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Libya’s Path Ahead is Unclear as Elections Loom

Source: 
Washington Post
Article Link: 
Published Date: 
05/22/2012

Writing in the Washington Post, Anne Applebaum reports on Libya’s stability as they near the June elections. Applebaum describes the dangers in Janzour, the former Libyan Naval Academy that is now home to more than 2,000 refugees displaced by the Libyan revolution. A few of these refugees, from the town of Tawergha, joined the regime’s soldiers last summer and are now fearful of retaliation and attack by the anti-Gaddafi opposition known as the Misrata militia. The Misrata militia has threatened to murder any Tawerghans who return to their town and have legitimized their threats through bombarding people’s homes. Applebaum describes that the Tawerghans, like so many other issues in Libya, remains overlooked and unsolved under the Transitional National Council and provisional government.

And, while many are looking to the June elections for solutions to these critical problems, Applebaum argues that the power vacuum has lent itself to some positive developments, particularly the emergence of a civil society. In fact, with the help of a brand new charity, the Libyan Housing Authority, journalists are gaining more access to Janzour, giving a necessary voice to the refugees and those fearful of violence by Misrata militia.