[ Nota Bene: I do not know Muhammad. I think his intentions are pure. Others might doubt them. In this day and age, some are not even trust their dog. For my part, I found authentic to its text, which was good enough to translate and publish it here. The link to the English version, published in the blogs section of Guardian at the bottom of the page. - SK ]
Muhammad Libya min
Libya is united in the people's revolution - please do not interfere
We support a no-fly zone, but the blood of the dead will be paid for anything Libyan
if the West distort our uprising with a failed intervention
"Kiss my mother to me, and tell him that his son died a hero," said my friend Ahmed, 26, the first person who rushed toward him when he was shot in a street in Tripoli.
Two days later, my friend died in hospital. Like that.
This handsome young man, tall, funny, witty, no more. It will not respond to my calls. His account Facebook remain frozen forever.
An hour before he shot, I called Ahmed. He looked great. He said he was Green Square, the heart of Tripoli, and we were free. Then the bad telephone connections have meant that I could not reach him for two days.
Then I called the best friend of Ahmed who told me the terrible news. They were burying. So I rushed to the cemetery, and I got to the end of the funeral. I met some of our friends. They have designated a place on the floor telling me that Ahmed's body was there. We kissed and we cried all our hearts.
This kind of stories you hear in Tripoli these days. Hundreds, perhaps thousands. Stories that you'd be hard to imagine in everyday life.
Like when you hear a baby of six months has been murdered, you hope with all my heart that the statements of Saif al-Islam Kadhafi to be true, there is very little violence here, that Al- Jazeera has invented the whole story. You hope that the child is sleeping peacefully in the arms of his mother, in this very moment. Like when you hear that someone Tajura, which had a bullet in the head for two days before he died, leaving a grieving wife and child. You pray to God that the father could be playing with his child. But photos, videos show you the raw truth. The screams do not need translation. Loved ones struck down by death include all men cry.
is life in Tripoli for some time. That's why the city is nicknamed the "City of Ghosts" by its inhabitants in despair at the sight fleeing protestors with tear gas. The city is stopped, the vast majority of shops are closed, such as schools and universities. Few stores that sell basic products, remain open, a few hours a day.
But despite this grim picture of Tripoli, people have high hopes and belief that we are witnessing the last hours of the Gaddafi regime. This man no longer governs Libya, it is more than a man with a gun pointed at the people.
His two speeches, and his son were previously only threats - and they turned against them, for the good of the Libyan revolution. From east to west Libya, the tribes are out to affirm national unity.
Abroad, his record is no better. Gaddafi wanted to scare the Western world with the alleged threat of an Islamic emirate. The international community has responded by blocking the road to exile, by freezing its assets and bringing the crimes of his regime before the International Court of Justice, with a unanimity unprecedented, almost.
All Libyans, even the minority pro-Gaddafi, are convinced that this is a matter of time before Libya can not find his freedom. But one question terrifying remains: How many martyrs will fall before the fall of Qaddafi? How many souls does it take before this disaster ever?
But the happy ending that we see, is troubled by a fear shared by all the Libyans, that of a possible military intervention by Western powers to end the crisis.
misunderstand me. Like all Libyans, I am convinced that no-fly zone would be a good thing to inflict a fatal blow to the regime on many levels, it would cut the road in convoys of mercenaries, recruited in Africa to prevent Gaddafi engage in trafficking in money and other property, and most importantly it would prevent the plan to bomb arsenals, as claimed by many witnesses, conceal chemical weapons would result in an unimaginable catastrophe, without forgetting that the Qaddafi planes themselves may carry such weapons.
Still something seems to have met the Libyans from all walks; terrestrial military intervention by any foreign power whatsoever, would lead - as Mustafa Abud Al Jeleil, former Minister of Justice and leader of the interim government opposition has said - much more fierce fighting those that were caused by the mercenaries.
I'm not for the option of limited air strikes on specific targets. It is a full popular revolution, whose essence is the blood of the Libyan people, who fought only when the West ignored his incipient revolution, fearing for their interests in Libya. Therefore I would like the revolution is accomplished by those who have begun: the Libyan people.
While calls for foreign intervention are increasing, I'd like to send a message to Western leaders: Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy. This is an opportunity not common extent that you fell from heaven, the opportunity to improve your image in the eyes of Arabs and Muslims. Do not waste it. Until now, all your programs aimed at bringing the West and East have failed and some have made things worse. So do not start an action that you might conclude, do not turn the purity of a popular revolution in a calamity that hit everyone. Do not waste the blood that my friend Ahmed has paid for me. Let us live simply
neighbors on the same planet. Who knows, maybe one day, the neighbor that I am to be held on your doorstep and you shake hands with a smile.
Two days later, my friend died in hospital. Like that.
This handsome young man, tall, funny, witty, no more. It will not respond to my calls. His account Facebook remain frozen forever.
An hour before he shot, I called Ahmed. He looked great. He said he was Green Square, the heart of Tripoli, and we were free. Then the bad telephone connections have meant that I could not reach him for two days.
Then I called the best friend of Ahmed who told me the terrible news. They were burying. So I rushed to the cemetery, and I got to the end of the funeral. I met some of our friends. They have designated a place on the floor telling me that Ahmed's body was there. We kissed and we cried all our hearts.
This kind of stories you hear in Tripoli these days. Hundreds, perhaps thousands. Stories that you'd be hard to imagine in everyday life.
Like when you hear a baby of six months has been murdered, you hope with all my heart that the statements of Saif al-Islam Kadhafi to be true, there is very little violence here, that Al- Jazeera has invented the whole story. You hope that the child is sleeping peacefully in the arms of his mother, in this very moment. Like when you hear that someone Tajura, which had a bullet in the head for two days before he died, leaving a grieving wife and child. You pray to God that the father could be playing with his child. But photos, videos show you the raw truth. The screams do not need translation. Loved ones struck down by death include all men cry.
is life in Tripoli for some time. That's why the city is nicknamed the "City of Ghosts" by its inhabitants in despair at the sight fleeing protestors with tear gas. The city is stopped, the vast majority of shops are closed, such as schools and universities. Few stores that sell basic products, remain open, a few hours a day.
But despite this grim picture of Tripoli, people have high hopes and belief that we are witnessing the last hours of the Gaddafi regime. This man no longer governs Libya, it is more than a man with a gun pointed at the people.
His two speeches, and his son were previously only threats - and they turned against them, for the good of the Libyan revolution. From east to west Libya, the tribes are out to affirm national unity.
Abroad, his record is no better. Gaddafi wanted to scare the Western world with the alleged threat of an Islamic emirate. The international community has responded by blocking the road to exile, by freezing its assets and bringing the crimes of his regime before the International Court of Justice, with a unanimity unprecedented, almost.
All Libyans, even the minority pro-Gaddafi, are convinced that this is a matter of time before Libya can not find his freedom. But one question terrifying remains: How many martyrs will fall before the fall of Qaddafi? How many souls does it take before this disaster ever?
But the happy ending that we see, is troubled by a fear shared by all the Libyans, that of a possible military intervention by Western powers to end the crisis.
misunderstand me. Like all Libyans, I am convinced that no-fly zone would be a good thing to inflict a fatal blow to the regime on many levels, it would cut the road in convoys of mercenaries, recruited in Africa to prevent Gaddafi engage in trafficking in money and other property, and most importantly it would prevent the plan to bomb arsenals, as claimed by many witnesses, conceal chemical weapons would result in an unimaginable catastrophe, without forgetting that the Qaddafi planes themselves may carry such weapons.
Still something seems to have met the Libyans from all walks; terrestrial military intervention by any foreign power whatsoever, would lead - as Mustafa Abud Al Jeleil, former Minister of Justice and leader of the interim government opposition has said - much more fierce fighting those that were caused by the mercenaries.
I'm not for the option of limited air strikes on specific targets. It is a full popular revolution, whose essence is the blood of the Libyan people, who fought only when the West ignored his incipient revolution, fearing for their interests in Libya. Therefore I would like the revolution is accomplished by those who have begun: the Libyan people.
While calls for foreign intervention are increasing, I'd like to send a message to Western leaders: Obama, Cameron, Sarkozy. This is an opportunity not common extent that you fell from heaven, the opportunity to improve your image in the eyes of Arabs and Muslims. Do not waste it. Until now, all your programs aimed at bringing the West and East have failed and some have made things worse. So do not start an action that you might conclude, do not turn the purity of a popular revolution in a calamity that hit everyone. Do not waste the blood that my friend Ahmed has paid for me. Let us live simply
neighbors on the same planet. Who knows, maybe one day, the neighbor that I am to be held on your doorstep and you shake hands with a smile.
Translation: Stefan Kalinski
(photo: al jazeera )
Reports Libyan events:
[ 17 February 18, 2011] [February 19, 2011 ] [ 20,21, February 22, 2011 ] [ 23 24 25 February 2011 ]
