Libyans Miss Gaddafi as They Mark 5 Years Since His Killing
19 October 2016
Those living in Tripoli say they are exhausted by power cuts, price rises and a lack of cash flow as rival authorities and militias battle for control of the country.
"I hate to say it but our life was better under the previous regime," Fayza Al Naas, a 42-year-old pharmacist, told AFP referring to Gaddafi’s more than four decades of rule. Now "we wait for hours outside banks to beg cashiers to give us some of our own money. Everything is three times more expensive".
During Gaddafi’s rule the country had free education and health care and the government spent billions of dollars from oil revenues on social programs. Homelessness and illiteracy were almost wiped out in 2011, according to data from the World Bank and the United Nations.
The country’s income per capita was at US$12,000, which is one of the highest in the region. The country also had one of the most progressive laws in the region concerning women as it supported their right to work and dress as they like since the 1960s, which was unprecedented at the time in many Middle Eastern and African countries.
The turmoil that followed Gaddafi’s fall in 2011 has left a massive security void that turned the country into a breeding ground for extremism. The Islamic State group has gained a foothold in Libya and in June last year the extremist group seized the former leader’s hometown of Sirte...
