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Inside VOA|Contact VOA NewsApril 17, 2011 Latest News: Select Your LanguageAfan OromoAlbanianAmharicArmenianAzerbaijaniAzeriBanglaBosnianBurmeseCantoneseChineseCreoleCroatianDariEnglish WorldwideFrenchGeorgianGreekHausaIndonesianKhmerKhmer (English)KinyarwandaKirundiKoreanKurdiKurdishLaoLearning EnglishMacedonianMandarinNdebelePashtoPashto - DeewaPersian PortugueseRussian SerbianShonaSomaliSpanishSwahiliThaiTibetanTibetan (English)TigrignaTurkishUkrainian UrduUzbekVietnameseZimbabwe - EnglishNewsProgramsVideoLearning EnglishLive Streams:Latest Newscast|Africa Live|Global LiveNews USA AfricaEast AfricaWest AfricaSouthern AfricaCentral AfricaNorth AfricaPan Africa Americas Asia Europe Middle East Arts and Entertainment EconomyMore TopicsEducationEnvironmentHealthNews AnalysisReligionScience and TechnologySports Web FeaturesSpecial ReportsPhoto GalleriesGoing Green Money In MotionNow You KnowOff the Beaten PathThe LinkInteractive YouTubeFacebookTwitter Web ServicesPodcastsRSSMobileNewsletterWebcastsLinks About the USEditorialsRFE/RLRFAPronunciation Guide News| Africa Africa
RSS FeedLife for Residents in Opposition-Held Libya Calm But Anxious Scott Bobb|Benghazi, Libya?April 15, 2011Photo: APA youth sells hats, flags, and other souvenirs in the colors of the opposition flag to those gathering for Friday prayers in the square next to the courthouse on the corniche in Benghazi, Libya April 15, 2011
Share ThisFacebookYahoo! BuzzRelated ArticlesClashes Reported in Several Libyan Cities Gates: US Help for Mideast Activists Tempered by Security InterestsEU Prepares Military Sea Corridor to Deliver Aid to LibyaLibyan Opposition Gives War Lessons to Youth
The fighting in Libya has devastated coastal cities in the central part of the country, but life in parts of the rebel-controlled east has settled into some measure of uneasy calm.
It is market day at Findiq Market, Benghazi’s largest vegetable market. Business is good despite fighting a few hundred kilometers away.
Raja Salem has come shopping with her husband, Ahmed. She says tensions here have eased considerably since opposition forces consolidated control of this city of 800,000 people.
She says most things are available in the market, but some things are missing. There is a shortage of fruit and the prices are higher.
Abdullah Mohamed owns a tire shop. He says almost everything is available nowadays. But with pro-Gadhafi forces attacking cities less than 200 kilometers away, security is the biggest concern.
"Just the threat, because people are afraid of any attack from… you know [pro-Gadhafi forces]," Mohamed explained.
A few weeks ago, the mood was desperate as troops loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi entered the city.
Fearing a possible massacre, Western governments launched air strikes against pro-Gadhafi planes and tanks. And the opposition forces pushed the Gadhafi troops out of the city.
The fighting caused hundreds of thousands of foreign workers to flee Libya. Shop owner Majdi Abdelmonem is from Egypt. He has stayed on but, he says, everyone is afraid.
He says all foreign nationals, not just the Egyptians, were scared after Gadhafi said in a speech that the foreigners were nothing. They were not human. So we were all afraid that we would be massacred.
The estimated two million foreign workers provide a great deal of the manpower in Libya whose population totals only six million. Because of their flight, many shops and factories are now closed.
Ulrich Reuter is part owner of an engineering firm that was building a water reservoir and cell phone towers in Libya.
"For us, our business is stopped at the moment," noted Reuter.? "Most of our young people are involved in the fighting and actually we cannot operate any business now."
Despite the uncertainty, life goes on. The markets are stocked mostly with products from neighboring Egypt. And businessmen like Reuter plan to stay.
"We have to see now how this will come to an end," added Reuter.? "And I think after this there will be a lot of work to rebuild country. You have seen the streets here, you have seen the infrastructure. There is a lot of need."
He says first the new government and institutions must be established.
The interim council governing eastern Libya has exported its first tanker of 100,000 barrels of crude oil.
It has announced the heads of its petroleum company and central bank. And it says it is consulting with local businessmen on establishing letters of credit so they can resume importing goods.
But with the fighting still raging a few hundred kilometers away, local businessmen say it will be some time before they can re-open their shuttered enterprises and start to revive the economy and put people back to work.
been a mislim ifeel gadaffi must go.he is not desire to stay in power.i hope all pro democratic contry do goodfor libiya people
16-04-2011Rob Swift(United Kingdom)It was only the United States led by Mr Obama that has done anything at all to help these people, and give hope to them.
16-04-2011SICK WORLD(WORLD)DON'T BE STUPID SHAKEEL. ARE YOU SURE THIS FIGHT GOING ON IS FOR THE EARLIER PROTEST? SOME OUTSIDE HANDS ARE PUSHING YOU TO TEAR EACH OTHER APART TO GAIN SOMETHING THEY WANT.
16-04-2011SICKWORLD(WORLD)CAN'T YOU THINK THERE IS SOMETHING STINCKING HERE?CAN'T YOU TAKE A MOMENT TO THINK? IS THAT YOUR ALLAH'S PLAN? STOP TALKING ABOUT MUSLIMS HERE; YOU HAVE NO BRAIN.KADAFI WAS TREATING HIS PEOPLE BETTER THAN MOST OF ARAB COUNTRIES. STOP THIS FIGHT BEFORE YOUR REGRET GET TO DEEPER; BECAUSE YOU'RE ALREADY REGRETTING THE RECENT PAST. YOU MAY NEVER GET WHAT YOU HAD BACK.
17-04-2011wang zichao(china)I hope you can have a bright future and walk out of the fighting and recover to nomnal life as soon as you can , giving you my best wishes.
17-04-2011Jim Kendall(USA)The ONLY concern Gaddafi - and his criminal family - has is their sustenance, and their billions.From the Gaddafis' point of view: The people of Libya are there to toil and sweat for him, and now to die for him.His and families' immoral imperialist arrogance needs to be TERMINATED.
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