Libyans are celebrating the first anniversary of the uprising against Muammar Gaddafi with fireworks and slogans.
Celebrations began days in advance of the anniversary, led by the residents of Benghazi, the first city to rise against Gaddafi.
Omar Farrage, security co-ordinator for the Tahrir Square celebrations in Benghazi told AFP: “”We have called in special forces from outside of Benghazi. Soon the roads heading to the square will be closed to vehicles.
“We want to ensure that the celebrations are peaceful, and we have deployed the thuwar [revolutionaries] across the city.”
Tripoli Resident Naima Misrati told AFP: “I have no words to describe my happiness. There is joy everywhere in Tripoli.”
Not everyone is joining in the celebrations, pro-Gaddafi group the Libyan Popular National Movement posted a statement on their website saying the situation in Libya ‘is becoming worse every day’.
The statement continues: “There’s very little interest from the international media in the many horrors that have taken place. We are reorganising ourselves outside Libya in an inclusive political movement that would encompass all Libyans who understand the terrible reality of Libya.”
With AFP wire service.
