BENGHAZI - With no sign of a breakthrough in the five-month conflict that divided their country, opponents and loyalists of Libya's embattled leader Muammar Gaddafi share the joy of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
“The prices have gone up and there is a bit of cost cutting because of the delayed salaries,” Fayza, a middle-aged woman wearing a headscarf, told Reuters on Monday, August 1, after shopping with her husband in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.
“But despite that we are happy. This Ramadan feels different, there is freedom this time. We miss the people we have lost, but our hope is freedom."
The city lies under the control of the opposition forces who took to arms after Gaddafi's troops met pro-democracy protests with brutal crackdowns.
Businesses have pledged to keep sending food and supplies to the front line to supply the anti-regime forces, which now control about half the country but have struggled to make a significant breakthrough in weeks.
They hold northeast Libya including their stronghold Benghazi; the western city of Misrata; and much of the Western Mountains, their closest territory to the capital.
Yet, they remain poorly armed and often disorganized.
The first day of Ramadan followed a torrid week in their eastern bastion, where they saw their military commander assassinated, apparently by allied gunmen.
Now, the conflict is being dragged into Ramadan, amid fears that the energy of opposition fighters on the ground will be sapped by the month-long fasting.
But despite fighting and fasting in the heat, Sagher, a 33-year-old fighter, is relishing the challenge.
"If I die fighting Gaddafi I would rather be a martyr who is fasting,” he told Reuters.
“It would be a far better martyrdom because I am observing Ramadan."
'Mia Mia'
In Tripoli, where Gaddafi appears to be firmly entrenched, people were busy with shopping for Ramadan despite the strain caused by the conflict.
"Mia mia!" housewife Aisha Rajab told CNN, repeating a popular Libyan phrase that roughly translates to "100%" and means that there are no hardships whatsoever.
"Everything is good," she added, as she shopped with her sisters and nieces for food.
"Everything is available and at cheap prices ... we are hoping for victory for our leader (Gaddafi)".
Yet, this joyful answer was not shared by other Tripoli residents who have a different assessment of the situation.
"We're barely staying alive," a man told the US broadcaster, just when he was assured that no government agents are nearby.
He spoke discreetly and asked not to be named as large numbers of secret police and security forces are operating in the markets.
"Haven't you seen the fuel lines?" he asked as a long line of parked cars could be seen snaking along the street at a nearby gas station.
On Libyan state television, religious music marked the start of Ramadan, followed by a statement by Defense Minister Abubakr Yunus Jaber urging members of the army who joined the opposition in the east to rejoin the fold and "liberate Benghazi.""We know that you are forced to do things that are against your principles and the traditions of the Libyan people ... such deeds are covered by the general pardon (issued by Gaddafi)."
Reproduced with permission from OnIslam.net
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