Libya and Syria Riots and Revolutions: My Arab Journey


Libya and Syria

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This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

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I'm Nel Hedayat. I'm from London but I watched the news as revolutions spread across the Arab world

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with young people right at the heart of them.

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I've been amazed by how people

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came together to overthrow governments and change their world.

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Now I'm going on a journey to meet them.

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GUNFIRE

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I've never been around when they've celebrated with live gunfire!

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-Do you feel bad for the people you killed?

-No. They had it coming.

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They tortured your son?

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This is four hours away on a flight from London.

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I find the revolutions are still going on...

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-They'll get shot!

-GUNSHOT

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The police are shooting protesters.

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It's all flowing this way. It feels like burning.

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..and I'll get caught up in the heart of events...

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The Syrian army's seen me.

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GUNFIRE

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We are being killed, being slaughtered.

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..as I find myself alongside people still fighting for freedom.

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Just to be standing here in the middle of a revolution -

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this is what it is!

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I've seen riots on the streets of Egypt and Bahrain.

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Now I'm going to look at Libya and Syria to see what happens

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when people pick up guns and start shooting back.

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Oh, my God.

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This is Tripoli, the capital of Libya.

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So far it's the only country in the Arab Spring

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to overthrow their Government with a civil war.

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I'm here to find out

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how they can rebuild their lives and their country.

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I'm at Tripoli University today

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and I'm meeting a guy called Tommy who I met on Facebook.

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He's going to show me round Tripoli and tell me what it was like

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during the war for everyone here.

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I'm trying to find him but the students are still in protest mode.

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Like many here, when the uprising started, Tommy quit his studies,

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picked up a gun and joined the revolutionary fighters.

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Oh, wicked. I've seen so much graffiti.

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-How does it feel to see this every day when you come to uni?

-It's cool.

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Before, we hated it. Now the walls all look cool. I'm enjoying it.

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-That's amazing.

-This is our shoes stepping on the rats.

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-You know who's the rat?

-Um, no(!) Who's the rat?

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-I don't know who the rat is.

-Well, we just killed him!

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'The rat is Colonel Gaddafi,

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'the ruthless dictator who ruled Libya for 42 years.'

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But what did you learn in school about Gaddafi?

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-What was taught to you?

-History was all about Gaddafi.

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Every time Gaddafi does something, like the announcement of...

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I don't know. He makes a lot of announcements!

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We had to memorise all the dates.

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-You grew up having to worship a man you hate.

-Yes.

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In the house we have to hate him. In the school we have to worship him.

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It was really, really confusing.

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PROTESTERS CHANT

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Tripoli is full of protesters.

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They all want a share of the new Government.

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If they'd tried to protest under Gaddafi,

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they'd have made the same trip I'm making and ended up here,

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Abu Salim, a top security jail where political prisoners were sent.

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When you go to Abu Salim prison, you're going into the unknown.

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There is no trials, no nothing. Your family wouldn't know about you.

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-You just disappear.

-If you end up in one of the cells, what happens to you?

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You will just be forgotten, you know?

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No-one will remember you.

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Your family will go to every place and ask about you,

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like internal security, external security,

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and they will be like, "Your son is not with us. We don't know what happened to him."

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POUNDING

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Now they're ripping up the floor,

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trying to find the bodies of loved ones.

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Hundreds are rumoured to be buried here after a notorious massacre.

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The story says they just buried them under the cement.

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-Just put their bodies...

-Like a mass grave?

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They didn't tell anybody about it. They just killed the 1,200 people.

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-1,200!

-They just kept shooting people for three straight hours.

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Gaddafi has the most criminal, twisted mind ever, I think.

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Yes.

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What's happened in Abu Salim is just a small part of the torture,

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abuse and misrule of Gaddafi's regime.

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Inspired by the Arab Spring elsewhere,

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Libyans took to the streets to protest against the hated Government.

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A vicious crackdown by Gaddafi led boys like Tommy to arm themselves

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and a civil war broke out.

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Tommy went home to fight in the mountains.

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We hijacked tanks from Gaddafi troops.

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We took it out to the mountains and we were just 20 years old.

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-Oh, my God.

-Nobody told us how to drive it.

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We just figured it out by ourselves.

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Like, "Thank you, Russians. We don't need the manuals."

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SHE LAUGHS

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When you have your CV and you're applying for a job,

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do you write down, "I have a license to drive a car.

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"P.S. I can drive a tank should the occasion call for it"?

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So do you like living in a town? Do you like the mountains?

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If I had work and opportunity like I have in the city,

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I would totally move to the mountains.

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Everybody knows each other.

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You know your grandfather and that guy's grandfather

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and they know each other and you are sometimes like cousins.

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That's the deal here and I like it.

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Tommy's militia was largely made up of his family tribe, the Rijbani.

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Libyans are split into different Arab tribes and loyalties run deep.

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Which tribe you belonged to affected who you supported in the war.

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Tommy and I have come to the spot where he was stationed for months.

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He and his mates fought from these mountains all the way to Tripoli.

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Tommy even filmed some of the fighting on his phone.

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GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING

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SHOUTING

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MACHINE-GUN FIRE

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We used to watch the Gaddafi troops from here

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and they were stationed over there, the gas station we just passed.

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Any car not identified trying to go up the mountain, we just shoot it.

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'One night, they made a surprise raid on Gaddafi's troops.'

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Only 106 of us from Rujban went down

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and I think what happened is they told us we were like 10,000.

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They were scared and they retreated and we defeated them.

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People sometimes use really sanitised words

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like "We defeated them," or "We got rid of them,"

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but in reality what that means is you killed people.

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That's what you guys had to do here.

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Between you and yourself, you had to deal with that.

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After the battle, you're, like, happy, you know?

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We had to do something because we were shelled every night for two months.

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-Do you feel bad for the people you killed?

-No. I don't.

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They had it coming. They deserved that. They deserved that.

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'Like so many Libyans,

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'Tommy lost close friends and relatives in the fighting.

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'The war went on for more than eight months

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and the battles over the towns and cities along the coast

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'cost thousands of lives.'

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I can't understand how you can ever get over that.

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So how does Libya move on?

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How can it build a new country from all the violence?

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To find out, I want to go to where the worst of the fighting happened.

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And I'm starting in Benghazi, where it all began.

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GUNFIRE AND CAR HORNS

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I've never been around when they're celebrating through live gunfire!

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They're just shooting into the air and everyone is cheering

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because they must have been proper fighters in the war.

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God, that was so scary!

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CAR HORNS BLARE

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I'm in the main square.

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Now called Freedom Square, it honours the town's dead.

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THEY CHANT

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Tonight, there's a rally to celebrate the victorious fighters.

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THEY CHANT

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They're chanting, "We will never forget the people that have died."

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It's just an amazing atmosphere.

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SHOUTING AND CAR HORNS

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GUNFIRE

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LOUD GUNSHOTS

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I know they're all ecstatically happy

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but I'm just not used to seeing guns on the streets.

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For these kids, it's a normal thing over the past eight months.

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They're excited, they're relaxed.

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Why are you here?

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To celebrate the revolution?

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-Are you not scared with the guns and everything?

-No.

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-So you're not scared when you hear the guns?

-No, no, no.

-Not at all?

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GUNFIRE

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It all started in Benghazi

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with peaceful demonstrations which Gaddafi tried to crush with force.

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Within days, the rebellion spread to the rest of Libya.

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But this revolution wasn't just won by men with guns.

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Young women my age took up the fight too.

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Atem's an 18-year-old student and, like me, she's a Facebook addict.

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She and her friends used every form of social media

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to show the world what was happening here.

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All I knew about Libya was this one wacky guy, Gaddafi,

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who was, like, a bit crazy.

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I don't think anyone had an idea of what it was...

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Yeah, it's not just you.

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When you talk to someone online and say, "I'm from Libya,"

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they're like, "Do you live in a tent?

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"Do they have cars there? Do you have camels everywhere?"

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No, I don't live in the fricking desert!

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I've never been more proud to say I'm from Benghazi.

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'Freedom Square looks very different in the daylight.

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'The place is covered with tribute pictures of dead fighters.'

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So who gets these pictures up here?

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Mostly their friends and their families.

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They just print put them out. They come and hang them.

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These are normal Libyans.

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-Are they coming to see who's on here, who's died?

-Yeah.

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They're all young, just a few years older than me.

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So it's really sad seeing this

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because they did it for us and for our country to be free, you know?

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Before being fighters, before taking up arms, what were they?

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Just normal kids, you know. A guy from my class died in Sirte.

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It was a very emotional day when we heard about it. We all cried.

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Just like me, he was 18 years old, just studying to be a doctor.

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Just normal kids.

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Last night, I saw a city rejoicing.

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But today all I see is a city in mourning.

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There are so many people that have died, so many kids,

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so many young boys.

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It's a huge, huge penalty to pay.

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They knew that. They knew it wouldn't be easy.

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They went there knowing they might not be coming back to their families

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but they still did it.

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-It's really hard not to get emotional.

-I'm crying right now.

-Aw.

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They fought to win the freedom Gaddafi denied them.

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And freedom now means they can say whatever they like

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about the man they hated.

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It's really strange,

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but you get things like that where Gaddafi's face is actually...

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-Someone's put a cross on his face.

-No like Gaddafi.

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-Is this your car?

-No, it's my car!

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It's a revolutionary car!

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This guy is making a point to throw all the rubbish on Gaddafi's face.

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They need to make sure that they get it.

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You can really tell that they hate the guy.

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What will all this new freedom mean

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besides being able to insult Gaddafi?

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Hello. Hi. I'm Nel. Nice to meet you.

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'Atem is taking me for a night out with some of her friends at a cafe in town.'

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-I don't know what any of this is. What does it say?

-Hot drinks.

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What changes do you want to see?

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-Education, better roads, everything.

-No, what changes do YOU want to see?

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-Personal to you, what changes do YOU want to see?

-Franchises.

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I really want a mall here, seriously.

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NEL LAUGHS We all do!

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I want a mall before anything, seriously.

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We can introduce you to Starbucks.

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"I always wanted Starbucks and Gaddafi would never let it happen.

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"Now we can have Starbucks!"

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When you think about it,

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when we want to go to a mall or have fun, we leave the country.

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-Yeah.

-You go other places, you go even to Egypt.

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So that's why saying we need a mall,

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it means that we should be able to have fun here.

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-In our own country.

-Exactly.

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We don't have to go away to have fun or do some shopping,

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or do some decent shopping anyway.

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So all your H&M stuff isn't even from Libya?

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"Mum, I'm going to H&M. Book the tickets to Lebanon." It's crazy!

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-THEY LAUGH

-Wow.

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Atem and her friends may have to wait for their shopping mall.

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A lot of Libya is still in ruins.

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Benghazi was lucky.

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It was protected when Britain, France and others

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started a bombing campaign against Gaddafi's forces.

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I'm heading further up the coast,

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to where the worst of the fighting happened - Misrata

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Holy shmokes. Check it out.

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Every single window in that place is gone.

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This city was under siege.

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For 70 days, Gaddafi's forces pounded it.

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It's so hard to watch, so hard to see.

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This isn't the same as Benghazi.

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Hello!

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Oh, be careful!

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Are you OK? Where do you live?

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Which one? Show me.

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'These kids tell me they were trapped in their house

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'as Gaddafi's troops shelled their neighbourhood.'

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Were you scared?

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-There?

-Yeah.

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'The boys tell me they were even held as human shields.'

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What did you feel when all of this was happening?

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How did you feel when the older boys were going to fight?

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Did you want to join them?

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HE REPLIES

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It breaks my heart that these kids

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already know what it means to be a martyr.

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They're the same age as my little brother.

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Tommy's connected me with Alla, his friend from Tripoli University.

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When Gaddafi's secret police came knocking on her door,

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she fled here to be with her family.

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-Life is bad now here.

-Life is bad?

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Yeah, life is bad, with all the destruction and everything.

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That's massive. Whatever blew that apart was massive-er.

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They weren't here to, like, scare you. They were here to kill you.

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The war has left its mark everywhere.

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From the shattered cities to the hopes and dreams of Libyan girls.

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Lots of boys still wearing their uniforms and stuff.

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You know, your mind changes.

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Before we were looking for guys that had, like, a big house, or doctors.

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But now there is a Facebook page called

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"Libyan girls who want to marry Libyan fighters."

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NEL LAUGHS

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That's every girl's dream nowadays.

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But lots of fighters returned from the battlefield injured.

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Alla is a medical student.

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She's brought me to the hospital where she worked during the war.

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Most of the badly injured fighters have been sent abroad for treatment.

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But 28-year-old civil servant Waleed

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is one of the few who can be taken care of here.

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At any point, did it cross your mind, "Oh God, what have I done?"

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Is he ever going to be able to use his one leg and his arm again, properly?

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Can he ever type or use a phone? He can never do this?

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No, no.

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Waleed is happy that he fought and sacrificed himself for his country,

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but not everyone is happy, are they?

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All patients are...

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No, that can't be true.

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I don't believe that, I don't believe that.

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That's just what you want to tell me.

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That's what you want me to think. I appreciate this.

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His entire body has been maimed,

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but he's like, "You know what? It's fine.

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"I did what I had to do." It's just...

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I know, it's hard for you, to imagine that, to believe it.

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Most of them are thinking that there are going to be dead,

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so when they're losing a leg or arm for freedom,

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for the country, they are really proud.

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We get rid of Gaddafi, we have our freedom.

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-We'll struggle to...

-Do better...

-..have a better life now.

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Everyone says what you expect them to say

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and it's only in like, whispered conversations,

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in minutes when they don't think I'm listening, or don't think I can hear,

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when you get the true sense that they're in shock.

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But I don't see it like Alla does. I can't see it like she does.

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She's like, "Oh, it's OK.

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"The whole country loves him. He'll be fine. Everyone will be fine."

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Misrata is next to Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown.

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And it was there that he was captured and killed.

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That's Gaddafi.

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They're just punching him, kicking him.

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Anyone who can get a bit of him is at it.

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'I know by now how bloody revolutions are,

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'but after looking at this footage I'm worried about the young men here

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'when they've taken part in such violence.'

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'Now I want to meet some of these fighters.'

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Hi! Hi!

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'So Alla's taking me on a day trip to Sirte.' How are you?

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'It's still a dangerous journey,

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'so her cousin Mohammed has arranged for a militia from Misrata

0:23:190:23:22

'to protect us from any rogue pro-Gaddafi forces.'

0:23:220:23:27

-They're coming with us?

-Yes.

-OK.

0:23:270:23:29

Sirte was the home of Gaddafi's tribe

0:23:340:23:38

and the people there supported him.

0:23:380:23:41

So if you come from Misrata, you had plenty of reason to hate them.

0:23:410:23:45

This is the first time Alla is going to Sirte since the end of the war.

0:23:450:23:50

Just before entering the town, they have a surprise for us.

0:23:530:23:57

They've brought us to the spot where Gaddafi was captured.

0:24:010:24:04

This is a bunch of cars that Gaddafi was in when NATO hit it.

0:24:040:24:09

-Oh, man! These were NATO strikes?

-Yes.

0:24:090:24:13

Yes, NATO.

0:24:130:24:15

And Gaddafi was in one of these cars, and he ran away.

0:24:150:24:21

'Gaddafi and a group of die-hard supporters were escaping from Sirte

0:24:210:24:25

'when their cars were hit by an air attack.

0:24:250:24:28

'He ran away. They're taking me to the very spot he was found.'

0:24:280:24:34

Check it out!

0:24:340:24:37

Oh, my God.

0:24:370:24:38

-How do you feel?

-I don't know.

-You're excited?

-Yes. It's amazing.

0:24:380:24:43

I didn't believe this moment would come. He was captured in this way.

0:24:430:24:49

And I'm standing here and... Oh, my God!

0:24:490:24:52

In the beginning of the revolution, he called us rats,

0:25:010:25:05

so now he's the rat, he's the one who's captured from...

0:25:050:25:10

-I'm speechless.

-I've never seen Alla so happy. She's just...

0:25:100:25:14

She's speechless. She's taking photos

0:25:140:25:17

and is just over the moon about it.

0:25:170:25:19

I finally feel like I'm at the centre of what this was all about.

0:25:190:25:22

Thousands of people that died, teenagers bearing arms,

0:25:220:25:27

all of it was for that moment.

0:25:270:25:29

Gaddafi called his people rats,

0:25:290:25:32

but ultimately he was the one who was found in a sewer.

0:25:320:25:35

GUNSHOTS

0:25:460:25:49

SHOUTING

0:25:490:25:51

See, this is what happens when you get a bunch of...

0:25:510:25:54

GUNSHOTS

0:25:540:25:56

See now they're just getting all trigger-happy,

0:25:560:26:00

and just deciding it's really funny to shoot guns everywhere,

0:26:000:26:04

because they've got one and it's just around, so,

0:26:040:26:06

"Why not? Hell, I'm going to shoot it off in the air."

0:26:060:26:09

Oi! You're an old man. Why are you doing that? It's not good.

0:26:090:26:14

-He's just greeting you.

-No. Why don't you shake my hand?

0:26:140:26:18

I will greet you by shaking your hand. Yeah?

0:26:180:26:21

Shake my hand. Don't shoot your gun in the air.

0:26:210:26:23

-There's no need for that craziness!

-OK.

-Pointing it at me...

0:26:230:26:27

-You see this is why...

-GUNSHOTS

0:26:270:26:31

Are we done? Are we done being men? Are we done? You guys feel good now?

0:26:340:26:38

With no proper army in Libya, these men are one of the many militias

0:26:410:26:46

taking law and order into their own hands.

0:26:460:26:49

I'm not sure I'd feel that safe with these guys in charge.

0:26:500:26:54

I want to see the town itself, the scene of terrible fighting

0:26:550:27:00

and the final battle to overthrow Gaddafi.

0:27:000:27:03

Jeez Louise. Oh my God!

0:27:080:27:11

Holy mo.

0:27:140:27:16

Entire walls have been knocked down,

0:27:190:27:22

not with massive artillery or bombs, but with sheer force

0:27:220:27:25

of the number of bullets that have gone through them.

0:27:250:27:28

Sirte was a small fishing village,

0:27:290:27:32

but became a symbol of Gaddafi himself.

0:27:320:27:35

He was born here and he pumped in loads of money to develop it.

0:27:350:27:39

If you lived here, you had lots of reasons to support Gaddafi.

0:27:390:27:44

Now, they're the people we don't hear about.

0:27:440:27:47

The people who lost the war.

0:27:470:27:50

During the worst of the bombing, the people here fled.

0:27:530:27:57

It's like a ghost town. There's no-one here.

0:27:570:27:59

You can't believe someone actually lived here

0:27:590:28:02

or this was a city where people did stuff.

0:28:020:28:04

There were schools, people went out, and there were cafes and stuff.

0:28:040:28:08

Some say that this town was destroyed AFTER Gaddafi was caught,

0:28:130:28:17

in an act of vengeance.

0:28:170:28:19

Hello! Hi. Give me your hand.

0:28:210:28:25

'We find a family who returned to salvage their shattered life.'

0:28:250:28:30

THEY SPEAK IN ARABIC

0:28:300:28:33

I ask Mum, Khadija,

0:28:330:28:35

what she feels about the fighters who tore her town apart.

0:28:350:28:39

What did you think about that?

0:29:230:29:26

-She was completely pro-Gaddafi.

-I feel sorry for her.

0:29:260:29:29

I don't blame her. There were a lot of media channels for Gaddafi.

0:29:290:29:35

What she was saying is exactly what has been said on those channels.

0:29:350:29:40

It's like brainwashing.

0:29:400:29:42

No, hold on a minute, that's not true.

0:29:420:29:44

Listen, she might be brainwashed,

0:29:440:29:46

but the fact that her son died at 19 isn't brainwashing.

0:29:460:29:49

The fact that she lives in a dead shanty town isn't brainwashing.

0:29:490:29:52

-I appreciate that, yeah.

-You know, she was quite clear.

0:29:520:29:56

She said, "When the fighters did come here, they were excessive.

0:29:560:30:02

"Everything they did was more than they needed to do."

0:30:020:30:05

No, it's not about revenge.

0:30:050:30:06

I believe that when they came here they're not coming for revenge.

0:30:060:30:10

They came to fight the last of Gaddafi's people here.

0:30:100:30:13

She will always feel sorry about her son

0:30:130:30:17

and we will always feel sorry about our brothers, cousins

0:30:170:30:21

killed by Gaddafi.

0:30:210:30:23

So we have to open our hearts and just forget the past.

0:30:230:30:28

The divisions in Libya run deep,

0:30:300:30:33

and it's not just the split between those who loved Gaddafi

0:30:330:30:36

and those who hated him.

0:30:360:30:38

I'm on my way back to Tripoli, where there's a new government in place,

0:30:380:30:43

made up of the different groups that won the war.

0:30:430:30:46

It's promised elections later this year

0:30:460:30:48

but that's not going to be easy with heavily-armed militias

0:30:480:30:52

from different tribes and regions still in place.

0:30:520:30:55

Back in Tripoli, I get caught up in another demo.

0:31:070:31:11

It's right outside my hotel.

0:31:110:31:12

It's a good example of how volatile things still are.

0:31:150:31:19

I'm here to meet up with Moez, a Libyan doctor from Manchester,

0:31:190:31:24

who came over to patch up the wounded during the war

0:31:240:31:27

and he stayed on to help rebuild his country.

0:31:270:31:30

-How are you doing?

-What are they doing there? What are they saying?

0:31:300:31:33

Not sure exactly but they went there and 15 of them died.

0:31:330:31:36

'It turns out 15 locals have just been shot dead

0:31:360:31:39

'in a carefully-planned ambush by Gaddafi loyalists.'

0:31:390:31:44

It just shows you how volatile it is here.

0:31:440:31:47

You can see the cracks forming.

0:31:470:31:50

You can see what's going to...

0:31:500:31:53

The way this thing might end up,

0:31:530:31:54

which is, like, one region going to another region and fighting

0:31:540:31:58

or this person thinks this person is pro-Gaddafi,

0:31:580:32:00

or this town had a better life under Gaddafi and this town didn't.

0:32:000:32:03

It's fair enough the revolution and war is over

0:32:030:32:06

but people still don't feel like they've got what they wanted.

0:32:060:32:09

Libya may now be a place where people are free to protest,

0:32:110:32:14

but the country's totally packed with guns,

0:32:140:32:17

so there's a danger demonstrations like this could turn nasty.

0:32:170:32:21

Obviously there's a lack of law and order at the moment.

0:32:220:32:26

You just saw the protest that was outside. All these people have guns.

0:32:260:32:31

There is a huge amount of guns and weapons on the streets.

0:32:310:32:34

I've met plenty of young boys, particularly who are now heroes

0:32:340:32:39

and they go back to their towns and cities or villages

0:32:390:32:42

and they are seen as heroes.

0:32:420:32:44

I think it's going to be highly unlikely

0:32:440:32:46

that they're willing to just give up their guns.

0:32:460:32:49

I think if we had an amnesty now, you're right, it's very unlikely.

0:32:490:32:52

No-one's going to hand in their weapons.

0:32:520:32:54

If I had a weapon, I probably wouldn't hand it in myself.

0:32:540:32:57

The people who have guns on the streets,

0:32:570:33:00

the young people with weapons,

0:33:000:33:03

the weapon is an insurance policy for their future.

0:33:030:33:06

A lot of them have an education but don't have jobs,

0:33:060:33:09

They won't hand in their weapons unless they can secure their future,

0:33:090:33:12

and they fought for their future with these guns.

0:33:120:33:15

This revolution was carried out by young people,

0:33:150:33:18

young voices who actively risked their lives.

0:33:180:33:21

How will the voices of the fighters be reflected in the government?

0:33:210:33:25

Before, it was very much the regime who were in the driving seats.

0:33:250:33:29

Now it's the people on the ground.

0:33:290:33:31

There has to be a bit of patience from their side.

0:33:310:33:33

They can't expect to see changes overnight,

0:33:330:33:36

but if the officials aren't able to deliver, they will come out

0:33:360:33:41

and they will say so because at the moment they are fearless.

0:33:410:33:44

Libya's future looks difficult to me.

0:33:460:33:48

Lots of young men with guns in a divided society.

0:33:480:33:52

I'm probably a bit more pessimistic than most of the people I've met,

0:33:520:33:56

who seem full of hope.

0:33:560:33:58

Things may look rocky ahead, but the Libyans have overthrown

0:33:580:34:02

a hated dictator and they've now a chance to build a new country.

0:34:020:34:06

Things seem a lot worse in the place I'm going to look at now.

0:34:080:34:13

My next stop is Lebanon.

0:34:160:34:18

I'm going there because it's next to Syria, where security forces

0:34:190:34:24

have been attacking protesters for almost a year.

0:34:240:34:27

Syria is a very dangerous place and if you go there officially,

0:34:290:34:34

you're restricted on what you can see.

0:34:340:34:37

So I'm staying in Lebanon but will try and get as close as possible

0:34:400:34:44

to what's going on.

0:34:440:34:45

Thousands of Syrians have been sneaking into Lebanon as refugees,

0:34:490:34:53

so I'm heading right up the border to try and find some.

0:34:530:34:57

It's quite risky.

0:34:590:35:01

Syrian soldiers have shot dead people trying to run away

0:35:010:35:05

and the area is covered with landmines.

0:35:050:35:08

'And, suddenly, I see Syrian troops right there in front of me.'

0:35:100:35:14

Basically, that, right there, across that tiny little river, is Syria,

0:35:140:35:20

and this is one of the places where the refugees cross.

0:35:200:35:24

I'm just a bit nervous now cos the Syrian army has seen me

0:35:240:35:28

and the car and now they're shouting to each other.

0:35:280:35:33

I kind of want to get out of here now.

0:35:350:35:37

OK, yeah.

0:35:370:35:40

We're going to a local school which has been turned into a refugee camp.

0:35:580:36:02

It's estimated over 6,000 Syrians have escaped into Lebanon

0:36:070:36:12

and ended up in places like this.

0:36:120:36:15

The conditions are incredibly tough.

0:36:150:36:18

Oh, my God, it's so cold in here.

0:36:200:36:22

Salam alaikum. Salam alaikum.

0:36:240:36:27

'I'm meeting Amani, her husband and their two-month-old baby Farhad.'

0:36:270:36:32

'She's cooking now but her fuel supplies are running out

0:36:360:36:39

'and there's no money to buy more.'

0:36:390:36:41

This is absolutely no way to be living.

0:36:410:36:45

That's probably every single thing they own in that corner right there.

0:36:450:36:49

It's like her kitchen is just half of her living room

0:36:490:36:56

but with a few sheets separating them.

0:36:560:37:00

I mean, this can't be easier than living in a prison. This is prison.

0:37:010:37:07

'Suddenly, it hits me.'

0:37:240:37:26

Sorry.

0:37:290:37:31

'Amani's story is just like my mum's.'

0:37:310:37:34

I'm from Afghanistan

0:37:340:37:37

and when I was a baby, like your son,

0:37:370:37:42

my mum took me from Afghanistan

0:37:420:37:45

and she did what you did and brought me out of there.

0:37:450:37:50

So, I'm looking at you

0:37:520:37:55

and I'm seeing history repeat itself in a different way.

0:37:550:37:59

'But it turns out that Amani's story is worse.

0:38:040:38:08

'Much worse than anything my mum had gone through.'

0:38:080:38:11

The family had to walk for four days and nights over the mountains

0:38:140:38:17

to make it to safety.

0:38:170:38:19

Her husband was on the run from the Syrian army.

0:38:220:38:26

Oh, my God. How did you lose your son?

0:38:340:38:37

They tortured your son?

0:38:580:39:00

Who tortured your son?

0:39:000:39:02

That woman is 25 years old. She's a year older than me.

0:39:130:39:18

She's had one baby murdered

0:39:180:39:20

and another one that's sleeping in her arms in a refugee camp.

0:39:200:39:24

And this is happening in this world, you know.

0:39:320:39:36

This isn't the moon, this is nowhere.

0:39:360:39:39

This is...four hours away on a flight from London!

0:39:390:39:43

I can't confirm what Amani has told me,

0:39:530:39:56

but her story is similar to many others coming out of Syria.

0:39:560:40:01

Back in my hotel in Beirut, I want to know more.

0:40:070:40:10

For 40 years, Syria has been ruled by a repressive regime

0:40:150:40:19

headed by the Assad family.

0:40:190:40:21

The Assads belong to the Alawite sect of Islam,

0:40:220:40:26

unlike most Syrians, who are Sunni Muslims.

0:40:260:40:30

CHANTING AND SHOUTING

0:40:300:40:32

Last year, many took to the streets protesting for more freedom.

0:40:330:40:37

CHANTING AND SHOUTING

0:40:370:40:40

They were met with shocking violence from the government.

0:40:430:40:47

The regime says it's fighting terrorists and criminal armed bands.

0:40:480:40:53

GUNFIRE

0:40:530:40:55

Some estimate the death toll is now approaching 10,000.

0:40:550:40:59

Nobody really knows the number but most of the casualties are Sunnis.

0:41:010:41:06

SHOUTING IN ARABIC

0:41:060:41:08

GUNFIRE

0:41:080:41:10

The battle lines have been drawn

0:41:110:41:13

between the different religious communities.

0:41:130:41:16

And, just like Libya, the country is heading for an all-out civil war.

0:41:190:41:23

Beirut, the capital of Lebanon,

0:41:290:41:32

has a reputation as a city of spies and political intrigue.

0:41:320:41:36

And the biggest game in town at the moment is Syrian government agents

0:41:360:41:40

trying to track down anti-Assad activists.

0:41:400:41:44

It's a matter of life and death.

0:41:440:41:46

I want to meet some Syrians who have escaped into Lebanon.

0:41:470:41:51

For their own safety, they needed to check I am who I say I am,

0:41:530:41:56

and that I'm not being followed,

0:41:560:41:59

so they're sending a contact to suss me out.

0:41:590:42:02

I'm going to meet a bunch of people, Syrians,

0:42:020:42:06

who are...having a virtual war, basically.

0:42:060:42:11

They're fighting, but on a virtual level.

0:42:110:42:14

They're using the internet, Twitter and Facebook and things like that,

0:42:140:42:18

to find a way to show the world what's happening in Syria,

0:42:180:42:23

because no-one really knows, and I can't get in.

0:42:230:42:26

These people are a way for me to see for myself what's happening there.

0:42:260:42:30

'My contact is Bisan.'

0:42:310:42:34

-Hi.

-Hi. I'm Bisan. Nice to meet you.

0:42:340:42:37

'Ten months ago, she was studying in London

0:42:370:42:40

'but when the Syrian uprising started, she came over to Lebanon

0:42:400:42:44

'to do her bit with the cyber revolutionaries.'

0:42:440:42:48

This is a relatively safe area where we work in.

0:42:480:42:52

It's not dominated by the Syrian embassy

0:42:520:42:55

or the Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party.

0:42:550:42:57

-OK.

-So we're not likely to get beaten up.

0:42:570:42:59

That's always a good thing. I look for this in areas.

0:42:590:43:02

But, at the same time, everyone is watched

0:43:020:43:05

so there's an element of risk no matter where you are in Beirut.

0:43:050:43:08

What do you mean everyone is watched? What's this, a spy movie?

0:43:080:43:11

-It's really weird.

-Phones are tapped.

0:43:110:43:14

Areas generally belong to a certain party or a certain militia,

0:43:140:43:18

so they watch us, they know what we're doing.

0:43:180:43:20

Everyone's actions are watched.

0:43:200:43:23

But they've chosen to leave us alone for now.

0:43:230:43:26

I'm not the one that's at risk, really, because I'm Lebanese.

0:43:260:43:29

Shaqib, the person that I'm taking you to meet, he's at risk

0:43:290:43:33

because he's wanted inside Syria for crimes punishable by death.

0:43:330:43:36

Oh, God.

0:43:360:43:37

And the Lebanese ministries have a tendency to arrest Syrians

0:43:370:43:42

and deport them where they can get killed.

0:43:420:43:45

'The other cyber activists are busy looking at footage from Syria

0:43:500:43:55

'before passing it on to the worldwide media.'

0:43:550:43:58

-Hi, I'm Nel.

-Shaqib, this is Nel.

-Hi, Shaqib, nice to meet you.

0:43:580:44:03

-Yara.

-Hi, Yara, nice to meet you.

0:44:030:44:05

'For the past year, the world has relied on people like this

0:44:070:44:10

'to find out what's actually happening on the ground.'

0:44:100:44:15

What is being done to us

0:44:150:44:17

is much worse than being denied our basic human rights.

0:44:170:44:21

We're being killed, we're being slaughtered, we're being raped.

0:44:210:44:25

And we think it's important for this to be documented.

0:44:250:44:30

Even if it's not going to invoke sympathy in the world,

0:44:300:44:34

we want to make sure that Assad's crimes are on the record.

0:44:340:44:39

This is a video from earlier this morning, from the shelling of Homs.

0:44:390:44:44

OK.

0:44:440:44:46

That building is totally like...

0:44:460:44:47

EXPLOSION IN VIDEO

0:44:470:44:49

ARABIC COMMENTARY FROM LAPTOP

0:44:520:44:56

It's just a bit of it is falling off.

0:44:560:45:01

They cracked the building in half?

0:45:010:45:03

No, no, they just took down a couple of floors.

0:45:030:45:06

EXPLOSIONS AND SHOUTING

0:45:060:45:11

'Shaqib is getting raw footage direct from the front lines.

0:45:130:45:18

'The next video shows a man who's been hit by a rocket grenade.'

0:45:180:45:22

-It's really bad.

-Oh, for f...

0:45:240:45:26

Is he alive?!

0:45:290:45:30

Yeah, he's still alive.

0:45:300:45:32

'It's much worse than anything I've seen on the news back home.

0:45:330:45:37

'But some Syrians have had enough.

0:45:380:45:40

'This tank was destroyed by rebels

0:45:400:45:43

'who are now fighting fire with fire.'

0:45:430:45:47

I think Assad has shown that he's willing to fight

0:45:470:45:50

to the last drop of Syrian blood.

0:45:500:45:52

So, I think, erm, the pattern we've seen now,

0:45:540:45:58

which is the militarisation of the revolution,

0:45:580:46:02

I think it's going to continue.

0:46:020:46:04

And we're helpless to stop it.

0:46:040:46:06

You can't tell somebody, "No, shut up and die."

0:46:060:46:10

But do you agree with it?

0:46:100:46:12

I can't make this decision for other people...

0:46:120:46:16

..who are at significantly more risk than I am - I am here.

0:46:170:46:21

I'm not being shelled. My house still in one piece.

0:46:210:46:25

I have not been arrested, I have not been raped,

0:46:250:46:28

I have not been tortured.

0:46:280:46:29

So, I-I live a different reality than they do.

0:46:310:46:34

Syria's armed rebels call themselves the Free Syrian Army

0:46:380:46:42

and I want to meet some of them.

0:46:420:46:44

So I'm heading out of Beirut

0:46:440:46:46

and back up north towards the Syrian border.

0:46:460:46:49

I'm about an hour away from Beirut and closer to the Syrian border

0:46:560:46:59

and the people here are much more affected by what's happening in Syria.

0:46:590:47:03

You can tell that this place is just a little bit more dangerous,

0:47:030:47:08

because of the number of guards, policemen and army people

0:47:080:47:11

out in the streets.

0:47:110:47:13

I've arranged to meet a Sunni Muslim cleric called Sheikh Bilal,

0:47:150:47:19

who's running a network in support of Syria's uprising.

0:47:190:47:22

Hi.

0:47:220:47:24

GREETS HER IN ARABIC

0:47:240:47:26

Nice to meet you. How are you?

0:47:260:47:27

'He's helping the rebels because they're mainly Sunni Muslims, just like him.'

0:47:270:47:33

So what do you do in terms of the fighting, how are you involved?

0:47:330:47:37

IN ARABIC:

0:47:370:47:39

The Free Syrian Army is fighting Assad's army.

0:48:000:48:04

Assad has tanks, grenades, everything!

0:48:040:48:09

Massive arsenal.

0:48:090:48:11

You have like, guns, rifles, how can you win?

0:48:110:48:14

Wow, OK.

0:48:250:48:26

Holy gosh.

0:48:290:48:30

Wow, does he have more?

0:48:310:48:34

TRANSLATOR REPEATS IN ARABIC

0:48:340:48:36

-"Lots more"!

-Well...

-SHE LAUGHS

0:48:360:48:39

That's a grenade launcher, I know what that is.

0:48:440:48:47

I've seen that in Four Lions.

0:48:470:48:48

That's definitely not a little rifle,

0:48:480:48:52

that's serious hardcore stuff.

0:48:520:48:57

That's the biggest... heaviest weaponry I've seen so far

0:48:570:49:01

on this whole thing.

0:49:010:49:03

So Sheikh Bilal's network is buying arms inside Lebanon

0:49:030:49:08

and shipping them off to the rebels.

0:49:080:49:11

Is it possible you could take me to meet some of the defected soldiers

0:49:110:49:14

who are fighting against Assad's army?

0:49:140:49:17

Do you know any, can you take me?

0:49:170:49:19

The Sheikh says he can arrange everything,

0:49:270:49:30

and is sending two of his people ahead to set up a secret rendezvous with the rebels.

0:49:300:49:35

To meet them,

0:49:410:49:43

I've got to travel to Lebanon's mountainous northern border zone.

0:49:430:49:47

It's not going to be easy.

0:49:500:49:54

All traffic in and out is being checked at this army roadblock.

0:49:540:49:58

It's taken the better part of about four hours to get across like,

0:50:020:50:08

less than a mile of road, going back and forth.

0:50:080:50:12

Someone needs to stamp something, someone needs to see something,

0:50:120:50:16

someone needs to take all of our equipment,

0:50:160:50:19

it's just been mental getting here.

0:50:190:50:21

But...we finally made it.

0:50:220:50:24

There's got to be something happening here for sure.

0:50:240:50:27

The Sheikh's contacts are waiting for me.

0:50:360:50:39

-Hello.

-Hi.

-Salam alaikum.

-Nice to meet you. How are you? Good.

0:50:390:50:44

My name is Nel...

0:50:440:50:45

'I'm finally going to meet Syrian soldiers who have defected to the rebels' side.'

0:50:450:50:51

I've just been rushed into this room by about 15 men.

0:50:530:50:57

because it has to be that hush-hush.

0:50:570:51:00

I'm literally sitting next to some of Assad's ex-army people

0:51:000:51:06

who've now joined the other side,

0:51:060:51:08

and they are the Free Syrian Army and they are now fighting Assad.

0:51:080:51:14

Even though they were once part of what he did, part of his campaign.

0:51:140:51:19

What kind of things did you see in Damascus in those first few days?

0:51:190:51:23

What did you see the army do?

0:51:230:51:25

HE SPEAKS IN ARABIC

0:51:250:51:28

What did they do to you because you wouldn't fight for Assad, what happened to you?

0:51:560:52:00

'The other defector asks to hide his identity to protect his family,

0:52:370:52:42

'who are still in Syria.'

0:52:420:52:43

What about yourself, what role do you play in the Free Syria Army?

0:52:430:52:47

HE RESPONDS IN ARABIC

0:52:470:52:49

Those men were going back to fight the regime

0:53:240:53:27

and might end up paying with their lives.

0:53:270:53:30

GUNFIRE

0:53:300:53:33

Although the Free Syria rebels are now occupying parts of the country,

0:53:330:53:38

Assad shows no signs of giving up.

0:53:380:53:40

And Syria's immediate future looks painful and bloody.

0:53:440:53:47

GUNFIRE

0:53:470:53:49

I'm coming to the end of my journey now.

0:53:530:53:56

I can see the twists and turns along this Arab revolutionary road.

0:53:560:54:02

It may be the way towards a brighter future, but it's littered with broken lives.

0:54:020:54:07

Amani - the refugee mother,

0:54:070:54:10

who's firstborn son was murdered by Assad's militia.

0:54:100:54:14

Tommy, the 21-year-old, fun-loving student

0:54:180:54:21

turned freedom fighter, gunman and killer.

0:54:210:54:24

It's a sad thing that you have to kill someone,

0:54:240:54:27

but you have to look to the bright side and you do what you have to do.

0:54:270:54:32

Either you kill or be killed.

0:54:320:54:35

Alla, the medic, ecstatic at the killing of the dictator Gaddafi.

0:54:380:54:44

In the beginning of the revolution, he called us rats,

0:54:440:54:47

so now he is the rat, he is the one who's captured.

0:54:470:54:51

It's like a dam has burst in the Middle East.

0:54:510:54:54

Emotions - pent-up for decades - are running free.

0:54:540:54:57

It's exciting...and it's dangerous.

0:54:570:55:00

I'm meeting Bisan again.

0:55:080:55:09

Ten months ago, she came over from London to help the activists.

0:55:120:55:17

Despite all the suffering and the violence,

0:55:200:55:23

she's still hopeful about the future.

0:55:230:55:25

From the experience I've had and the countries I've been to,

0:55:270:55:31

it doesn't seem that this is going to die down any time soon.

0:55:310:55:36

You guys are in it for the long run.

0:55:360:55:37

People will not stop fighting. They've tasted freedom.

0:55:370:55:40

You've got liberated cities, people speaking their minds.

0:55:400:55:43

So, I mean, I get despondent,

0:55:430:55:45

but there's so much to be optimistic about.

0:55:450:55:49

That's one of them - the fear is broken.

0:55:490:55:51

Fear that controlled a couple of generations.

0:55:510:55:54

Their children are able to speak now.

0:55:540:55:56

And they will be able to speak in the future.

0:55:560:55:58

We take our freedom for granted in Britain

0:55:580:56:02

and get concerned with everyday things -

0:56:020:56:04

wanting a new phone or a new pair of shoes.

0:56:040:56:07

But the children of the Arab Spring,

0:56:070:56:09

they want to be able to say what they think without being tortured.

0:56:090:56:13

To be able to walk down a street without being shot at.

0:56:130:56:16

Young people saw what they were missing and said,

0:56:180:56:21

"We deserve better."

0:56:210:56:23

And I think they do.

0:56:230:56:25

But their journey will be a long and hard one.

0:56:250:56:28

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0:56:530:56:56

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