Remembering Anton Hammerl

This article also appears on The Atlantic’s website. South African photojournalist Anton Hammerl is believed to have died on April 5 when he and three other journalists were attacked by loyalist forces on the outskirts of Brega. But news of Anton’s likely death only came to light today, when American journalists Clare Gillis and James [...]

“It’s funny, but Gaddafi brought out the best in us”: Social solidarity and the Libyan revolution

A version of this article appears in Foreign Policy. BENGHAZI, Libya —If you had told Benghazi residents three months ago that they would be throwing Molotov cocktails at Gaddafi loyalist tanks, they would’ve looked at you like you were crazy. Even after the Egyptian revolution began on January 25, Gaddafi’s iron grip on Libyan society [...]

A cat and a truck in Ajdabiyah (photo shoot)

I was driving back from the west gate of Ajdabiyah, where opposition forces were trading Grad rocket fire with Gaddafi’s forces to the west, when I saw a bombed-out upside-down pickup truck by the side of the road. It was probably a truck from Gaddafi’s militias that had been hit by a Coalition air strike. [...]

Would Libyans accept a deal granting Gaddafi immunity from prosecution?

  A version of this article will appear on Foreign Policy‘s website. Getting rid of Gaddafi — but at what price? Benghazi residents discuss whether they would accept a peace deal granting immunity to Col. Muammar Gaddafi BENGHAZI, April 17 Virtually everyone in Libya’s opposition-held east agrees that Muammar Gaddafi must leave Libya for the country’s [...]

Washington turns a blind eye to Bahraini government’s human-rights abuses

See Amber Lyon’s investigative reporting from Bahrain for CNN: http://backstory.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/12/unjust-treatment-in-bahrain/ If the Obama administration speaks out about the crackdown in Bahrain and the shooting of unarmed protesters, it will anger GCC oil producers — especially Saudi Arabia — that worry about the possibility of pro-democracy movements in their own countries. The Washington-Riyadh axis is a red line the [...]

Taking the pulse of the revolution, Part One: With school closed during the war, Benghazi’s kids are learning emergency first aid

The names of all children mentioned in this post have been changed. A version of this article is published on the website of Foreign Policy. BENGHAZI, APRIL 11 “What do you do in the event of a third-degree burn?” asks Dr. Randa Abidia. “The hospital! Straight to the hospital!” the kids respond. I’m sitting in [...]

The aural environment

        This article also appears in Foreign Policy, together with a synopsis of this blog to date. BENGHAZI, Libya — Lately I’ve been trying to work in Benghazi’s press center, set up by the opposition for foreign press in the building that — until the revolution — housed Benghazi’s high court. It’s [...]

Inside Gaddafi’s dark places: The headquarters of Benghazi’s Revolutionary Committees

On February 17, at the beginning of the revolution, one of the first buildings that demonstrators stormed in Benghazi was the headquarters of the Revolutionary Committees. They razed it. The Revolutionary Committees (al-lijan al-thawriyah) are Gaddafi’s die-hards. Established in the 1977 as the ideological vanguard of the Green revolution, their members have a reputation as [...]

Kaboom (Part Ithnayn)

Benghazi, April 3. Susanne Tarkowski, a Swedish media and communications specialist, is riding in a car with Mehdi, her Libyan assistant, bodyguard, and driver. Susanne: “Mehdi, are you carrying a gun?” Mehdi: “No.” Susanne: “Under the circumstances, don’t you think that might be a good idea?” Mehdi: “We don’t need one.” Susanne: “Why not?” Mehdi: [...]

Kaboom (Part Wahid)

Benghazi, April 4, 12:30 am. I’m sitting in one of Benghazi’s best hotels. For some reason, there are few journalists and TV crews in this one — this seems to be where foreign-government types hang out. The demographic leans toward Caucasian men in navy-blue suits with salt-and-pepper hair. A UN delegation stayed here a few [...]