Ordinary Libyans are increasingly uneasy about the situation of their country, but unable to speak out, with
both camps tightly controlling media. In recent days came allegations that Haftar’s forces bombed a clinic
facility, killing five medical personnel, although the claim has been disputed by his side.
Like many Libyans, Sharksi said he supported Haftar when he first launched his 2014 effort to rid the
country of the militias that had sprung following the collapse of Gaddafi’s rule. Some, such as Ansar al-
Sharia, had ties to al-Qaeda.
But Sharksi and others turned against Haftar as it became apparent he sought to usher in a new dynasty.
“Haftar tried to push his family as ruler of Libya,” he says. “We are against that. We won’t allow it. We
won’t support any new dictatorship in Libya.”
In his video, Sharski sought to appeal to Libyans’ better instincts. “We must try our best to reject hateful
speech, and reject violence,” he said. “Frankly, war has never been a solution. We are honestly scared that
this country will be divided, and we don’t want that.”
We can’t tell the fighters to put down their weapons unless we have a logical solution. We are trying to
assemble an alternative
Other than rhetoric, there is not a lot that ordinary Libyans can do to change the course of their country.
UN-backed plans for elections to install a new government overseeing all of Libya have been repeatedly
delayed, and it remains unclear whether any of the country’s well-armed factions would respect any results
that diminished their power.
Armed men rule Libya’s streets in both the country’s east, west and south. Haftar appears to answer to no
one, surprising not only the UN but even his own benefactors with his assault on the capital. Armed groups
in the west, though reined in somewhat in the last year or so, have re-emerged vigorously on the streets of
the capital, their tan Toyota pick-up trucks spray-painted and plastered with the names of their brigades and
cities.
Activists like Sharksi try to build networks online, reaching out to like-minded Libyans in the rest of the
country as well as in the diaspora. In Tunis, he seeks audiences with diplomats and the UN, demanding a
halt to the blatant interference in Libya’s affairs by countries such as France and Turkey. But ultimately he
acknowledges that it is Libyans themselves that must work out a solution.
“Today we are just organising ourselves,” he says. “We can’t tell the fighters to put down their weapons
unless we have a logical solution. We are trying to assemble an alternative.”
Protests in neighbouring Algeria and Sudan brought down governments this year. But Tatanaki says
Libyans might be too exhausted and hopeless to make such a move. “I don’t think there’s enough courage or
organisation or will,” he says.
Sharksi says it is still way too dangerous to try to take on the country’s armed factions in the streets with
flowers and peaceful slogans.
“We’re trying to decrease the risks for activists,” he says. “We’re trying to limit information about our
group so the names don’t get public. We move slowly.”