Gaddafi blames Osama bin Laden for unrest

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has spoken to his people in the midst of the uprising that’s seen him lose control of much of his country. Colonel Gaddafi – in a broadcast that did not show him in vision – blamed Osama bin Laden, the leader of Al-Qaeda, for the violence. He described what was happening as international terrorism. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with a Libyan woman who supports the rebellion.Download MP3

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Lisa Mullins: I’m Lisa Mullins, and this is the “The World”  It’s hard to keep up with news coming out of Libya.  Today, army units and militiamen loyal to Muammar Gadaffi struck back against rebels in the region near the capitol, Tripoli.  Reports from one town, Zawiya, say the army fired rocket propelled grenades and machine guns against protestors, who sought shelter inside a mosque.  Several protestors were reportedly killed. Gadaffi himself addressed the people of Zawiya in a speech broadcast today on Libyan state television.  The speech blamed the uprising on Al Qaeda, and its leader, Osama bin Laden.

Muammar Gadaffi(via translator): There should be no mercy against bin Laden and his followers.  They are wanted people.  They are wanted by America.  Those responsible for the turmoil in the country now should be apprehended, and should be cleansed, and should be purged.  Normality should return to the country.

Mullins: Muammar Gadaffi also said that Al-Qaieda had slipped drugs into the drinks of young Libyans.  While Gadaffi appears intent on crushing the rebellion against his rule, his forces have clearly lost control in large parts of Libya.  In the eastern city of Benghazi, resident Hatif Hassia describes how the army barracks there were taken over by local people.

Hatif Hassia: This was the biggest army barracks in Benghazi.  It was the residence of Colonel Gadaffi.  And it was attacked three nights ago by civilians with homemade bombs, with tractors, and with other things.  But it seems that there was a heavy artillery from inside.  And we found executed people from inside.

Mullins: That’s a resident of Benghazi.  After Muammar Gadaffi’s speech on television today, some protestors in Benghazi went out onto the streets to stomp on his picture.  It’s a far different scenario in the capitol, Tripoli.  There, Muammar Gadaffi is still firmly in control, and people are afraid to come out of their homes.  Earlier today we spoke with one resident of Tripoli, we’ll call her Arwa, although it’s not her real name.  She told us she’s been holed up in her apartment in Tripoli since Saturday evening, when she noticed a crackdown by security forces.

Arwa: We started hearing gunfires all the time, ’til the morning.  So no one will go out.  The streets are very surrounded.   You can’t go out.  They used tear gas on Sunday to prevent people from going out.  And I smelled it in my room, so I couldn’t even get close to the windows to see what’s going on.

Mullins: Is there anybody that you know, that was caught in the gunfire or the tear gassing?

Arwa: I know someone who’s been shot in his leg.  I think he’s 22 years old.  And he has a -he has a bullet in his leg, but he’s fine at the moment.  I know two people were dead.  They’re relatives to my husband.  Two people dead, today in Zawiya city.

Mullins: How long are you prepared to be hunkered down there?  You’re not alone, you’re with your mother and sisters, is that correct?

Arwa: Correct, yes.

Mullins: Yeah.  And how long do you have provisions for?

Arwa: We’re ready to stay here until Gadaffi leaves.

Mullins: What makes you think that he’s going to be leaving?

Arwa: Oh, we are going to make him leave.

Mullins: You say it with certainty.  How?

Arwa: People are ready to do anything and everything to get rid of him.  Our souls and blood are very cheap now for that -to pay that price.  It’s very cheap price for us, just let him go.

Mullins: How has Muammar Gadaffi affected your own life, personally?

Arwa: I was born after the revolution he made, and what can I say?  We have no dignity.  We have no freedom.  We couldn’t talk about him.  We had to cheer for him.  We had to cheer for his photos.  We have to see his image every -in every corner of the street.  And he wanted to be treated like -not like a king.  He wanted to be treated like a god.  And this is not -it wasn’t acceptable for most Libyans. He killed 6,000 officers in the battle in Ozhoin 1987.  He killed 1,270 prisoners in three hours in Al-Buslimin 1986.  And no one talks about them, because of the economic benefits, the oil and gas, and all the benefits between the eastern and the -the east and himself.   No one talks about him and they let him get away with it.  And Libyans were very upset and angry for the past two days, because we didn’t hear any condemnings for Gadaffi himself, just condemning for what the Libyan government are doing.  No one mentions Gadaffi at all.  They have to understand that this is the Libyan, who’s ruling now the country.  It’s not Gadaffi anymore.

Mullins: You’re saying that it’s Libyans who are controlling the country.  You do know that President Obama and Hilary Clinton, the Secretary of State, have made comments about Gadaffi, and about the violence?

Arwa: It wasn’t enough for us.  It wasn’t enough for us.  It was, like, shy comments.

Mullins: Not strong enough for you.

Arwa: No, it wasn’t strong enough for us, yes.

Mullins: Is there are part of you, Arwa, since you have known nothing but Gadaffi as the leader there, is there a part of you that is afraid of what might happen without him?

Arwa: It won’t be as bad as it was for the past 42 years.

Mullins: How are you getting your information right now about what’s going on?

Arwa: I call my friends and my families.  And for myself, I try to live with many friends, just to get reliable information.

Mullins: And are you using the Internet at all to get information?

Arwa:  I use the Internet and I use the phone as well, whenever I can.  But the problem, what we face here, is that the Internet and the phones are not working all the time.  So we try to benefit as much as we can when we get online.

Mullins: What are you hearing, if anything, from the Libyan government?

Arwa:  We had two messages for the past two days.  They -yesterday, we received a message from the Ministry of Education informing people that schools will be open and it will be normal school day, today.  And they’re requesting people to go back to their classes.  The day before yesterday, the Prime Minister’s office announced that yesterday should be a normal working day for the public and private sector and should all employees go to their work.  No one sent his school -his kids to school today.  And yesterday, 90 percent of people I know here in Tripoli, they didn’t go to work.  In fact, our operations suspended last Monday, I haven’t gone to work since that.

Mullins: Do you want to leave, and could you if you wanted to?

Arwa: No, I could leave, but I choose not to.  And in fact, one of my sisters, who is abroad at the moment, she’s planning to come back within the next two days.  So if we’re going to die, we’re going to die all together.  Leaving the country is not an option for us.

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