attack on the Gaddafi convoy by a US Predator drone and a French Rafale jet as it tried to break out of Sirte, attempting to drive three kilometres through hostile territory before it was scattered and brought to a halt by rebel fighters.
It is possible that Dhao did not know that the first missiles to hit the Gaddafi convoy as it tried to flee came from the air. Since October they have upheld a ceasefire. Hopes for a peaceful future have also been pinned on a new interim government and elections planned for December.
While the Libyan ceasefire has restored a veneer of normalcy, daily life in Tripoli is still marred by frequent power blackouts, fuel shortages, and cash restrictions. Poverty has deepened with the impact of the Covid pandemic, in a country with Africa's largest proven crude oil reserves but a public health system now largely in ruins. Welcome to Africanews Please select your experience. Watch Live. Breaking News Close.
News Libya celebrates 10 years since the overthrow of Gaddafi. Libya Libyans marked Wednesday's 10th anniversary of the uprising that ousted and killed the long-time ruler Moammar Gadhafi.
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