WaPo Sees ‘Liberation with an Islamic Tone’ in Transitional Libyan Government’s ‘Islamic State’ Pronouncement
“Libya’s top leader declared the country officially 'liberated' Sunday from the four-decade rule of Moammar Gaddafi, pledging to replace his dictatorship with a more democratic but also a more strictly Islamic system,” Washington Post staff writer Mary Beth Sheridan noted in the lead paragraph of her October 24 front-page article, “Libya declares liberation days after Gaddafi death.” “Interim leader's speech hints at greater role for Islam in public life,” the article's subheadline added. An online headline took a rosy view of the Islamic state, noting that “Libya declares liberation with an Islamic tone.” Sheridan noted two possible significant policy changes that transitional leaders are examining: banning interest on housing loans and loosening the existing restrictions on Libyan men taking more than one wife. “A lot of young ladies lost their husbands in the battle,” lamented Farage Sayeh, the outgoing “minister of capacity-building.” “Under current Libyan law, a man seeking a second wife must receive his first wife's permission and appear before a judge,” Sheridan noted. Ugh! Such liberty-strangling bureaucracy! “We are an Islamic state,” Sheridan quoted Abdel Jalil, later insisting he is “considered religious but not an extremist” and whose rhetoric may be amped up slightly to “win support from Islamists within the military command.” Even so, Sheridan failed to explore what protections, if any, Abdel Jalil foresees being extended to religious minorities such as Catholics or Coptic Christians.
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on October 24, 2011. Filed under