ABC News:
...
What we found was normal traffic in the streets, people walking, or at cafes and restaurants. At just about every bank we saw, there were long lines of men and women waiting for the cash handouts that Col. Moammar Gadhafi had just announced.
The leader was giving each family 500 dinars, the equivalent of about $450. For most people here, that covers salary for a month or two.
As we walked up with our cameras to talk to them, many burst into pro-Gadhafi chants once they realized we were visiting journalists. They were friendly, although some complained to the government minder with us that they had been waiting in line for hours and still had not received their handouts. There were also lines at local bakeries.
We went to Green Square, the site of Gadhafi's most recent speech atop the ramparts of the old city. That's when he accused anti-government protestors of having taken hallucinogenic pills.
One woman we talked to at the Square today repeated that charge, and said she had been educated in America. She told us that Libyans are happy with Gadhafi as their leader, and that their country is a happy and peaceful one.
Another English-speaking man told us that while "the tension is still so thick you could cut it with a knife," things had died down since this time last week, when, he acknowledged, the sound of gunfire could be heard in Tripoli.
At the Tripoli central hospital, the city's main accident and emergency hospital, the head of the emergency unit told my colleague from the London Sunday Times that he had received nine bodies after Friday's anti-government protests in town.
...
Gaddafi's money appears to be buying him some support from those remaining in Tripoli. Outside of Tripoli the circle around the city appears to be tightening at this point. In the video that accompanies the piece Gaddafi's sons seem as delusional as he does about events in the country. Some of his supporters also seem out of touch with reality. One reality is the nine bodies delivered to the hospital had gunshot wounds to the chest.
Image via Wikipedia
Comments
Post a Comment