29 Years Later, the Story Repeats Itself

What an awful feeling to wake up one day and find that what you lived back as a child, more than 29 years ago, is only happening again, in front of your own eyes. The same nightmare, the same killing, the same army, the same place.. and the same last name.

The nightame is : the regime's brutal crackdown

The killing is : the killing of civilians

The army is : the Syrian Arab Army

The place is : Hama

The last name is : Assad

How could I ever forget how, as a child back in 1982, I would be heading to school in Damascus and the school bus would stop in Abbasiyin Square (Abbasid Square) near my home. The bus driver would show us the hung men of the day. They would usually get hung around 5am, if I remember well. Their bodies hanging on a rope from the throat, dressed in white including their covered face and head, would be left there for us to see them.

I had no idea why they were hung. I had no idea who they were. But I was appalled every time I saw 2 or 3 of them in the morning. I thought of them as evil men.

The bus driver would say : Look children, this is what happens if you don't behave! We would just look at the bodies in awe.

The first Hama Massacre started on 2 February 1982, led by the Hafez Al-Assad's brother, Rifaat Al-Assad. Today it is led by Maher Al-Assad, Bashar Al-Assad's brother.

A whole city was punished back in 1982 because it started an (Islamist) uprising against the regime. In Aleppo my cousin's best friend was hung too. They were both students at the Medicine Faculty of Aleppo University. My cousin never recovered from the shock. 

I did not understand then what was happening. Today I do not understand either why this is happening again. How could a whole lifetime have passed by and history would repeat itself in a new massacre in Hama?  

How could the world just watch? We all expected it was going to happen.. didn't we? 

It only makes one feel helpless. It only makes one feel depressed.

One difference I know between 29 years ago and now is that it is not just Hama this time. It is much more, it is way beyond, it is not the "Islamists" alone. 

The price of freedom is turning out to be truly hefty. One day before the start of Ramadan recorded the highest toll to date of any single cay since the start of the March 15 uprising in Syria. Most of the killed today are in Hama after the army stormed into the city at dawn. 

The regime is worried. Every day in Ramadan could turn into a Friday where people gather in the mosque then go out to protest.  Hama has seen the biggest protests of all Syrian cities in past few weeks, with more than 1 million protesters just in Hama and Deir ez-Zor alone.

Victims of the first Hama Massacre are estimated between 20 thousand and 40 something thousand. I don't know if the world was watching back in 1982. But I know it is watching in 2011. The 1982 silence should not repeat itself.

رمضاننا مثل رمضانكم

لم أكن أتخيل أن مسألة توحيد بداية رمضان مسألة ذات خصوصية في ليبيا 

عندما أُعلن في بنغازي أمس عن بدء رمضان يوم الاثنين مثل السعودية وقطر والبحرين والكويت والإمارات وسورية ولبنان والمغرب واليمن وغيرها من الدول العربية، سادت روح لم أتوقعها من الفرحة بين الناس

وأصبح الكل يقول بفرح : "صرنا مثلكم، صار رمضاننا مثل رمضانكم" والغبطة تبدو على وجوههم وعيونهم كلها تألق وإشعاع  

تجولت في شوارع المدينة وبالتحديد في شارع تجاري فيه محال كثيرة ، وكان الجميع يردد لي فرحته بأن الليبيين سيصومون رمضان في نفس الوقت مع باقي العرب

كان النظام دائماً، كل عام، يخالف باقي الدول العربية في موعد بدء رمضان وانتهائه وحتى في وقفة عرفة 

قالوا لي إنهم للمرة الأولى من ٣٥ سنة شاهدوا على التلفزيون شيوخ البلاد يعلنون بدء رمضان، ظهروا على قناة الجزيرة مباشر، بعد أن كان الشعب الليبي مجبراً على الاعتماد على "مركز للاستشعار عن بعد" لا يعرف أحد أين هو ولا ما هو، كمصدر يستخدمه النظام لإخبارهم بموعد بدء أو انتهاء رمضان

كل شيء في ليبيا القذافي مختلف

وكلما تمنيت لأحدهم رمضاناً كريماً ، قال لي : أول رمضان دون القذافي من ٤٢ عاماً

بالنسبة لشباب الثورة هو أول رمضان في حياتهم دون معمر

الطريف أن نظام القذافي دعا للمرة الأولى الليبيين إلى تحري رؤية الهلال بدلاً من الإعلان مسبقاً عن بداية رمضان، وبالتالي فإن ما توقعه البعض من أن رمضان في ليبيا سيكون رمضانـَين بين طرابلس وبنغازي لم يتحقق. رمضان يبدأ في كل ليبيا يوم الاثنين، وهو أمر يعتبره الليبيون من مكاسب ثورة ١٧ فبراير من ناحيتين: الأولى تطبيع القذافي في مسألة رؤية الهلال، والثانية بدء رمضان في ليبيا مع باقي الدول العربية
  

كل عام وكل الليبيين وكل العرب وكل المسلمين بألف خير في هذا الرمضان الثوري 

ولن أقول هذا العام : رمضان مبارك ، بل : رمضان كريم ، لأنه أيضاً أول رمضان دون مبارك

أغلـَقوا صمام الغاز الطبيعي لكن صمام الثورة مفتوح

يقولون : لا نريد كهرباء .. لا نريد أي شيء ، فقط نريد أن يرحل الطاغية

يقولون أيضاً إنه رغم انقطاع الكهرباء فهم بحال أفضل مما كانوا عليه قبل الثورة

ولمَ تنقطع الكهرباء؟ لأنهم حُرموا من مصدر توليد الكهرباء : الغاز الطبيعي

فقد أغلق نظام القذافي صمام الغاز لكن صمام الثورة لا يزال مفتوحاً

تاريخ بث التقرير : ٣٠-٣١ يوليو تموز ٢٠١١

مكان التصوير : بنغازي

تصوير : طارق الهوني
مونتاج : موسى خميس
ساهم في إعداد التقرير : نعمان عاشور

Younes: a traitor.. not a traitor !

Nobody knew what to expect as we headed to Benghazi's local version of Tahrir Square, called Courthouse Square. We were going anyway to cover the usual Friday prayers. Abdul Fattah Younes, the top commander of the rebels' army was killed yesterday in very mysterious circumstances.

The streets were as calm as ever.. just like any other morning. The usual armed men outside Tibesty Hotel had disappeared last night after the shootings. They are now back.

Upon our arrival to the square we were surprised to find that the funeral of Younes was actually about to take place, just then ! There was actually a coffin.. even two. One was Younes' and the other was that of one the two officers killed with him. So does that mean they found the body? We had been told yesterday that there was no body.

Would there be a funeral without a body? I found out late at night that the body had been burned. That was probably the reason why Mustapha Abdul Jalil, the head of the Transitional National Council said they were looking for the body.

I found a young man sitting on one side of the square, eyes filled with tears. He turned out to be Younes' son. He told me the body was indeed in the coffin but he would not tell me when they had found it, where or how.

The atmosphere was of utmost sadness. 

Last Friday when I came to the square it was very touching to see women sobbing over the martyrs. But today it was the men shedding tears. I saw depressed faces. I saw shock in their eyes. I felt sorrow in their voices.

Younes was clearly a popular figure in the square. He was called a martyr, like Abdul Jalil had called him. No talk of treason here or of the Council's questioning of Younes. The culprit is : The Fifth Column ---> Gaddafi.

Members of his Special Forces Battalion vowed they would take revenge. His nephew said that his tribe, El Oubaidat, backed the TNC, backed Abdul Jalil. However, let's not forget two things : first, that although this might well be the position of the tribe but he does not speak for the whole tribe, and second that it was not the TNC that issued the arrest warrant for Younes, it was the TNC's Executive Office, namely Ali El Issawi.  While Abdul Jalil is reported to have issued a release order for Younes.. but it was too late then.

The funeral was solemn. The scene of his family members standing in one row as his coffin is being put in the ground was quite powerful. They started firing into the air.. and they kept doing it for more than 10 minutes. It was truly frightening.  It only shows how much respect they hold for Younes.

Behind the scenes, people close to the military told me they had been suspecting for one month that Younes had been in touch with Tripoli and even Cairo. I asked about the presumed wrong coordinates given to NATO, the answer was: naaah that was just a rumour, he did not do that.

Nobody is willing to accuse Younes of treason on the record. Some said to me: we just suspected him, we should not accuse him blindly. The questioning by TNC was supposed to give answers to those suspicions.

One version of the story says he was questioned before he got killed. The official version is that he got killed before he was questioned. It does make a difference, of course !

The head of the armed group that is accused of having shot Younes has been arrested but he did not do it. Someone else in his group did it. I was told that the group used to fight alongside the revolutionaries, but split a while back.

So would the "fifth column" be so good as to infiltrate so perfectly in order to execute such an operation against quite an important man both militarily and politically? If Gaddafi's men are capable of that, then it is quite a concern. Benghazi was thought to have become completely safe.

During the night the "fifth column" is reported to have broken into a prison and freed around 80 pro-Gaddafi prisoners, 60 of which National Security men managed to catch while 20 are still out there.

It is clear there is competition between different factions fighting Gaddafi troops. It is clear there is also a difference between the NTC and its Executive Office. But I guess that is all very normal. Nothing here is homogenous. The only thing that unites people is to go after Gaddafi. 

We get rid of Gaddafi first, said someone at the funeral, then we deal with our own issues.

I suddenly remembered how I had heard a politician say a few days ago: is Abdul Fattah Younes dead yet?  I did not take it seriously then. Little did I know I should well have!

Read my earlier post Younes is .. Dead !
Read more Libya posts

من قتل يونس؟ مقالة اقتبس منها ما قلته عبر الجزيرة على الهواء مباشرة من جنازة عبد الفتاح يونس

Younes is .. Dead !!

It was quite an eventful night after an eventful day. 

Rumours started circulating early morning on Thursday about Rebel Army Commander Abdul Fattah Younes having been arrested !!

- Arrested? By whom, I asked? 

- By the Transitional National Council ..

- Aren't they on the same side? 

- Yes, I was told, but.. there are issues !

It did not sound too good. Nobody would confirm to us the rumours which were growing stronger by the hour.

It was clear something was indeed happening.. and by the time we got a confirmed source telling us that Abdul Fattah Younes had indeed been arrested and called in for questioning, the rumours had gone in a different direction. They were saying the man has been killed, some going as far as saying : he was executed for his treason!

Treason???? What does that mean? That he was still working for Gaddafi??

Now that is indeed a very very serious accusation. Younes is one of the so-called "Free Officers" who accompanied Muammar Gaddafi in his 1969 "Al Fateh Revolution". He is considered one of his long-time closest comrades. He was his Interior Minister - since 2009 - when he defected in February 2011 at the start of the revolution because of Gaddafi's repression of protesters. He commanded a battalion based in Benghazi, the Special Forces known as Battalion 32.

We spent long hours waiting for the TNC to issue a statement amid growing rumours about Younes' fate, about some rebel troops having retreated from the Brega frontline, about special forces deploying in Benghazi and much more. And finally TNC head Mustapha Abdul Jalil showed up.

He said Younes was killed, he was a martyr, alluding to Gaddafi being behind this assasination.

No body though !

NO BODY??

I asked a TNC member how they knew he was killed if they had no body. He said : we have witnesses who saw the killing.

Shortly after the statement by Abdul Jalil things started going crazy at Tibesty Hotel where we all were. Gunshots were heard just outside the hotel, two young men were screaming in the lobby : so you made him a traitor, so you made him an agent?

The hotel lobby was packed with journalists and others who had attended the official statement reading by Abdul Jalil. I don't know where Abdul Jalil was but I did not see him leave, unless he had left through a backdoor, which is possible.

The shooting continued for a while, we all hid away from the entrance of the hotel lobby.  A colleague of mine outside happened to be speaking on the phone when his camera was taken away from him by the same people that were shooting. He said they arrived in a car and they were all armed.

So we, unarmed people stayed inside the hotel while armed people were outside the hotel. They were arguing and gunshots continued.  A hotel window was smashed.

That was around 11.30pm local Benghazi time.

About an hour later or more, another shooting took place. 20-30 people tried to storm into the hotel, but were stopped by security. The hotel lobby was evacuated.  People on the street were chanting angrily : The martyrs' blood will not go in vain !

Things got calm soon afterwards. Crowds slowly pulled away from the street across the hotel.

Someone I know claims to have spoken to Younes by phone just before he was killed. He said to me that Younes' body had been burned. He also claimed that Younes told him it was salafists (radical islamists) who had come for him with the NTC arrest warrant. This person claimed Younes was "arrested" and taken back to Benghazi just as he was planning to enter Brega and that Younes decided not to fight it, went along with it. Younes was allegedly hoping to enter Brega and pray there on Friday. 

Others are saying that Younes was working for Gaddafi, was giving wrong coordinates to NATO, had stacked weapons somewhere without telling anyone about it. These were allegedly the probable reasons for the TNC's arrest order. He was supposedly going to be questioned in Benghazi.

We are told he was killed outside Qar Younes Camp before the questioning. But even this information is contradictory with other information.

Whatever the truth may be, this is certainly a big blow to the revolutionaries and an automatic victory for Gaddafi, whether or not he was involved in setting it up. We are talking about the rebel's top military commander being assasinated by we-don't-know-whom. It is a big thing. People were really shocked in Benghazi.

Younes is from El Oubaidat Tribe, a huge tribe in Eastern Libya. We saw a tribesman sitting next to Abdul Jalil during his official statement. But we don't know how the tribe might react, although Abdul Jalil said that he and the tribes agreed that the focus now should be on Gaddafi, meaning any differences can be dealt with later.

The last thing this revolution needs is division. Let's see how the next few hours unfold. It looks quiet in Benghazi for now as I am heading to the Friday prayer in Courthouse Square, the local version of "Tahrir Square".

Read Younes : a traitor.. not a traitor !

Read more Libya posts

أطفال الإيدز في ليبيا في ظل ثورة السابع عشر من فبراير

تأثرت كثيراً بهؤلاء الأطفال

تخيلوا .. انتقل فيروس إش أي في المسبب للإيدز إلى أكثر من أربعمئة طفل وهم رضع في مشفى الأطفال ببنغازي عام ١٩٩٧ وحتى اليوم لا يعرفون لم حصل لهم  ذلك 


لا يعرفون إن كان أمراً مدبراً ، أو كان إهمالاً ، أو كان تجربة علمية أو ماذا كان


لا يعرفون من كان وراءه إن كان مدبراً

تاريخ بث التقرير : ٢٧-٢٨ يوليو تموز ٢٠١١

مكان التصوير : بنغازي، ليبيا

تصوير : طارق الجحاوي وطارق الهوني

مونتاج : موسى خميس وعصام الهوني

ساهم في إعداد التقرير : نعمان عاشور

مع الشكر الخاص إلى السيد إدريس لاغا الذي يظهر في التقرير وهو من ساعدني على فهم القضية واختيار الحالات التي تم التصوير معها

"Maash Nibbouh" !

Pronounced "Ma'ash Nibbouh" in Libyan dialect, this is actually the phrase you will hear the most on Benghazi's streets every single day. It literally translates as: "We don't want him any more" ! And it refers to... Gaddafi. (In Arabic it is: معش نبوه .. it comes from ما عادش )

Kids as young as 3 might not be able to say a full sentence or tell you a story, but they know how to say that phrase.

They also know how to say : "Muammar itlaa barra.. tawwa" , which means : Muammar leave.. now !

Children, women, men, old, young, middle-aged .. everyone repeats those phrases with such passion and such determination.

I asked one middle-aged lady: "So does that mean you wanted him before?" She explained to me that although he had killed, tortured and imprisoned anyone who would criticise him, they did not mind him so much, up to the point when the first demos kicked off in Eastern Libya and were brutally crushed. She said that the turning point for her was when she saw what she describes as "foreign mercenaries" spreading fear in Benghazi's streets. She said she was shivering in her home as she saw them coming down the street, armed. "My brother who used to be with Gaddafi and a member of his popular committees, had to go downstairs with others to the building's entrance to protect the women and children from any harm", she said. Then she continued with clear anger and pain: "Honestly when the rape started, that was already way too much for us to take. We can take the killing and opression, but we can't take anything that touches our family honour, our women, our girls."

And finally she had to repeat to me : "Ma'ash nibbouh, ma'ash nibbouh" !

Many people have told me that their rejection of Gaddafi is not because of them being hungry or poor. "This revolution is about our dignity. It is not a hunger or poverty revolution", a 70-year-old man explained to me. He lost one of his sons in recent fighting outside Ajdabia, on the road to Brega. "I am proud of my son. He will be a martyr and will go to heaven. We will give anything for our dignity, anything, even our sons."

He, too, finished the conversation by saying : "Ma'ash nibbouh Muammar, ma'ash nibbouh" !

My day ended in the evening in a home without power. Power cuts are now more frequent since the revolution started. Many neighbourhoods are dark at night. I wanted to find out the impact of the problem on people's lives. I expected people to complain about it as I saw them sitting in the dark in a living room lit by a small battery-operated lamp. But a 60-year-old woman whose 2 sons are fighting with the rebels surprised me by saying: "I don't want electricity or water or food from the government. I just want him out. Ma'ash nibbouh!"

Read more Libya posts

We, Libyans, decide

The sign behind her reads : Thanks France. As I was taking a photograph of it, a woman came up to me in Benghazi's version of Tahrir Square and said : "We are all Sarkozy". I said : "Oh really? What do you think of Sarkozy suggesting that Gaddafi resigns but stays in Libya?" She did not even think for a minute before she said : "No No.. That is none of Sarkozy's business. Gaddafi's fate is our business, us, the Libyan people".

Another lady hurried towards me to say : "We thank the US and France for what they are doing. But they have no say here in things. They should just give us the air cover we need to march to Tripoli. We Libyans will do it ourselves. We shall liberate Libya from the tyrant and we Libyans shall decide his fate".


Foreign ground troops are out of the question for now. Signs in many parts of Benghazi clearly state they are not welcome. What rebels hope for is to get weapons, aid and money from friendly countries to help them make it to Tripoli. Qatar has already sent two batches of military and humanitarian aid but other countries are yet to do their part.

When I discuss the matter with intellectuals, activists and politicians, the line is not very different to that of ordinary people on the street. They tell me they had no choice, Gaddafi troops were coming to massacre them in Benghazi and the rest of Eastern Libya. 


One of them said to me with sorrow: "Arabs are paralysed, absent and weak. We would have rather seen our Arab brothers come to our rescue instead of France, US and other foreign powers. But we had no choice. We were so relieved to see help come our way. Othewise Muammar was going to crush the revolution and the revolutionaires forever".


Another said : "We had to choose between life and death. We chose what seemed to us the lesser of two evils".

One member of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), the rebels political body, said to me off-the-record that he disagreed with foreign military intervention in principle. "Of course I don't like it and don't encourage it, but this was our only choice. I know NATO comes with its own agenda, I know NATO is calling the shots now. After we get rid of Gaddafi, we will have to deal with the consequences of NATO intervention".


The rebels have actually criticised NATO's performance accusing it of not doing as good a job as it can and of taking too long to achieve goals.  Some believe that Western governments are not happy with the NTC and with some "islamists" among the rebels, therefore they felt that the replacement to Gaddafi's regime was not what they sought, so they delayed Gaddafi's fall until they rearrange things to suit their interests and future plans in Libya.


A prominent military and strategic analyst I spoke to in Egypt, Safwat el Zayat, thought that Obama was using NATO operations in Libya to stress America's major role in NATO and its being the major military power in the world. The US took part in the military operations in the very beginning, then left the matter in the Europeans' hands, knowing they are broke. El Zayat thinks Obama wants to prove to the Europeans and to the world that without America, Europe cannot even topple a Middle Eastern regime. 


So may be America plans to come back for a heroic end of the story when the time comes. It would certainly look like the Europeans are not capable of doing the job without Uncle Sam, even in their own North African "backyard".


Another Libyan journalist said to me : "NATO is using Libya to improve its image in the world, by doing something good. It will leave us alone as soon as we are ready to make it without it".


Of course some NTC members clearly like the US's backing of the fight against Gaddafi and don't see a problem with Libya becoming a partner of the West in the future. They say that Gaddafi had already opened the door anyway.


No matter what the truth may be, it is obvious that Libyans are living a terrible contradiction. But they are now focused on one thing: toppling Gaddafi, even if it meant becoming friends with the same powers that back Israel, bomb civilians in Afghanistan, have killed so many in Iraq, etc. 


Many Libyan revolutionaries are aware of what lies ahead after Gaddafi falls. They say to me : "We are anti-imperialists Dima, we will not allow the imperialists to rule Libya. This revolution is about us becoming free, not falling into another cage".

Another Libyan said to me : "We are pragmatic people. We will carry US flags now for TV cameras and smile. But deep down we still think the same of America. We know who we are dealing with".


One woman in Benghazi's Tahrir Square said to me : "If we can get rid of someone like Gaddafi, we can get rid of anyone, including France, US, Italy or anyone else who might want to control us. We Libyans decide the fate of our Libya".


It may not turn out to be as easily done as it is said. Nobody knows what is being done and planned under the table, what future is being drawn for Libya.


The rebels call themselves freedom fighters.. and it is true, they are indeed freedom fighters. Except that their freedom fight has been "contaminted with foreign hands" - as one Libyan journalist puts it - and has now turned into an international issue discussed by major powers around the world, all thinking undoubtedly of their own goals and interests in the region, while Libyans continue the fight, paying a very hefty price for their long-awaited freedom.


Read more Libya posts 

Will Libya Overcome its Grudges?

I just saw a video where a soldier from Gaddafi troops captured around Brega  is being interviewed by a rebel military leader in Ajdabia. I won't post the video because I fear for this man's family and any retaliation by the Gaddafi regime against them. I am told by my Libyan colleagues that his accent sounds like he is from Sabha, Southern Libya.

One interesting thing in the interview is that he admits that he was paid to fight for Gaddafi. Yet, when asked about Gaddafi, he says : well.. Gaddafi never did anything good for me or my family, but he doesn't seem like such a bad guy to me anyway.

Later on in the video he acknowledges that there has been a lot of injustice (by Gaddafi) and he calls for Libyans to unite and to find a political solution. He says something about not having been aware of the real situation, alludes to having been misinformed, says that he did not know he was going to fight fellow Libyans who are just like him, says he expected he was fighting very evil people.

He also praises the rebels for having treated him well and taken him to a hospital themselves. But of course that is expected in an interview conducted and spread by the rebels themselves. I have no way of verifying whether all their POW's are treated the same way as this man in the interview who was speaking from his hospital bed.

But the man is clearly in a state of shock. He seems to repeat that he did not know what this was really about when he decided to accept to fight for Gaddafi. Would he be suffering from the famous Stockholm Syndrome? Or would he just be misinformed - as he said? And could he have been misinformed for 42 years -  his entire life? I wonder how many Gaddafi fighters are like him, and how many are real loyalists? I also wonder whether he said what he said because he felt he had to, fearing he might be mistreated by the rebels.

I did discuss with many people in Benghazi the recent reports about alleged abuses of human rights by the rebels in treating captured pro-Gaddafi fighters. One rebel commander from El Zintan in the Western Mountain area, where the reports originated, told me he has not witnessed such incidents himself but that he is not going to discard that such abuses might have happened. He assured me that if they did, it would be a personal initiative by some rebels, and not following any instructions by any commander. He said: we make mistakes too.

Another activist, now a member of the National Transitional Council (NTC), said to me that these abuses might have been committed only in the very beginning, have not happened again since and will not happen again.


Such abuses should be taken seriously but would not compare to what Gaddafi is doing and has been doing to his countrymen for decades. The stories you hear from people are horrific. Men hung in the streets and left to rot in the son for days while their families watched, during Ramadan. People massacred in jails. Torture. Rape. You name it.

At the end of the day the rebels are either victims of the brutality of the regime, which means they might hold blind grudges against it, or have defected from the regime, which means they are a product of it and therefore of its brutality. This is now a war, a brutal war. Wars get the worst out of humans.


Although the rebels don't like anyone calling it a civil war, the reality is that it already is a war. The question is : what happens after Gaddafi falls? Will the fighting stop? Will the grudges die down? Will the hate and anger be replaced by tolerance? Will the misinformation and misunderstandings fade away?

Libyans in the country's second biggest city Benghazi believe that once Gaddafi is gone the fighting will be put behind and Libya will have a fresh start.

Fingers crossed ! 


Read more Libya posts 

قصة سهى: من تحرير إلى تحرير آخر

آخر تقرير لي من مصر العظيمة التي أحببتها حتى أكثر مما توقعت

تقرير عن سهى نين التي كانت على قدر من الشجاعة ليس فقط لتشارك في أسطول الحرية بل أيضاً لتقوم بمحاولة قطع الطريق على خفر السواحل في اليونان .. وهو ما كلفها الاعتقال

جمعنا ميدان التحرير فرويت قصتها 

كل احترامي لمن يقفون وقفات شجاعة من أجل قضية عادلة كقضية فلسطين

تاريخ البث : ٢٢ يوليو تموز ٢٠١١

مكان التصوير : القاهرة

تصوير : محمود المليجي

مونتاج : ابراهيم خليل

مبادرات سياسية دولية دون جدوى في ليبيا

القذافي يرفض أي مبادرة تشترط تنحيه عن السلطة

والثوار يرفضون أي مبادرة قائمة على أقل من تنحيه ومحاكمته أو خروجه من ليبيا

والشارع رافض تماماً لأي تسوية أو مخرج لإعفاء القذافي من القصاص حتى لو قبل المجتمع الدولي بذلك

رغم وجود أعلام فرنسا والولايات المتحدة في تجمع التحرير في بنغازي إلا أن الليبيين المتواجدين هناك لا يعتبرون أن أياً من دول التحالف لديها أي حق في فرض أي حل سياسي عليهم

تاريخ بث التقرير : ٢١ - ٢٢ يوليو تموز ٢٠١١

مكان التصوير : بنغازي

تصوير : طارق الجحاوي 

مونتاج : عصام الهوني

ساهم في إعداد التقرير : نعمان عاشور

فرنسا تغني على ليلاها؟

وزير خارجية فرنسا آلان جوبيه يقول إن أحد المقترحات على الطاولة بقاء القذافي في ليبيا بعد تنحيه عن الحكم وخروجه من الحياة السياسية والعامة كشرط لوقف عمليات حلف الأطلسي ضد نظامه 

نزلتُ إلى شوارع بنغازي أسأل الليبين آراءهم ، سياسيين ومحللين ومواطنين عاديين

لم أجد شخصاً واحداً ممن تحدثت إليهم يتقبل الفكرة

ممثلو المجتمع المدني

قصدت مؤتمراً يضم بعض ممثلي القبائل وجمعيات نسائية وغيرها وطرحت عليهم الفكرة فكان الرد أنه لا يمكن أن يقبلوا ببقاء القذافي في ليبيا في منزله معززاً مكرماً. أحد من تحدثت إليهم، وهو من أسرة تعرضت لبطش وقمع النظام وأعدم شقيقه في رمضان وتركت جثته أياماً في الشارع، قال لي بوضوح إن كانت فرنسا تسعى إلى غير ما نسعى إليه فنحن سنواصل دربنا والثوار سيقومون بالمهمة دونها

تفاجأتُ بموقفه .. خاصة أنني جئت ليبيا وفي بالي أعلام فرنسا ترفرف في بنغازي ويشكرها الليبيون على شاشات التلفزيون  

لكن يبدو أن تماطل حلف الأطلسي في إنجاز المهمة أكد شكوك الكثيرين من الأجندات الخفية لفرنسا وغيرها من دول التحالف في عمليات حلف الأطلسي في ليبيا

ورغم أنني وصلت قبل أقل من يومين إلا أنني استشعرت من الساعات الأولى لي هنا وجود أزمة ثقة بين المجلس الوطني الانتقالي وتحالف الأطلسي الذي ربما لم يجد في المجلس وأعضائه والثوار ما كان في باله من تصور لنظام بديل مستقبلي في ليبيا

السياسيون

توقعت أن يكون وزير الخارجية الفرنسي قد تشاور مع المجلس الوطني الانتقالي قبل أن يطرح الفكرة لكن عندما ذهبت إلى المجلس وتحدثت مع أعضائه وطلبت موقفاً رسمياً منهم تفاجأت بردة فعلهم والتي كانت الرفض التام لفكرة وزير الخارجية الفرنسي. المجلس يصر على أنه لا بد من محاكمة القذافي أو رحيله من ليبيا، وحتى في حال رحيله فلا شيء يكفل ألا تتم رفع قضايا ضده في أي مكان كان. حتى أن مسؤول الإعلام في المجلس أوضح لي أن الرئيس الفرنسي على علم بموقف المجلس من المقترح.. وعزا المجلس موقفه إلى موقف الشعب الليبي الرافض تماماً لفكرة صفقة تنحي القذافي وبقائه في ليبيا

أي أن الشارع له ضغط وله ثقل 

طبعاً كان المجلس في مرات سابقة قد ألمح إلى إمكانية التفاوض على المسألة لكن اليوم قالوا لي : لا تفاوض مع القذافي 

المحللون

قصدت المحللين فقالوا لي : يستحيل أن يكون الحل عملياً لأنه لا بد من إنهاء وجود القذافي تماماً وحاشيته وأمواله وكل شيء يتعلق به في ليبيا لضمان استقرارها

أحد المحللين ركز على العامل العاطفي للشعب الليبي وقال : هل سيقبل معمر أن يقضي أيامه و"بصاق الليبيين عليه كل يوم"؟ الشعب الليبي لن يستقر نفسياً مع وجود القذافي .. ومعمر قادر على حفر نفق والظهور في مكان ما في أي لحظة ولن يلتزم بأي عهد أو أي اتفاق

الشارع

النساء كانت لديهن أقوى ردود الأفعال على المقترح الفرنسي

امرأة قالت لي : ومن هي فرنسا حتى تقول لنا نحن الليبيين ما نفعل أو تملي علينا الحلول؟ نحن من ثرنا ضد معمر ونحن من نقرر مصيره

امرأة أخرى قالت لي : المطلوب من فرنسا وأمريكا فقط شيء واحد وعليهما الالتزام به، وهو إعطاؤنا غطاء جوي لكي نزحف نساء ورجالاً وشباباً إلى طرابلس، ونحن من سنزحف وليس هم، ونحن من سنسقط النظام، وليس هم

امرأة أخرى ردت : هو قاتل ، قتل شعبنا، لا نقبل سوى أن يُقتل، أن يُشنق في ساحة من الساحات كما شنق الليبيين

سألتهن جميعاً : طيب ما هو الحل؟ إراقة الدماء ستستمر إن لم يتم التوصل إلى حل سياسي

فجأة جاءت شابة، قالت لي : أنا لدي نداء 

وقرأت لي قصيدة كتبتها إلى الثوار إلى كتائب القذافي، تناشد فيها الكتائب إلى أن يستيقظوا ويعوا لما يفعلون ويتخلوا عن الطاغية ويكفوا عن قتل إخوتهم الليبيين

هو الحل في رأي فتاة ليبية .. حل ليبي ليبي 

أيقنتُ أن "المقترح" الفرنسي قد يكون مجرد جس نبض 

وحتى لو كان مقترحاً جدياً فالرد من بنغازي واضح 

وسرعان ما جاء موقف النظام الليبي ينفي أن يكون المتقرح قيد البحث

وسرعان ما جاء موقف البيت الأبيض ليبعد نفسه عن المقترح الفرنسي مؤكداً على ضرورة تنحي القذافي، لكن رامياً الكرة في ملعب الشعب الليبي ليقرر هو ما سيكون مصير الزعيم الليبي بعد التنحي

وتستمر المشاورات على أعلى المستويات بخصوص مستقبل ليبيا
بينما يؤمن الشارع الليبي في بنغازي بأنه هو من يقرر وسيقرر وليس المجتمع الدولي 


وتستمر الحكاية
   

    

دافنينو سوا : محمد الغنام بين مبارك وسويسرا

قبيل مغادرة مصر إلى ليبيا أنهيت العمل على تقرير عملت لإعداده مدة شهر كامل في القاهرة .. أبحث في خيوط قضية شائكة

في مصر الثورة لا تزال جهود فتح ملفات التجاوزات في عهد مبارك وما ترافق معها من جرائم سياسية غامضة وكثيراً ما تتعثر .. و منها ملفّ العقيد محمد الغنام الخبير المصري في مكافحة الإرهاب والجريمة الذي اختفى في سويسرا في وقائع غامضة ترافقت مع خلاف شهير له مع حسني مبارك .. الشكوك تذهب إلى عملية استخبارية ويعتبر الكشف عنها بعيد المنال خاصة بالنسبة لعائلته التي اصطدمت جهودها في البحث عنه بجدار الصمت

خلال شهر البحث في القضية كان جزء كبير من عملي هو أن أفهم القضية وأن أحاول أن أتقبل أن سويسرا حقوق الإنسان التي أكملتُ فيها دراستي الجامعية وعملتُ في مؤسساتها وتعلمت فيها عن الديمقراطية والحرية وكنتُ أضرب بها المثل يمكن أن تكون نفسها سويسرا التي تحتجز مصرياً بشكل تعسفي دون محاكمة .. وهي على ما يبدو بالفعل كذلك

الملف السويسري سميك لأن في سويسرا ودائع الديكتاتوريين وأصدقائهم من أمثال مبارك وصديقه حسين سالم .. ومن قضية الغنام وقضايا أخرى يبدو واضحاً أيضاً أن ملف ِسويسرا مع الإسلام مليء بقصص أخرى لا نعرفها، غير كل تلك التي ظهرت على السطح

أتمنى الحرية لمحمد الغنام والعودة إلى الوطن .. حيث تنتظره ثورة

وأتمنى أن تظهر الحقيقة حول ما فعلته سويسرا بحقه وأن تظهر كل الحقائق والأسرار

تاريخ بث التقرير : ٢٠-٢١ يوليو تموز ٢٠١١

مكان التصوير : القاهرة، مصر

تصوير : محمود المليجي

مونتاج : ابراهيم خليل