0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting
0:00:05 > 0:00:10I'm Nel Hedayat. I'm from London but I watched the news as revolutions spread across the Arab world
0:00:10 > 0:00:14with young people right at the heart of them.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16I've been amazed by how people
0:00:16 > 0:00:19came together to overthrow governments and change their world.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22Now I'm going on a journey to meet them.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24GUNFIRE
0:00:24 > 0:00:27I've never been around when they've celebrated with live gunfire!
0:00:27 > 0:00:32- Do you feel bad for the people you killed?- No. They had it coming.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34They tortured your son?
0:00:34 > 0:00:38This is four hours away on a flight from London.
0:00:38 > 0:00:41I find the revolutions are still going on...
0:00:41 > 0:00:44- They'll get shot! - GUNSHOT
0:00:44 > 0:00:46The police are shooting protesters.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50It's all flowing this way. It feels like burning.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52..and I'll get caught up in the heart of events...
0:00:52 > 0:00:54The Syrian army's seen me.
0:00:54 > 0:00:55GUNFIRE
0:00:57 > 0:00:59We are being killed, being slaughtered.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03..as I find myself alongside people still fighting for freedom.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Just to be standing here in the middle of a revolution -
0:01:07 > 0:01:08this is what it is!
0:01:10 > 0:01:13I've seen riots on the streets of Egypt and Bahrain.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Now I'm going to look at Libya and Syria to see what happens
0:01:17 > 0:01:22when people pick up guns and start shooting back.
0:01:22 > 0:01:23Oh, my God.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34This is Tripoli, the capital of Libya.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37So far it's the only country in the Arab Spring
0:01:37 > 0:01:40to overthrow their Government with a civil war.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42I'm here to find out
0:01:42 > 0:01:45how they can rebuild their lives and their country.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51I'm at Tripoli University today
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and I'm meeting a guy called Tommy who I met on Facebook.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57He's going to show me round Tripoli and tell me what it was like
0:01:57 > 0:02:01during the war for everyone here.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06I'm trying to find him but the students are still in protest mode.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12Like many here, when the uprising started, Tommy quit his studies,
0:02:12 > 0:02:16picked up a gun and joined the revolutionary fighters.
0:02:16 > 0:02:20Oh, wicked. I've seen so much graffiti.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25- How does it feel to see this every day when you come to uni?- It's cool.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Before, we hated it. Now the walls all look cool. I'm enjoying it.
0:02:30 > 0:02:35- That's amazing.- This is our shoes stepping on the rats.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38- You know who's the rat? - Um, no(!) Who's the rat?
0:02:38 > 0:02:41- I don't know who the rat is. - Well, we just killed him!
0:02:41 > 0:02:44'The rat is Colonel Gaddafi,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48'the ruthless dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years.'
0:02:51 > 0:02:53But what did you learn in school about Gaddafi?
0:02:53 > 0:02:57- What was taught to you? - History was all about Gaddafi.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01Every time Gaddafi does something, like the announcement of...
0:03:01 > 0:03:04I don't know. He makes a lot of announcements!
0:03:04 > 0:03:06We had to memorise all the dates.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09- You grew up having to worship a man you hate.- Yes.
0:03:09 > 0:03:14In the house we have to hate him. In the school we have to worship him.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17It was really, really confusing.
0:03:17 > 0:03:18PROTESTERS CHANT
0:03:22 > 0:03:24Tripoli is full of protesters.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29They all want a share of the new Government.
0:03:37 > 0:03:40If they'd tried to protest under Gaddafi,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43they'd have made the same trip I'm making and ended up here,
0:03:43 > 0:03:49Abu Salim, a top security jail where political prisoners were sent.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55When you go to Abu Salim prison, you're going into the unknown.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00There is no trials, no nothing. Your family wouldn't know about you.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- You just disappear. - If you end up in one of the cells, what happens to you?
0:04:04 > 0:04:06You will just be forgotten, you know?
0:04:06 > 0:04:09No-one will remember you.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12Your family will go to every place and ask about you,
0:04:12 > 0:04:16like internal security, external security,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20and they will be like, "Your son is not with us. We don't know what happened to him."
0:04:20 > 0:04:23POUNDING
0:04:24 > 0:04:26Now they're ripping up the floor,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28trying to find the bodies of loved ones.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33Hundreds are rumoured to be buried here after a notorious massacre.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37The story says they just buried them under the cement.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40- Just put their bodies... - Like a mass grave?
0:04:40 > 0:04:44They didn't tell anybody about it. They just killed the 1,200 people.
0:04:44 > 0:04:51- 1,200!- They just kept shooting people for three straight hours.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55Gaddafi has the most criminal, twisted mind ever, I think.
0:04:57 > 0:04:58Yes.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03What's happened in Abu Salim is just a small part of the torture,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06abuse and misrule of Gaddafi's regime.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Inspired by the Arab Spring elsewhere,
0:05:10 > 0:05:15Libyans took to the streets to protest against the hated Government.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19A vicious crackdown by Gaddafi led boys like Tommy to arm themselves
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and a civil war broke out.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Tommy went home to fight in the mountains.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29We hijacked tanks from Gaddafi troops.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33We took it out to the mountains and we were just 20 years old.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36- Oh, my God. - Nobody told us how to drive it.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38We just figured it out by ourselves.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Like, "Thank you, Russians. We don't need the manuals."
0:05:41 > 0:05:43SHE LAUGHS
0:05:43 > 0:05:46When you have your CV and you're applying for a job,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49do you write down, "I have a license to drive a car.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54"P.S. I can drive a tank should the occasion call for it"?
0:05:57 > 0:06:01So do you like living in a town? Do you like the mountains?
0:06:01 > 0:06:05If I had work and opportunity like I have in the city,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07I would totally move to the mountains.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Everybody knows each other.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11You know your grandfather and that guy's grandfather
0:06:11 > 0:06:15and they know each other and you are sometimes like cousins.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18That's the deal here and I like it.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24Tommy's militia was largely made up of his family tribe, the Rijbani.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28Libyans are split into different Arab tribes and loyalties run deep.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Which tribe you belonged to affected who you supported in the war.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Tommy and I have come to the spot where he was stationed for months.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45He and his mates fought from these mountains all the way to Tripoli.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48Tommy even filmed some of the fighting on his phone.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING
0:06:52 > 0:06:54SHOUTING
0:06:54 > 0:06:56MACHINE-GUN FIRE
0:07:04 > 0:07:07We used to watch the Gaddafi troops from here
0:07:07 > 0:07:12and they were stationed over there, the gas station we just passed.
0:07:12 > 0:07:18Any car not identified trying to go up the mountain, we just shoot it.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22'One night, they made a surprise raid on Gaddafi's troops.'
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Only 106 of us from Rujban went down
0:07:26 > 0:07:31and I think what happened is they told us we were like 10,000.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37They were scared and they retreated and we defeated them.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40People sometimes use really sanitised words
0:07:40 > 0:07:42like "We defeated them," or "We got rid of them,"
0:07:42 > 0:07:46but in reality what that means is you killed people.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49That's what you guys had to do here.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53Between you and yourself, you had to deal with that.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57After the battle, you're, like, happy, you know?
0:07:57 > 0:08:00We had to do something because we were shelled every night for two months.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- Do you feel bad for the people you killed?- No. I don't.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09They had it coming. They deserved that. They deserved that.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11'Like so many Libyans,
0:08:11 > 0:08:14'Tommy lost close friends and relatives in the fighting.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17'The war went on for more than eight months
0:08:17 > 0:08:20and the battles over the towns and cities along the coast
0:08:20 > 0:08:22'cost thousands of lives.'
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I can't understand how you can ever get over that.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37So how does Libya move on?
0:08:37 > 0:08:40How can it build a new country from all the violence?
0:08:45 > 0:08:49To find out, I want to go to where the worst of the fighting happened.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58And I'm starting in Benghazi, where it all began.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03GUNFIRE AND CAR HORNS
0:09:05 > 0:09:09I've never been around when they're celebrating through live gunfire!
0:09:09 > 0:09:12They're just shooting into the air and everyone is cheering
0:09:12 > 0:09:17because they must have been proper fighters in the war.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19God, that was so scary!
0:09:19 > 0:09:21CAR HORNS BLARE
0:09:27 > 0:09:29I'm in the main square.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Now called Freedom Square, it honours the town's dead.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34THEY CHANT
0:09:34 > 0:09:39Tonight, there's a rally to celebrate the victorious fighters.
0:09:39 > 0:09:41THEY CHANT
0:09:41 > 0:09:45They're chanting, "We will never forget the people that have died."
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It's just an amazing atmosphere.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49SHOUTING AND CAR HORNS
0:09:51 > 0:09:53GUNFIRE
0:09:55 > 0:09:59LOUD GUNSHOTS
0:10:01 > 0:10:03I know they're all ecstatically happy
0:10:03 > 0:10:06but I'm just not used to seeing guns on the streets.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10For these kids, it's a normal thing over the past eight months.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13They're excited, they're relaxed.
0:10:14 > 0:10:15Why are you here?
0:10:21 > 0:10:23To celebrate the revolution?
0:10:23 > 0:10:26- Are you not scared with the guns and everything?- No.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33- So you're not scared when you hear the guns?- No, no, no.- Not at all?
0:10:33 > 0:10:35GUNFIRE
0:10:44 > 0:10:46It all started in Benghazi
0:10:46 > 0:10:51with peaceful demonstrations which Gaddafi tried to crush with force.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56Within days, the rebellion spread to the rest of Libya.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06But this revolution wasn't just won by men with guns.
0:11:06 > 0:11:09Young women my age took up the fight too.
0:11:10 > 0:11:15Atem's an 18-year-old student and, like me, she's a Facebook addict.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20She and her friends used every form of social media
0:11:20 > 0:11:23to show the world what was happening here.
0:11:23 > 0:11:29All I knew about Libya was this one wacky guy, Gaddafi,
0:11:29 > 0:11:31who was, like, a bit crazy.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I don't think anyone had an idea of what it was...
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Yeah, it's not just you.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40When you talk to someone online and say, "I'm from Libya,"
0:11:40 > 0:11:43they're like, "Do you live in a tent?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46"Do they have cars there? Do you have camels everywhere?"
0:11:46 > 0:11:48No, I don't live in the fricking desert!
0:11:48 > 0:11:51I've never been more proud to say I'm from Benghazi.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56'Freedom Square looks very different in the daylight.
0:11:56 > 0:12:01'The place is covered with tribute pictures of dead fighters.'
0:12:01 > 0:12:04So who gets these pictures up here?
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Mostly their friends and their families.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11They just print put them out. They come and hang them.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12These are normal Libyans.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15- Are they coming to see who's on here, who's died?- Yeah.
0:12:15 > 0:12:19They're all young, just a few years older than me.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22So it's really sad seeing this
0:12:22 > 0:12:28because they did it for us and for our country to be free, you know?
0:12:28 > 0:12:33Before being fighters, before taking up arms, what were they?
0:12:33 > 0:12:40Just normal kids, you know. A guy from my class died in Sirte.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46It was a very emotional day when we heard about it. We all cried.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52Just like me, he was 18 years old, just studying to be a doctor.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Just normal kids.
0:12:56 > 0:12:59Last night, I saw a city rejoicing.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03But today all I see is a city in mourning.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10There are so many people that have died, so many kids,
0:13:10 > 0:13:12so many young boys.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15It's a huge, huge penalty to pay.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18They knew that. They knew it wouldn't be easy.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22They went there knowing they might not be coming back to their families
0:13:22 > 0:13:24but they still did it.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30- It's really hard not to get emotional.- I'm crying right now.- Aw.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38They fought to win the freedom Gaddafi denied them.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41And freedom now means they can say whatever they like
0:13:41 > 0:13:44about the man they hated.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46It's really strange,
0:13:46 > 0:13:51but you get things like that where Gaddafi's face is actually...
0:13:51 > 0:13:56- Someone's put a cross on his face.- No like Gaddafi.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58- Is this your car?- No, it's my car!
0:13:58 > 0:14:01It's a revolutionary car!
0:14:04 > 0:14:09This guy is making a point to throw all the rubbish on Gaddafi's face.
0:14:09 > 0:14:11They need to make sure that they get it.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13You can really tell that they hate the guy.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15What will all this new freedom mean
0:14:15 > 0:14:18besides being able to insult Gaddafi?
0:14:18 > 0:14:22Hello. Hi. I'm Nel. Nice to meet you.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26'Atem is taking me for a night out with some of her friends at a cafe in town.'
0:14:26 > 0:14:31- I don't know what any of this is. What does it say?- Hot drinks.
0:14:31 > 0:14:33What changes do you want to see?
0:14:33 > 0:14:38- Education, better roads, everything. - No, what changes do YOU want to see?
0:14:38 > 0:14:42- Personal to you, what changes do YOU want to see?- Franchises.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45I really want a mall here, seriously.
0:14:45 > 0:14:46NEL LAUGHS We all do!
0:14:46 > 0:14:49I want a mall before anything, seriously.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54We can introduce you to Starbucks.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57"I always wanted Starbucks and Gaddafi would never let it happen.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00"Now we can have Starbucks!"
0:15:00 > 0:15:02When you think about it,
0:15:02 > 0:15:06when we want to go to a mall or have fun, we leave the country.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10- Yeah.- You go other places, you go even to Egypt.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14So that's why saying we need a mall,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17it means that we should be able to have fun here.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19- In our own country.- Exactly.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23We don't have to go away to have fun or do some shopping,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25or do some decent shopping anyway.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28So all your H&M stuff isn't even from Libya?
0:15:29 > 0:15:34"Mum, I'm going to H&M. Book the tickets to Lebanon." It's crazy!
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- THEY LAUGH - Wow.
0:15:39 > 0:15:43Atem and her friends may have to wait for their shopping mall.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45A lot of Libya is still in ruins.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48Benghazi was lucky.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51It was protected when Britain, France and others
0:15:51 > 0:15:54started a bombing campaign against Gaddafi's forces.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56I'm heading further up the coast,
0:15:56 > 0:16:01to where the worst of the fighting happened - Misrata
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Holy shmokes. Check it out.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07Every single window in that place is gone.
0:16:08 > 0:16:11This city was under siege.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14For 70 days, Gaddafi's forces pounded it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20It's so hard to watch, so hard to see.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26This isn't the same as Benghazi.
0:16:34 > 0:16:35Hello!
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Oh, be careful!
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Are you OK? Where do you live?
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Which one? Show me.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54'These kids tell me they were trapped in their house
0:16:54 > 0:16:57'as Gaddafi's troops shelled their neighbourhood.'
0:16:57 > 0:16:58Were you scared?
0:17:09 > 0:17:10- There?- Yeah.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16'The boys tell me they were even held as human shields.'
0:17:16 > 0:17:19What did you feel when all of this was happening?
0:17:34 > 0:17:37How did you feel when the older boys were going to fight?
0:17:37 > 0:17:38Did you want to join them?
0:17:38 > 0:17:40HE REPLIES
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It breaks my heart that these kids
0:18:01 > 0:18:04already know what it means to be a martyr.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08They're the same age as my little brother.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20Tommy's connected me with Alla, his friend from Tripoli University.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24When Gaddafi's secret police came knocking on her door,
0:18:24 > 0:18:26she fled here to be with her family.
0:18:26 > 0:18:29- Life is bad now here.- Life is bad?
0:18:29 > 0:18:33Yeah, life is bad, with all the destruction and everything.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38That's massive. Whatever blew that apart was massive-er.
0:18:43 > 0:18:48They weren't here to, like, scare you. They were here to kill you.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58The war has left its mark everywhere.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03From the shattered cities to the hopes and dreams of Libyan girls.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Lots of boys still wearing their uniforms and stuff.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10You know, your mind changes.
0:19:10 > 0:19:16Before we were looking for guys that had, like, a big house, or doctors.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20But now there is a Facebook page called
0:19:20 > 0:19:23"Libyan girls who want to marry Libyan fighters."
0:19:23 > 0:19:25NEL LAUGHS
0:19:25 > 0:19:27That's every girl's dream nowadays.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32But lots of fighters returned from the battlefield injured.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34Alla is a medical student.
0:19:34 > 0:19:39She's brought me to the hospital where she worked during the war.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42Most of the badly injured fighters have been sent abroad for treatment.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45But 28-year-old civil servant Waleed
0:19:45 > 0:19:49is one of the few who can be taken care of here.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08At any point, did it cross your mind, "Oh God, what have I done?"
0:20:17 > 0:20:22Is he ever going to be able to use his one leg and his arm again, properly?
0:20:22 > 0:20:25Can he ever type or use a phone? He can never do this?
0:20:25 > 0:20:26No, no.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39Waleed is happy that he fought and sacrificed himself for his country,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41but not everyone is happy, are they?
0:20:41 > 0:20:43All patients are...
0:20:52 > 0:20:55No, that can't be true.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58I don't believe that, I don't believe that.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00That's just what you want to tell me.
0:21:00 > 0:21:04That's what you want me to think. I appreciate this.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27His entire body has been maimed,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29but he's like, "You know what? It's fine.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32"I did what I had to do." It's just...
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I know, it's hard for you, to imagine that, to believe it.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40Most of them are thinking that there are going to be dead,
0:21:40 > 0:21:45so when they're losing a leg or arm for freedom,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47for the country, they are really proud.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51We get rid of Gaddafi, we have our freedom.
0:21:51 > 0:21:56- We'll struggle to...- Do better... - ..have a better life now.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01Everyone says what you expect them to say
0:22:01 > 0:22:04and it's only in like, whispered conversations,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07in minutes when they don't think I'm listening, or don't think I can hear,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11when you get the true sense that they're in shock.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16But I don't see it like Alla does. I can't see it like she does.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19She's like, "Oh, it's OK.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23"The whole country loves him. He'll be fine. Everyone will be fine."
0:22:26 > 0:22:32Misrata is next to Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38And it was there that he was captured and killed.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40That's Gaddafi.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44They're just punching him, kicking him.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49Anyone who can get a bit of him is at it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53'I know by now how bloody revolutions are,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'but after looking at this footage I'm worried about the young men here
0:22:57 > 0:23:00'when they've taken part in such violence.'
0:23:06 > 0:23:09'Now I want to meet some of these fighters.'
0:23:09 > 0:23:12Hi! Hi!
0:23:12 > 0:23:17'So Alla's taking me on a day trip to Sirte.' How are you?
0:23:17 > 0:23:19'It's still a dangerous journey,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22'so her cousin Mohammed has arranged for a militia from Misrata
0:23:22 > 0:23:27'to protect us from any rogue pro-Gaddafi forces.'
0:23:27 > 0:23:29- They're coming with us?- Yes.- OK.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Sirte was the home of Gaddafi's tribe
0:23:38 > 0:23:41and the people there supported him.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45So if you come from Misrata, you had plenty of reason to hate them.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50This is the first time Alla is going to Sirte since the end of the war.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57Just before entering the town, they have a surprise for us.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04They've brought us to the spot where Gaddafi was captured.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09This is a bunch of cars that Gaddafi was in when NATO hit it.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13- Oh, man! These were NATO strikes? - Yes.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Yes, NATO.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21And Gaddafi was in one of these cars, and he ran away.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25'Gaddafi and a group of die-hard supporters were escaping from Sirte
0:24:25 > 0:24:28'when their cars were hit by an air attack.
0:24:28 > 0:24:34'He ran away. They're taking me to the very spot he was found.'
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Check it out!
0:24:37 > 0:24:38Oh, my God.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43- How do you feel?- I don't know. - You're excited?- Yes. It's amazing.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49I didn't believe this moment would come. He was captured in this way.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52And I'm standing here and... Oh, my God!
0:25:01 > 0:25:05In the beginning of the revolution, he called us rats,
0:25:05 > 0:25:10so now he's the rat, he's the one who's captured from...
0:25:10 > 0:25:14- I'm speechless.- I've never seen Alla so happy. She's just...
0:25:14 > 0:25:17She's speechless. She's taking photos
0:25:17 > 0:25:19and is just over the moon about it.
0:25:19 > 0:25:22I finally feel like I'm at the centre of what this was all about.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27Thousands of people that died, teenagers bearing arms,
0:25:27 > 0:25:29all of it was for that moment.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32Gaddafi called his people rats,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35but ultimately he was the one who was found in a sewer.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49GUNSHOTS
0:25:49 > 0:25:51SHOUTING
0:25:51 > 0:25:54See, this is what happens when you get a bunch of...
0:25:54 > 0:25:56GUNSHOTS
0:25:56 > 0:26:00See now they're just getting all trigger-happy,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04and just deciding it's really funny to shoot guns everywhere,
0:26:04 > 0:26:06because they've got one and it's just around, so,
0:26:06 > 0:26:09"Why not? Hell, I'm going to shoot it off in the air."
0:26:09 > 0:26:14Oi! You're an old man. Why are you doing that? It's not good.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18- He's just greeting you. - No. Why don't you shake my hand?
0:26:18 > 0:26:21I will greet you by shaking your hand. Yeah?
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Shake my hand. Don't shoot your gun in the air.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27- There's no need for that craziness! - OK.- Pointing it at me...
0:26:27 > 0:26:31- You see this is why... - GUNSHOTS
0:26:34 > 0:26:38Are we done? Are we done being men? Are we done? You guys feel good now?
0:26:41 > 0:26:46With no proper army in Libya, these men are one of the many militias
0:26:46 > 0:26:49taking law and order into their own hands.
0:26:50 > 0:26:54I'm not sure I'd feel that safe with these guys in charge.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00I want to see the town itself, the scene of terrible fighting
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and the final battle to overthrow Gaddafi.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Jeez Louise. Oh my God!
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Holy mo.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22Entire walls have been knocked down,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25not with massive artillery or bombs, but with sheer force
0:27:25 > 0:27:28of the number of bullets that have gone through them.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32Sirte was a small fishing village,
0:27:32 > 0:27:35but became a symbol of Gaddafi himself.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39He was born here and he pumped in loads of money to develop it.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44If you lived here, you had lots of reasons to support Gaddafi.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Now, they're the people we don't hear about.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50The people who lost the war.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57During the worst of the bombing, the people here fled.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59It's like a ghost town. There's no-one here.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02You can't believe someone actually lived here
0:28:02 > 0:28:04or this was a city where people did stuff.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08There were schools, people went out, and there were cafes and stuff.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Some say that this town was destroyed AFTER Gaddafi was caught,
0:28:17 > 0:28:19in an act of vengeance.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Hello! Hi. Give me your hand.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30'We find a family who returned to salvage their shattered life.'
0:28:30 > 0:28:33THEY SPEAK IN ARABIC
0:28:33 > 0:28:35I ask Mum, Khadija,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39what she feels about the fighters who tore her town apart.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26What did you think about that?
0:29:26 > 0:29:29- She was completely pro-Gaddafi. - I feel sorry for her.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35I don't blame her. There were a lot of media channels for Gaddafi.
0:29:35 > 0:29:40What she was saying is exactly what has been said on those channels.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42It's like brainwashing.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44No, hold on a minute, that's not true.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Listen, she might be brainwashed,
0:29:46 > 0:29:49but the fact that her son died at 19 isn't brainwashing.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52The fact that she lives in a dead shanty town isn't brainwashing.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56- I appreciate that, yeah. - You know, she was quite clear.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02She said, "When the fighters did come here, they were excessive.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05"Everything they did was more than they needed to do."
0:30:05 > 0:30:06No, it's not about revenge.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10I believe that when they came here they're not coming for revenge.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13They came to fight the last of Gaddafi's people here.
0:30:13 > 0:30:17She will always feel sorry about her son
0:30:17 > 0:30:21and we will always feel sorry about our brothers, cousins
0:30:21 > 0:30:23killed by Gaddafi.
0:30:23 > 0:30:28So we have to open our hearts and just forget the past.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33The divisions in Libya run deep,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36and it's not just the split between those who loved Gaddafi
0:30:36 > 0:30:38and those who hated him.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43I'm on my way back to Tripoli, where there's a new government in place,
0:30:43 > 0:30:46made up of the different groups that won the war.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48It's promised elections later this year
0:30:48 > 0:30:52but that's not going to be easy with heavily-armed militias
0:30:52 > 0:30:55from different tribes and regions still in place.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Back in Tripoli, I get caught up in another demo.
0:31:11 > 0:31:12It's right outside my hotel.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19It's a good example of how volatile things still are.
0:31:19 > 0:31:24I'm here to meet up with Moez, a Libyan doctor from Manchester,
0:31:24 > 0:31:27who came over to patch up the wounded during the war
0:31:27 > 0:31:30and he stayed on to help rebuild his country.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33- How are you doing?- What are they doing there? What are they saying?
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Not sure exactly but they went there and 15 of them died.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39'It turns out 15 locals have just been shot dead
0:31:39 > 0:31:44'in a carefully-planned ambush by Gaddafi loyalists.'
0:31:44 > 0:31:47It just shows you how volatile it is here.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50You can see the cracks forming.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53You can see what's going to...
0:31:53 > 0:31:54The way this thing might end up,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58which is, like, one region going to another region and fighting
0:31:58 > 0:32:00or this person thinks this person is pro-Gaddafi,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03or this town had a better life under Gaddafi and this town didn't.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06It's fair enough the revolution and war is over
0:32:06 > 0:32:09but people still don't feel like they've got what they wanted.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14Libya may now be a place where people are free to protest,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17but the country's totally packed with guns,
0:32:17 > 0:32:21so there's a danger demonstrations like this could turn nasty.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26Obviously there's a lack of law and order at the moment.
0:32:26 > 0:32:31You just saw the protest that was outside. All these people have guns.
0:32:31 > 0:32:34There is a huge amount of guns and weapons on the streets.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39I've met plenty of young boys, particularly who are now heroes
0:32:39 > 0:32:42and they go back to their towns and cities or villages
0:32:42 > 0:32:44and they are seen as heroes.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I think it's going to be highly unlikely
0:32:46 > 0:32:49that they're willing to just give up their guns.
0:32:49 > 0:32:52I think if we had an amnesty now, you're right, it's very unlikely.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54No-one's going to hand in their weapons.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57If I had a weapon, I probably wouldn't hand it in myself.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00The people who have guns on the streets,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03the young people with weapons,
0:33:03 > 0:33:06the weapon is an insurance policy for their future.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09A lot of them have an education but don't have jobs,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12They won't hand in their weapons unless they can secure their future,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15and they fought for their future with these guns.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18This revolution was carried out by young people,
0:33:18 > 0:33:21young voices who actively risked their lives.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25How will the voices of the fighters be reflected in the government?
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Before, it was very much the regime who were in the driving seats.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31Now it's the people on the ground.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33There has to be a bit of patience from their side.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36They can't expect to see changes overnight,
0:33:36 > 0:33:41but if the officials aren't able to deliver, they will come out
0:33:41 > 0:33:44and they will say so because at the moment they are fearless.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Libya's future looks difficult to me.
0:33:48 > 0:33:52Lots of young men with guns in a divided society.
0:33:52 > 0:33:56I'm probably a bit more pessimistic than most of the people I've met,
0:33:56 > 0:33:58who seem full of hope.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02Things may look rocky ahead, but the Libyans have overthrown
0:34:02 > 0:34:06a hated dictator and they've now a chance to build a new country.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13Things seem a lot worse in the place I'm going to look at now.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18My next stop is Lebanon.
0:34:19 > 0:34:24I'm going there because it's next to Syria, where security forces
0:34:24 > 0:34:27have been attacking protesters for almost a year.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34Syria is a very dangerous place and if you go there officially,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37you're restricted on what you can see.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44So I'm staying in Lebanon but will try and get as close as possible
0:34:44 > 0:34:45to what's going on.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Thousands of Syrians have been sneaking into Lebanon as refugees,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57so I'm heading right up the border to try and find some.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01It's quite risky.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Syrian soldiers have shot dead people trying to run away
0:35:05 > 0:35:08and the area is covered with landmines.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14'And, suddenly, I see Syrian troops right there in front of me.'
0:35:14 > 0:35:20Basically, that, right there, across that tiny little river, is Syria,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24and this is one of the places where the refugees cross.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I'm just a bit nervous now cos the Syrian army has seen me
0:35:28 > 0:35:33and the car and now they're shouting to each other.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37I kind of want to get out of here now.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40OK, yeah.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02We're going to a local school which has been turned into a refugee camp.
0:36:07 > 0:36:12It's estimated over 6,000 Syrians have escaped into Lebanon
0:36:12 > 0:36:15and ended up in places like this.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18The conditions are incredibly tough.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22Oh, my God, it's so cold in here.
0:36:24 > 0:36:27Salam alaikum. Salam alaikum.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32'I'm meeting Amani, her husband and their two-month-old baby Farhad.'
0:36:36 > 0:36:39'She's cooking now but her fuel supplies are running out
0:36:39 > 0:36:41'and there's no money to buy more.'
0:36:41 > 0:36:45This is absolutely no way to be living.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49That's probably every single thing they own in that corner right there.
0:36:49 > 0:36:56It's like her kitchen is just half of her living room
0:36:56 > 0:37:00but with a few sheets separating them.
0:37:01 > 0:37:07I mean, this can't be easier than living in a prison. This is prison.
0:37:24 > 0:37:26'Suddenly, it hits me.'
0:37:29 > 0:37:31Sorry.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34'Amani's story is just like my mum's.'
0:37:34 > 0:37:37I'm from Afghanistan
0:37:37 > 0:37:42and when I was a baby, like your son,
0:37:42 > 0:37:45my mum took me from Afghanistan
0:37:45 > 0:37:50and she did what you did and brought me out of there.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55So, I'm looking at you
0:37:55 > 0:37:59and I'm seeing history repeat itself in a different way.
0:38:04 > 0:38:08'But it turns out that Amani's story is worse.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11'Much worse than anything my mum had gone through.'
0:38:14 > 0:38:17The family had to walk for four days and nights over the mountains
0:38:17 > 0:38:19to make it to safety.
0:38:22 > 0:38:26Her husband was on the run from the Syrian army.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Oh, my God. How did you lose your son?
0:38:58 > 0:39:00They tortured your son?
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Who tortured your son?
0:39:13 > 0:39:18That woman is 25 years old. She's a year older than me.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20She's had one baby murdered
0:39:20 > 0:39:24and another one that's sleeping in her arms in a refugee camp.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36And this is happening in this world, you know.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39This isn't the moon, this is nowhere.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43This is...four hours away on a flight from London!
0:39:53 > 0:39:56I can't confirm what Amani has told me,
0:39:56 > 0:40:01but her story is similar to many others coming out of Syria.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Back in my hotel in Beirut, I want to know more.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19For 40 years, Syria has been ruled by a repressive regime
0:40:19 > 0:40:21headed by the Assad family.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26The Assads belong to the Alawite sect of Islam,
0:40:26 > 0:40:30unlike most Syrians, who are Sunni Muslims.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32CHANTING AND SHOUTING
0:40:33 > 0:40:37Last year, many took to the streets protesting for more freedom.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40CHANTING AND SHOUTING
0:40:43 > 0:40:47They were met with shocking violence from the government.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53The regime says it's fighting terrorists and criminal armed bands.
0:40:53 > 0:40:55GUNFIRE
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Some estimate the death toll is now approaching 10,000.
0:41:01 > 0:41:06Nobody really knows the number but most of the casualties are Sunnis.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08SHOUTING IN ARABIC
0:41:08 > 0:41:10GUNFIRE
0:41:11 > 0:41:13The battle lines have been drawn
0:41:13 > 0:41:16between the different religious communities.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23And, just like Libya, the country is heading for an all-out civil war.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32Beirut, the capital of Lebanon,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36has a reputation as a city of spies and political intrigue.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40And the biggest game in town at the moment is Syrian government agents
0:41:40 > 0:41:44trying to track down anti-Assad activists.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46It's a matter of life and death.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51I want to meet some Syrians who have escaped into Lebanon.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56For their own safety, they needed to check I am who I say I am,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59and that I'm not being followed,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02so they're sending a contact to suss me out.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06I'm going to meet a bunch of people, Syrians,
0:42:06 > 0:42:11who are...having a virtual war, basically.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14They're fighting, but on a virtual level.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18They're using the internet, Twitter and Facebook and things like that,
0:42:18 > 0:42:23to find a way to show the world what's happening in Syria,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26because no-one really knows, and I can't get in.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30These people are a way for me to see for myself what's happening there.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34'My contact is Bisan.'
0:42:34 > 0:42:37- Hi.- Hi. I'm Bisan. Nice to meet you.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40'Ten months ago, she was studying in London
0:42:40 > 0:42:44'but when the Syrian uprising started, she came over to Lebanon
0:42:44 > 0:42:48'to do her bit with the cyber revolutionaries.'
0:42:48 > 0:42:52This is a relatively safe area where we work in.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55It's not dominated by the Syrian embassy
0:42:55 > 0:42:57or the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59- OK. - So we're not likely to get beaten up.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02That's always a good thing. I look for this in areas.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05But, at the same time, everyone is watched
0:43:05 > 0:43:08so there's an element of risk no matter where you are in Beirut.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11What do you mean everyone is watched? What's this, a spy movie?
0:43:11 > 0:43:14- It's really weird. - Phones are tapped.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18Areas generally belong to a certain party or a certain militia,
0:43:18 > 0:43:20so they watch us, they know what we're doing.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Everyone's actions are watched.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26But they've chosen to leave us alone for now.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29I'm not the one that's at risk, really, because I'm Lebanese.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33Shaqib, the person that I'm taking you to meet, he's at risk
0:43:33 > 0:43:36because he's wanted inside Syria for crimes punishable by death.
0:43:36 > 0:43:37Oh, God.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42And the Lebanese ministries have a tendency to arrest Syrians
0:43:42 > 0:43:45and deport them where they can get killed.
0:43:50 > 0:43:55'The other cyber activists are busy looking at footage from Syria
0:43:55 > 0:43:58'before passing it on to the worldwide media.'
0:43:58 > 0:44:03- Hi, I'm Nel.- Shaqib, this is Nel. - Hi, Shaqib, nice to meet you.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05- Yara.- Hi, Yara, nice to meet you.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10'For the past year, the world has relied on people like this
0:44:10 > 0:44:15'to find out what's actually happening on the ground.'
0:44:15 > 0:44:17What is being done to us
0:44:17 > 0:44:21is much worse than being denied our basic human rights.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25We're being killed, we're being slaughtered, we're being raped.
0:44:25 > 0:44:30And we think it's important for this to be documented.
0:44:30 > 0:44:34Even if it's not going to invoke sympathy in the world,
0:44:34 > 0:44:39we want to make sure that Assad's crimes are on the record.
0:44:39 > 0:44:44This is a video from earlier this morning, from the shelling of Homs.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46OK.
0:44:46 > 0:44:47That building is totally like...
0:44:47 > 0:44:49EXPLOSION IN VIDEO
0:44:52 > 0:44:56ARABIC COMMENTARY FROM LAPTOP
0:44:56 > 0:45:01It's just a bit of it is falling off.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03They cracked the building in half?
0:45:03 > 0:45:06No, no, they just took down a couple of floors.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTING
0:45:13 > 0:45:18'Shaqib is getting raw footage direct from the front lines.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22'The next video shows a man who's been hit by a rocket grenade.'
0:45:24 > 0:45:26- It's really bad.- Oh, for f...
0:45:29 > 0:45:30Is he alive?!
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Yeah, he's still alive.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37'It's much worse than anything I've seen on the news back home.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40'But some Syrians have had enough.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43'This tank was destroyed by rebels
0:45:43 > 0:45:47'who are now fighting fire with fire.'
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I think Assad has shown that he's willing to fight
0:45:50 > 0:45:52to the last drop of Syrian blood.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58So, I think, erm, the pattern we've seen now,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02which is the militarisation of the revolution,
0:46:02 > 0:46:04I think it's going to continue.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06And we're helpless to stop it.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10You can't tell somebody, "No, shut up and die."
0:46:10 > 0:46:12But do you agree with it?
0:46:12 > 0:46:16I can't make this decision for other people...
0:46:17 > 0:46:21..who are at significantly more risk than I am - I am here.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25I'm not being shelled. My house still in one piece.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28I have not been arrested, I have not been raped,
0:46:28 > 0:46:29I have not been tortured.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34So, I-I live a different reality than they do.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42Syria's armed rebels call themselves the Free Syrian Army
0:46:42 > 0:46:44and I want to meet some of them.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46So I'm heading out of Beirut
0:46:46 > 0:46:49and back up north towards the Syrian border.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59I'm about an hour away from Beirut and closer to the Syrian border
0:46:59 > 0:47:03and the people here are much more affected by what's happening in Syria.
0:47:03 > 0:47:08You can tell that this place is just a little bit more dangerous,
0:47:08 > 0:47:11because of the number of guards, policemen and army people
0:47:11 > 0:47:13out in the streets.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19I've arranged to meet a Sunni Muslim cleric called Sheikh Bilal,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22who's running a network in support of Syria's uprising.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Hi.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26GREETS HER IN ARABIC
0:47:26 > 0:47:27Nice to meet you. How are you?
0:47:27 > 0:47:33'He's helping the rebels because they're mainly Sunni Muslims, just like him.'
0:47:33 > 0:47:37So what do you do in terms of the fighting, how are you involved?
0:47:37 > 0:47:39IN ARABIC:
0:48:00 > 0:48:04The Free Syrian Army is fighting Assad's army.
0:48:04 > 0:48:09Assad has tanks, grenades, everything!
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Massive arsenal.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14You have like, guns, rifles, how can you win?
0:48:25 > 0:48:26Wow, OK.
0:48:29 > 0:48:30Holy gosh.
0:48:31 > 0:48:34Wow, does he have more?
0:48:34 > 0:48:36TRANSLATOR REPEATS IN ARABIC
0:48:36 > 0:48:39- "Lots more"!- Well... - SHE LAUGHS
0:48:44 > 0:48:47That's a grenade launcher, I know what that is.
0:48:47 > 0:48:48I've seen that in Four Lions.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52That's definitely not a little rifle,
0:48:52 > 0:48:57that's serious hardcore stuff.
0:48:57 > 0:49:01That's the biggest... heaviest weaponry I've seen so far
0:49:01 > 0:49:03on this whole thing.
0:49:03 > 0:49:08So Sheikh Bilal's network is buying arms inside Lebanon
0:49:08 > 0:49:11and shipping them off to the rebels.
0:49:11 > 0:49:14Is it possible you could take me to meet some of the defected soldiers
0:49:14 > 0:49:17who are fighting against Assad's army?
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Do you know any, can you take me?
0:49:27 > 0:49:30The Sheikh says he can arrange everything,
0:49:30 > 0:49:35and is sending two of his people ahead to set up a secret rendezvous with the rebels.
0:49:41 > 0:49:43To meet them,
0:49:43 > 0:49:47I've got to travel to Lebanon's mountainous northern border zone.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54It's not going to be easy.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58All traffic in and out is being checked at this army roadblock.
0:50:02 > 0:50:08It's taken the better part of about four hours to get across like,
0:50:08 > 0:50:12less than a mile of road, going back and forth.
0:50:12 > 0:50:16Someone needs to stamp something, someone needs to see something,
0:50:16 > 0:50:19someone needs to take all of our equipment,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21it's just been mental getting here.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24But...we finally made it.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27There's got to be something happening here for sure.
0:50:36 > 0:50:39The Sheikh's contacts are waiting for me.
0:50:39 > 0:50:44- Hello.- Hi.- Salam alaikum. - Nice to meet you. How are you? Good.
0:50:44 > 0:50:45My name is Nel...
0:50:45 > 0:50:51'I'm finally going to meet Syrian soldiers who have defected to the rebels' side.'
0:50:53 > 0:50:57I've just been rushed into this room by about 15 men.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00because it has to be that hush-hush.
0:51:00 > 0:51:06I'm literally sitting next to some of Assad's ex-army people
0:51:06 > 0:51:08who've now joined the other side,
0:51:08 > 0:51:14and they are the Free Syrian Army and they are now fighting Assad.
0:51:14 > 0:51:19Even though they were once part of what he did, part of his campaign.
0:51:19 > 0:51:23What kind of things did you see in Damascus in those first few days?
0:51:23 > 0:51:25What did you see the army do?
0:51:25 > 0:51:28HE SPEAKS IN ARABIC
0:51:56 > 0:52:00What did they do to you because you wouldn't fight for Assad, what happened to you?
0:52:37 > 0:52:42'The other defector asks to hide his identity to protect his family,
0:52:42 > 0:52:43'who are still in Syria.'
0:52:43 > 0:52:47What about yourself, what role do you play in the Free Syria Army?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49HE RESPONDS IN ARABIC
0:53:24 > 0:53:27Those men were going back to fight the regime
0:53:27 > 0:53:30and might end up paying with their lives.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33GUNFIRE
0:53:33 > 0:53:38Although the Free Syria rebels are now occupying parts of the country,
0:53:38 > 0:53:40Assad shows no signs of giving up.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47And Syria's immediate future looks painful and bloody.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49GUNFIRE
0:53:53 > 0:53:56I'm coming to the end of my journey now.
0:53:56 > 0:54:02I can see the twists and turns along this Arab revolutionary road.
0:54:02 > 0:54:07It may be the way towards a brighter future, but it's littered with broken lives.
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Amani - the refugee mother,
0:54:10 > 0:54:14who's firstborn son was murdered by Assad's militia.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Tommy, the 21-year-old, fun-loving student
0:54:21 > 0:54:24turned freedom fighter, gunman and killer.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27It's a sad thing that you have to kill someone,
0:54:27 > 0:54:32but you have to look to the bright side and you do what you have to do.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Either you kill or be killed.
0:54:38 > 0:54:44Alla, the medic, ecstatic at the killing of the dictator Gaddafi.
0:54:44 > 0:54:47In the beginning of the revolution, he called us rats,
0:54:47 > 0:54:51so now he is the rat, he is the one who's captured.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54It's like a dam has burst in the Middle East.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57Emotions - pent-up for decades - are running free.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00It's exciting...and it's dangerous.
0:55:08 > 0:55:09I'm meeting Bisan again.
0:55:12 > 0:55:17Ten months ago, she came over from London to help the activists.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23Despite all the suffering and the violence,
0:55:23 > 0:55:25she's still hopeful about the future.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31From the experience I've had and the countries I've been to,
0:55:31 > 0:55:36it doesn't seem that this is going to die down any time soon.
0:55:36 > 0:55:37You guys are in it for the long run.
0:55:37 > 0:55:40People will not stop fighting. They've tasted freedom.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43You've got liberated cities, people speaking their minds.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45So, I mean, I get despondent,
0:55:45 > 0:55:49but there's so much to be optimistic about.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51That's one of them - the fear is broken.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54Fear that controlled a couple of generations.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Their children are able to speak now.
0:55:56 > 0:55:58And they will be able to speak in the future.
0:55:58 > 0:56:02We take our freedom for granted in Britain
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and get concerned with everyday things -
0:56:04 > 0:56:07wanting a new phone or a new pair of shoes.
0:56:07 > 0:56:09But the children of the Arab Spring,
0:56:09 > 0:56:13they want to be able to say what they think without being tortured.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16To be able to walk down a street without being shot at.
0:56:18 > 0:56:21Young people saw what they were missing and said,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23"We deserve better."
0:56:23 > 0:56:25And I think they do.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28But their journey will be a long and hard one.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd