Page 2 - Force Gaddafi News Today

[call to prayer] >> anthony: so, before the war, did you think it would ever be possible? >> man: no. >> anthony: did you dream someday this will change? >> omar: no, no, no. in gaddafis time, you cannot say a word. you get killed. thats it. it was impossible. but then i joined the group, you know? >> anthony: right. >> omar: the revolutionary. >> anthony: omar is young, and was even younger when the fighting started. he, like so many libyans from around the country and many who had left, heeded...

Shopping for a big family, you bring cash, a wheelbarrow, and load up with what you need. but revolution has brought changed tastes. libyans, especially young libyans, hunger for more than just freedom. they hunger for places like this. kentaki fried chick -- uncle kentaki fried chicken. >> johar: uncle kentaki. >> anthony: okay. the colonel, and his buddies the king and the clown, have not quite made it here, given the uncertainty of the situation. so in the meantime, places like this have been...

>> anthony: michel cousins is the co-founder of the english-language paper the libya herald, and has known several different libyas in his lifetime. >> michel: for so long, the news has been the personality. gaddafi turned up to open a shopping center. gaddafi turned up to open an envelope. those of us who knew libya, who knew there was another libya, uh, wonderful people, we would talk about it as you talk about a dead person. "do you remember this? do you remember that?" and then in february 2...

Outside tripolis center, theres this, one-time axis of all power and untold evil. a huge complex of sinister offices, barracks, residences, on top of a rabbit warren of secret tunnels and underground facilities. the bab al-azizia -- gaddafis enormous compound. ♪ >> anthony: most everything belonging to or associated with gaddafi was destroyed. nato continually bombed strategic locations within the compound. and on august 23rd, 2011, it fell to the rebels, gaddafi and his family having fled.

It was just something in the sky. something i look at every night. >> anthony: right. >> akram: but when i hit that point and got into misrata and stood on gaddafis body, any dream will come true. >> anthony: whats the situation now? >> akram: uh, its fluid. it can swing any direction. >> anthony: well, look, what happened in benghazi a few months ago, i mean, what does this mean to the country? >> akram: i think there is a dark, mysterious hand who doesnt like this country to prosper. they see ...

>> johar: thats we why fighting. thats we why give it all of blood from my country. because i wanted feeling that. the taste of freedom. >> anthony: the taste of freedom. >> johar: is nice taste. >> man: food place, good? >> anthony: good food. ♪ outside tripolis center, theres this, one-time axis of all power and untold evil. a huge complex of sinister offices, barracks, residences, on top of a rabbit warren of secret tunnels and underground facilities. the bab al-azizia -- gaddafis

[singing] ♪ >> anthony: snacks are passed around. [singing] >> anthony: women watch and record from the rooftops. [singing] ♪ ♪ >> anthony: there arent a lot of conflicts in the world where theres a clear bad guy. clearly there was a bad guy here. >> michel: yeah. exactly. i mean, the one thing about gaddafi is he believed he was the most important human being almost that had ever existed. i mean, he changed the names of the months.

He was there, gun in hand, when they stormed gaddafis palace compound. happy? excited? >> johar: in the fighting? >> anthony: it was a good day? yeah. >> johar: its give it to me nice feeling. nice feeling. the gaddafi, hes killed my cousin. how you should be feeling? if -- uh, exactly. i feeling good. because i wanted killed him. uh, i -- i dont wanted -- i dont want see anyone die more. he has killed for nothing. the first time, i think, uh, that killing people is bad. but hes, hes leave me do...

He changed the dates of the islamic calendar. such, uh, megalomania. and, as you well know, anyone outside -- you mention the word "libya," everyone would just say, "gaddafi." >> anthony: yeah. >> michel: gaddafi stole the identity of libya. >> anthony: michel cousins is the co-founder of the english-language paper the libya herald, and has known several different libyas in his lifetime. >> michel: for so long, the news has been the personality. gaddafi turned up to open a shopping center. gadda...

Absorb all the people flooding in from all over africa, continue to make mandelas dream a reality, maybe there is hope for the rest of us. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> anthony: for most of my life, libya was a word with bad associations. libya meant gaddafi. libya meant terrorism. >> reporter: pan am flight 103 went down in a blazing fireball. >> anthony: libya meant a bad place where a comical megalomaniacal dictator was the absolute power. nobody in libya, however, was laughing. >>...