BENEATH A wide hotel awning blackened and gouged during months of fighting, dozens of men queue to receive embossed certificates commemorating their role in the uprising that dislodged Muammar Gadafy. Stirring revolutionary music blares from loudspeakers as onlookers conclude each tribute to the fallen martyrs with shouts of “Allahu Akbar”.
Across the street children wave the red, black and green flag adopted by the revolutionaries next to the burnt-out remains of a tent-shaped former regime building. The mood at the hotel, which acted as a base for one of the rebel brigades from Sirte, is triumphant just days after the anniversary of the beginning of Libya’s uprising.
“Things are getting better in the town, thank God,” says Abdullah al-Haj, a commander of the Martyrs of Sirte unit. “The leaders of our tribes have met and decided we must move on for the good of Sirte.”
Not everyone shares his optimism in this coastal city which benefited from the largesse of its most famous son for more than four decades and now struggles to adapt to Libya’s new realities.
Gadafy lavished money on his hometown, building it up from a small fishing village to something approaching a model city, complete with sprawling structures, such as the Ouagadougou conference centre, which played host to African Union summits.
It was here in Sirte, some 360km east of Tripoli, that Gadafy sought refuge in August after the capital fell to revolutionary forces, and here where he was killed at the hands of rebel fighters in late October. Sirte witnessed fierce fighting during the months in between, with Nato air strikes punctuating bloody street battles pitching Gadafy loyalists against rebels. The battle for Sirte claimed hundreds of lives on both sides, and almost every building in the town is pockmarked by bullets, rockets or shells.
A number of the larger structures are cleaved in two or reduced to rubble – the result of Nato bombs. Some of the worst damage can be seen in District 2, where Gadafy loyalists made their desperate last stand. One resident estimates that 700 out of the neighbourhood’s 1,200 homes are not fit for habitation and many have been abandoned.
Septuagenarian Ramadan Ibrahim al-Barj sits shivering in the only room of his once spacious home that was not completely looted and torched by what he claims were rebels from Benghazi.
He shares the cramped space with nine relatives, including a toddler, and medication for a host of ailments including respiratory problems. “We haven’t seen anything from this revolution except for death, destruction and looting,” he says bitterly.
“At least before we had a sense of security, now our conditions are zero.” The sense of resentment in Sirte is palpable. “Life under Gadafy was much better – we didn’t fear so much,” says one man, who, like many others, did not want to give his name. “Now we feel pressure to say we support the thowar [revolutionaries].”
Down the street, past crumbling villas, Emad Suleiman Abdulkareem points out gaping holes in the charred building he and his family, along with two others, continue to live in. His says some of his neighbours were killed in a Nato air strike. “I am neither supporting Gadafy nor the revolution but this war was such a waste of life,” he sighs. “We wanted change and reform, but in a peaceful way. We lost too much.”
Officials from Libya’s interim government, the National Transitional Council (NTC), speak about Sirte in conciliatory tones and pledge that it will be treated fairly, but many here believe their town is being marginalised as the new order takes shape.
“The mood is grim in Sirte,” says Peter Cole, a Libya analyst with the International Crisis Group. “People are struggling to come to terms with the changing political climate, a loss of prestige and the fact they backed the losing side. It’s a case of strong, tribal pride coming up against difficult political realities.”
It is not unusual to hear people in other parts of the country say Sirte should suffer because it gave Gadafy sanctuary and defended him to the last, though like every loyalist town there were people here who clandestinely supported the uprising from the beginning.
The head of Sirte’s local council, Mohammed Ali Kablan, acknowledges that the perception persists that it is still a loyalist town.
“Of course, there are some who still voice support for the old regime, but they are only a small number and we let them speak,” he says. “Our main focus is on rebuilding Sirte for everyone.”
Kablan says a committee has been formed to assess the extent of damage after months of war. He estimates reconstruction will cost up to $2 billion. “The needs of the people are great and perhaps the task is overwhelming, but we are hopeful for our future,” he says. “All the tribes of Sirte are represented in our council and all have agreed to support the NTC.”
But some fear that support for the NTC may fray if the chronic housing issue is not resolved swiftly. “There is anger in Sirte because so many are displaced and people who were already close to the poverty line under Gadafy are now in a really dire situation,” says Ali, a young engineer.
“People are asking where is the government? They wonder does the NTC not care about Sirte.
“I know the NTC is stretched because it faces many challenges across the country, but if this situation is allowed to continue here in Sirte, I think we might see another explosion like what happened in Benghazi on February 17th last year.”