It’s hard not to notice the lack of officiality in Libya’s license plates. Each car has a different  size, color and design; the older ones still read: ‘The Republic’ instead of ‘Libya’. During  Liberation Day celebrations, young men in Tripoli held cans of spray paint and sprayed the ‘The Republic’ on every unchanged tag and […]

Libyans live an unrelenting state of violence, where hardly a day passes without bloodshed; be it political disputes, revenge, drug related crimes, or theft. This state of violence has become more evident in children’s games, which have come to glorify rifles and handguns. The same applies to festivities and merrymaking where live ammunition is often […]

While standing in front of his brother’s house in Derna—eastern Libya— early one morning, retired colonel Abdullatif  Muzaini, 71, was shot three times by unknown men in a drive-by shooting. The motives for killing Muzaini, who had opened revolutionary training camps at the outset of the revolution in 2011 were unclear. The same scenario happened […]

It seems that the Head of the National Forces Alliance, Mahmoud Jibril, was right when he described the outcomes of the Libyan education as “poor.” Although government spending on education is high, the quality of this sector is still a concern for many observers, particularly since the quality of the Libyan educational system ranked 142nd […]

The Political Bureau of the Barqa province closed oil ports in the oil crescent area (Ras Lanuf, Sidra, Brega and Zueitina). It also accused the prime minister of trying to bribe the chairman of the Energy Commission of the National Conference, Naji Mukhtar, who recently admitted to paying 2.5 million dinars (US $2,000,000) and IOU’s […]

Ahmad Noah, who lives in Tobruk, in eastern Libya, is forced to transport water to his house in a rented truck. Although he lives within the city’s limits, the water network lines do not supply water to his town. “How could we have a stable life when we lack the basic element of it?” asked […]

In a press conference held in Tripoli on September 24, Naji Mukhtar, chairman of Libya’s General National Congress (GNC)’s Energy Committee admitted that he paid 2.5 million Libyan dinars (US $2,000,000) of his own money to Salem Jadran, brother of Ibrahim Jadran. Ibrahim Jadran is the commander of the oil facilities’ guards in the central […]

Has Libya achieved a genuine spring or has it merely been a bloody fall marked by a successive failure of governments? To answer this question, we must review the situation prior to the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi, which was achieved by a unanimous public demand inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. However, whether or […]

Mohammed Werfelli’s dreams, like his farm in Algarabouli city, east of Tripoli, have shriveled up due to scarce water resources, especially groundwater that he depends on to irrigate his strawberry crops. Mohammed Werfelli’s dreams, like his farm in Algarabouli city, east of Tripoli, have shriveled up due to scarce water resources, especially groundwater that he […]

The frightening memories of gallows erected for university students during the Gaddafi era were never forgotten, long leaving students too intimidated to speak up. Today, the new political climate in Libya since the revolution has prompted university students to engage politically with some of the highest authorities in the country. The frightening memories of gallows […]