LIBYA - Year Zero, Neighborhood Watch with Kalashnikovs

"'Dreadful' Conditions Found in Tripoli Hospital as Body Count Rises" (Part-1) PBS Newshour 8/26/2011

Excerpt

JIM LEHRER (Editor, Newshour): And to Libya, where rebels are taking and holding more territory, but there remains stiff resistance from loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi, who still eludes capture.

We begin our coverage with a report from Alex Thomson of Independent Television News in Tripoli.

"In Libya, It's 'Year Zero' as Country Starts From Scratch" (Part-2) PBS Newshour 8/26/2011

Excerpt

RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): Is there progression on the ground from the point of view of the rebels? Have they been able to secure areas, bring in essential supplies, do something like consolidation in the areas they control?

LINDSEY HILSUM, International Television News: I think that there has been progress.

Certainly, over this week, we have seen Tripoli become calmer. There's still some talk of fighting. There are still a few snipers. But I have been traveling around every day since Monday, and more and more neighborhoods are secure. What seems to be happening is that you have got like neighborhood committees.

These are young men and sometimes older men. And they stand on the streets with their barricades sometimes just made of chairs or old cars, burnt-out vehicles, anything they can find, and it's neighborhood watch with Kalashnikovs. And they're checking the vehicles coming through a zone and securing their own neighborhood areas.

The National Transitional Council from Benghazi, that's the -- in the east, where the revolution first happened started in February, some of their members have come into town now. They're trying to establish some kind of government. But, of course, there is still fighting over towards Sirte. That is Colonel Gadhafi's hometown, about 700 kilometers from here.

And there is still fighting there, so not all of Libya is yet in rebel hands.

Another excerpt

LINDSEY HILSUM: So getting organized is very hard. And it's particularly difficult here in Libya. Because it's not -- this isn't a change of government. It's the total collapse of the state. Everything was around Gadhafi. Gadhafi was the state of Libya. There is no institution which is left. So it is really year zero in Libya. They're having to start absolutely from scratch.