Libya's Arab uprising

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the early months of 2011 demonstrators took to the streets across the Arab world in what became known as the Arab spring. In February, protests in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi soon turned into an armed revolt seeking to overthrow the dictator, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Six months later, following fierce fighting, Libyan rebel forces swept into the capital, Tripoli. After more than 42 years the Libyan leader was forced from power. He was later captured and killed. Farhana Haider has been speaking to BBC Arabic correspondent Feras Kilani, who was detained and beaten while covering the uprising.

Photo: Libyan anti-Gaddafi protesters wave their old national flag as they stand atop an abandoned army tank in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on February 28, 2011.(Credit PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:37.0	You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me for Hana Hither.
0:47.0	In the early months of 2011, demonstrators took to the streets across the Arab world
0:55.6	in what became known as the Arab Spring.
0:58.3	In Libya, the uprising against Colonel Muamma Gaddafi began in February 2011.
1:07.0	It would lead to months of fierce fighting and the complete collapse of any law and order.
1:20.0	I've been speaking to journalist Ferrais Kalani who was detained during the early stage of the uprising. Reporting from Libya had always been difficult. It became even more so during the uprising.
1:29.0	The BBC team were detained and beaten whilst trying to report on the protests, the first
1:34.4	international journalists to face such treatment during the Arab Spring.
1:42.3	Good evening a BBC team in Libya have been jailed and subjected to beatings and
1:47.2	mock executions. The events took place after they were detained earlier this week,
1:51.5	only now that they have left the country are
1:53.7	we reporting their story without discussing what was going or they took me from
1:57.8	the car they pet me on my back by a flashing curve and a drop on my knees coughed I start healed the noise of the gun and I dropped
2:03.7	start healed the noise of the gun behind my head. This was the worst moment.
2:07.6	Ferra's Kalani thought he was about to be shot. An experienced BBC Arabic
2:12.3	correspondent of Palestinian origin, he, along with other journalists, had been trying to get into Libya to report on the uprising since it began on the 17th of February in the eastern port city of Benghazi when security forces opened
	...

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