THE JAUNTY opening bars of Libya’s new/old national anthem prompt the crowd gathered at Benghazi’s Liberation Square to stand upright and proud. Some hold their arms by their side, others place their hand on their hearts as they sing with gusto words that have taken on a special resonance since the uprising that ousted Col Muammar Gadafy.
Written after Libya gained its independence after years of Italian occupation, the lyrics go: “To you we give solemn pledges/ That we, oh Libya, will never fail you/ We will never go back to chains/ We have been liberated, and we have freed our home country/ Libya, Libya, Libya.”
Benghazi, where protests last February sparked a wider rebellion against Gadafy’s regime, will today celebrate the anniversary of those heady, yet fearful, first days of what would become the Libyan revolution.
Days when peaceful rallies were met by violence from Gadafy’s security forces, bringing even more people to the streets in protest. Days when Libyans spoke of losing their fear of a detested regime, a fear calcified over four decades of Gadafy’s repressive rule.
A year on, after a Nato intervention without which the revolution would not have succeeded and months of war followed by Gadafy’s gruesome demise in his hometown of Sirte, Libya is still coming to terms with its new realities.
The challenges it faces are immense, from disarming former rebel fighters now accustomed to the power that springs from a gun, to building a political and civil society infrastructure in a nation that knew little of either under Gadafy’s idiosyncratic rule.
Some Libyans talk of growing disenchantment with the slow pace of change and the menace posed by the continuing existence of militias formed during the uprising. Others cling to determined optimism, looking to elections planned for June and arguing anything would be better than chafing under Gadafy.
“We knew it would not be easy,” said one resident. “It will take time. The most important thing is that we have our country back. Libya belongs to its people again.”