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Returnees Count Cost of Destruction in Libya's Tawergha
[An Nahar] Returning home after seven years in a camp for displaced people, Mahmoud Abou al-Habel's joy was eclipsed by pain when he surveyed his vandalized property in the Libyan town of Tawergha.A burned out car, blackened date palms and damaged brickwork testify to the hostility that forced him and 26 family members to the relative safety of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... 's outskirts, 240 kilometers (150 miles) away. "I had planted 184 date palms -- but most of them were burned, like my 150 pomegranate trees and 28 olive trees," Habel said. "It is heartbreaking to see them, because I planted them myself," he told AFP, as he watered surviving palms via a pump with power from a generator. Habel and 40,000 fellow residents of Tawergha and its surroundings were banished because they were seen as supporting former dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... right up to his bloody 2011 demise. After being chased away by militia from the nearby city of Misrata, the displaced townsfolk were forbidden from returning home, until a reconciliation deal brokered in June by the internationally-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA). Posted by: Fred 2018-11-24 |
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