Picture from Reuters
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The fighting in Libya's Western Mountains has not received as much international attention as the siege of Misrata or clashes in the east, but rebels in the mountains have also been putting Gaddafi's forces under pressure.
Residents and insurgents say pro-government forces have been bombarding Western Mountains towns, which joined in a wider revolt against Gaddafi's four-decade rule in February.…
NYT-Berber Rebels in
DHIBA BORDER CROSSING, Tunisia — For decades, the remote mountains of western Libya have simmered with resentment. An enclave of the Berber minority, mistrusted and neglected by Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s Arab nationalist government, the region’s isolated hamlets were among the first to join the uprising, raising the rebel flag on the first day of the revolt.
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Beyond neglect, Colonel Qaddafi has forbidden citizens from giving their children Berber names, disallowed the teaching of the Berber language in schools and banned Berber festivals and holidays. Protests in the 1990s demanding the right to practice their culture openly were put down forcibly by the police and followed by a series of public hangings, instilling a profound animosity toward the government.
