Libya extravaganza
Sep. 2nd, 2009 10:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nairiporterExtravagant celebrations in Libya to mark Gaddafi's 40 years in power
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/01/libya-gaddafi-40-year-celebration
Under the unwavering gaze of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyans streamed in their tens of thousands tonight to an extravagant celebration of his 40 years in power – ignoring western anger and continuing controversy over the welcome given to the freed Lockerbie bomber.
Tripoli's Green Square, the capital's largest public space, filled up long before darkness fell as a mercifully cool breeze blew in from the Mediterranean to relieve the oppressive heat of a long Ramadan day.
Huge posters and banners extolling the "brother leader of the revolution", now the longest-serving African or Arab head of state, dominated all entrances to an elaborate setting compared by its international organisers to an Olympic opening ceremony.
Gaddafi himself, wearing dark glasses, was resplendent in dove-grey uniform dripping with gold braid, epaulettes, medals and a sash as he greeted guests and inspected a march-past that included symbolic contingents from other African Union members.
From western Europe the only head of government was the prime minister of nearby Malta – a troubling reminder to Libya's rehabilitated pariah that new-found friends can be fickle.
High above the palm-fringed Corniche, Italian fighter jets roared in tight formation, spewing dense red, white and green vapour trails in a display of aerobatics billed one as of the highlights of the six-day anniversary party. Yet even this prompted a mini-controversy, the Italians flatly refusing to agree to trails of unadulterated green – the colour of the Libyan flag. Libyan helicopters towed vast green flags as an army band performed on the square below.
"This is the festival of festivals for us," exulted Khaled al-Hijni, born three years after Gaddafi and his fellow "free officers" seized power in a bloodless coup on 1 September 1969. "I grew up just after the revolution," said his friend Adel al-Muzigi, "and I celebrate every year."
Harassed Libyan officials, shepherding the largest influx of foreign journalists the country has ever permitted, said they expected the man they simply call "the leader" to speak at around midnight – though the 67-year-old is as famous for his unpredictability as for his flamboyant clothes and rambling addresses.
VIPs from African and Arab countries, many in military uniforms, filled a reviewing stand shaded by a vast white awning decorated with Libya's double-headed eagle – and the ubiquitous slogans of the "Great al-Fateh revolution".
Advance publicity promised that the no-expense-spared epic will cover 5,000 years of Libyan history. But most of it, to judge by past form, will be devoted to the transformation of a western-backed conservative monarchy, endowed with vast deserts and vast amounts of oil, to a unique "Jamahiriya" ("state of the masses") governed by popular committees and Gaddafi's Green Book.
Families were encouraged to attend, though they faced a long walk through streets blocked by the security forces – their numbers, array of uniforms and vehicles a striking contrast with the rest of Libya's notoriously rickety and inefficient public infrastructure.
Curious foreigners came too. "My Libyan friends are not very excited," said a Filippino teacher. "Actually they are pretty cynical and I can understand that. We've had a lot of coups in my country too."
It is hard to avoid the impression of overkill. For days Libyan state TV has been showing endless clips of Gaddafi's achievements. The cult of personality was on dazzling display in the early hours of Tuesday with dancing, singing, marching and feats of horsemanship lauding him as the heroic "knight" of the revolution at Tripoli's Mitiga airbase.
Gaddafi, then in mottled beige suit and matching cap, sat in the centre of a dais as green laser beams cut through the humid night sky to announce the "Knight and Men" salute to "a great leader, a maker of great events" – first in Arabic and then English, French, Italian and Spanish for the many foreign guests.
A troupe of Italian girls took part in the dancing, but the riders were Libyans, men and women in bedouin tribal dress, strutting and cantering across the artificial grass repeatedly to shake their fists and hail the man on the podium.
Large parts of the programme were devoted to Libya's struggle against Italy, which occupied the country from 1911 until the second world war. One tableau recreated a mass hanging (designed to crush the anti-colonial resistance) complete with wooden gallows and dangling corpses.
Libya's modern military might was represented by soldiers in camouflaged armoured vehicles and others waving green banners chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). Flaming hoops and torches added deep orange flashes to the kaleidoscopic scene.
The overall message was of immense pride in the country's achievements, but it was still a blunt – and unconvincing – one. "Libya is Paradise," proclaimed one giant slogan adorning Gaddafi's image. "In blood and spirit we will redeem our leader," children in national costume chanted as he beamed back at them.
Produced by an international events company in cooperation with Libyan state broadcasting, the Gaddafi show was a sophisticated display of adulation and agitprop, Libyan-style. But there was no mention of Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, who was freed by Scotland last month and is dying from prostate cancer.
The regime appears to have decided to try to limit the international damage caused by Megrahi's welcome home, though film of his return, and the embrace of Saif al-Islam, the leader's influential younger son, is broadcast constantly on TV.
Gaddafi made it clear that choice of location was deliberate: until September 1969 Mitiga had been an American air base that Libyans – even army officers like him – had been forbidden to enter, he mused in his trademark low, growling voice. "The revolution that restored it to the Libyan people," he said, "was our zero hour."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/01/libya-gaddafi-40-year-celebration
Under the unwavering gaze of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyans streamed in their tens of thousands tonight to an extravagant celebration of his 40 years in power – ignoring western anger and continuing controversy over the welcome given to the freed Lockerbie bomber.
Tripoli's Green Square, the capital's largest public space, filled up long before darkness fell as a mercifully cool breeze blew in from the Mediterranean to relieve the oppressive heat of a long Ramadan day.
Huge posters and banners extolling the "brother leader of the revolution", now the longest-serving African or Arab head of state, dominated all entrances to an elaborate setting compared by its international organisers to an Olympic opening ceremony.
Gaddafi himself, wearing dark glasses, was resplendent in dove-grey uniform dripping with gold braid, epaulettes, medals and a sash as he greeted guests and inspected a march-past that included symbolic contingents from other African Union members.
From western Europe the only head of government was the prime minister of nearby Malta – a troubling reminder to Libya's rehabilitated pariah that new-found friends can be fickle.
High above the palm-fringed Corniche, Italian fighter jets roared in tight formation, spewing dense red, white and green vapour trails in a display of aerobatics billed one as of the highlights of the six-day anniversary party. Yet even this prompted a mini-controversy, the Italians flatly refusing to agree to trails of unadulterated green – the colour of the Libyan flag. Libyan helicopters towed vast green flags as an army band performed on the square below.
"This is the festival of festivals for us," exulted Khaled al-Hijni, born three years after Gaddafi and his fellow "free officers" seized power in a bloodless coup on 1 September 1969. "I grew up just after the revolution," said his friend Adel al-Muzigi, "and I celebrate every year."
Harassed Libyan officials, shepherding the largest influx of foreign journalists the country has ever permitted, said they expected the man they simply call "the leader" to speak at around midnight – though the 67-year-old is as famous for his unpredictability as for his flamboyant clothes and rambling addresses.
VIPs from African and Arab countries, many in military uniforms, filled a reviewing stand shaded by a vast white awning decorated with Libya's double-headed eagle – and the ubiquitous slogans of the "Great al-Fateh revolution".
Advance publicity promised that the no-expense-spared epic will cover 5,000 years of Libyan history. But most of it, to judge by past form, will be devoted to the transformation of a western-backed conservative monarchy, endowed with vast deserts and vast amounts of oil, to a unique "Jamahiriya" ("state of the masses") governed by popular committees and Gaddafi's Green Book.
Families were encouraged to attend, though they faced a long walk through streets blocked by the security forces – their numbers, array of uniforms and vehicles a striking contrast with the rest of Libya's notoriously rickety and inefficient public infrastructure.
Curious foreigners came too. "My Libyan friends are not very excited," said a Filippino teacher. "Actually they are pretty cynical and I can understand that. We've had a lot of coups in my country too."
It is hard to avoid the impression of overkill. For days Libyan state TV has been showing endless clips of Gaddafi's achievements. The cult of personality was on dazzling display in the early hours of Tuesday with dancing, singing, marching and feats of horsemanship lauding him as the heroic "knight" of the revolution at Tripoli's Mitiga airbase.
Gaddafi, then in mottled beige suit and matching cap, sat in the centre of a dais as green laser beams cut through the humid night sky to announce the "Knight and Men" salute to "a great leader, a maker of great events" – first in Arabic and then English, French, Italian and Spanish for the many foreign guests.
A troupe of Italian girls took part in the dancing, but the riders were Libyans, men and women in bedouin tribal dress, strutting and cantering across the artificial grass repeatedly to shake their fists and hail the man on the podium.
Large parts of the programme were devoted to Libya's struggle against Italy, which occupied the country from 1911 until the second world war. One tableau recreated a mass hanging (designed to crush the anti-colonial resistance) complete with wooden gallows and dangling corpses.
Libya's modern military might was represented by soldiers in camouflaged armoured vehicles and others waving green banners chanting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest). Flaming hoops and torches added deep orange flashes to the kaleidoscopic scene.
The overall message was of immense pride in the country's achievements, but it was still a blunt – and unconvincing – one. "Libya is Paradise," proclaimed one giant slogan adorning Gaddafi's image. "In blood and spirit we will redeem our leader," children in national costume chanted as he beamed back at them.
Produced by an international events company in cooperation with Libyan state broadcasting, the Gaddafi show was a sophisticated display of adulation and agitprop, Libyan-style. But there was no mention of Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, who was freed by Scotland last month and is dying from prostate cancer.
The regime appears to have decided to try to limit the international damage caused by Megrahi's welcome home, though film of his return, and the embrace of Saif al-Islam, the leader's influential younger son, is broadcast constantly on TV.
Gaddafi made it clear that choice of location was deliberate: until September 1969 Mitiga had been an American air base that Libyans – even army officers like him – had been forbidden to enter, he mused in his trademark low, growling voice. "The revolution that restored it to the Libyan people," he said, "was our zero hour."
