Recently the use of the term “Arab spring” intentionally mischaracterises the demographics of the region. The Amazigh played an integral role in the fight against Gaddafi, and helped topple his regime and their brigades took part in the liberation of Tripoli, argues Mohamed Eljarh. By Mohamed Eljarh (@Eljarh) Amazigh are [...]

August 31, Tripoli (via Der Spiegel) By Juliane von Mittelstaedt The search for justice in the new Libya is raising difficult questions about who is to blame for the atrocities of the Gadhafi era, such as the Abu Salim prison massacre. A unique experiment is taking place at one prison, [...]

By Ann Marlowe (World Affairs Journal) ZWARA, Libya, August 23 — I have written before in this blog about one of the lesser-known sins of Muammar Qaddafi, the pillaging of the Libyan environment. Both Libyan state enterprises and foreign companies operating in Libya have been guilty of toxic waste dumping, [...]

By Niz Ben-Essa Over the last few weeks, issues and discussions regarding women in Libya have come to the surface. People have been discussing the issues at coffee shops, on facebook and twitter groups, with friends, with family, NGOs, CSOs, independent activists, politicians, … the debate has been widespread. Opinions [...]

By Helena Williams , 21 August (newssafetyblog) “We were in the lobby of the hotel with our bags because we were just waiting to leave. I remember the Red Cross representatives walking into the hotel… you could see them coming around one of the walls, with their Red Cross uniforms [...]

August 19th 2012 - We lost two honourable Libyans this morning, because of severely blinded freaks of life. Seraj Alzwari and Salem Ali, both 25 years of age. Young…I know. I pray they reach the highest of heavens. Libyans have come a long long way to get to where they are [...]

The Libyan military’s number two talked to Magharebia about his country’s security challenges and military reforms. Asmaa Elourfi – Benghazi (Magharebia)  Major General Suleiman Mahmoud al-Obeidi was among the first military commanders to defect from Moamer Kadhafi’s regime. He held several high-ranking posts, including Deputy Director of Military Intelligence and Chairman [...]

By Khadija Ali I walked down the hallway and saw their faces and for the first time I felt like it wasn’t the time to approach them demanding answers. I continued my straight in the same direction and walked the red carpet into the hall. I was immediately overwhelmed. There [...]

A democratically-elected parliament takes over from Libya’s transitional government Wednesday. Along with reigning in armed militias, challenges facing the body include rebuilding a badly damaged infrastructure. The result surprised many. Libya’s first free elections in four decades went to former Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril’s moderate Islamic alliance, which won 39 [...]

By Richard John Charles Galustian. Tripoli, 5 August (Libya Herald) With an 18,000-square-foot spa, helicopter service upon request the Rixos al-Nasr is Libya’s premier hotel. This five-star hotel in central Tripoli housed scores of foreign journalists during last year’s revolution. However, the journalists were forbidden from leaving the hotel without a marafiq, the Arabic [...]

By Guy Lardeyret | Paris, 5 August: Libya is confronted with difficult choices. A democracy is not built in a day, but learning from the experiences of older democracies can save a lot of time and effort. All peoples aspire to democracy and all established religions, including moderate Islam, are [...]

Alarmist media narratives have overplayed threats to civic peace, while most citizens simply get on with their lives. By Najla Abdurrahman, a Libyan-American writer and activist, and a teaching fellow at Columbia University. 05 Aug 2012 (AJE) This article isn’t about elections. In fact, passing a pleasant but rather uneventful summer [...]

Recently, my friend Maryam had returned back from Russia to Libya together with her kids, where she finally reunited with her husband. They came only a couple of weeks ago, but already had a chance not only to see Tripoli, but visit Bani Walid as well. Below is her personal [...]

Defying the doom and gloom predictions, election day in Libya went smoothly. So smoothly that the usually cynical Simon Allison is beginning to wonder if the country’s many problems are really as insurmountable as they look, and whether there is genuine hope for the future. It’s easy to get despondent [...]

By Samah Elmeri Libya is preparing for its first elections after 42 years under the leadership of Moammar Gadhafi. The elections, which were originally scheduled for June 19, were recently rescheduled to July 7. In the coming weeks, therefore, Libyans will be electing a national assembly, which will then draft [...]