Gaddafi loyalists hold out in last desperate resistance at Sirte, as families flee

The war in Libya is almost over, but for ordinary people in Sirte’s District 2 the misery gets deeper When war came to the Libyan coastal city of Sirte, Muammar Gaddafi’s birthplace, Fajla Sidi Bey made the sort of choice that poor people have to make in a conflict. Fajla, a Malian driver who worked at the Ibn Sana hospital when the besieging government forces announced their intention to take Sirte in September, was owed 3,736 Libyan dinars, a small fortune. So while others fled he stayed in the city with his five children, aged between four months and nine years old, and his wife and a cousin. His home was in District 2, at the heart of the last remaining pocket of pro-Gaddafi loyalist fighters, still being pounded yesterday by artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Until Friday that is, when Fajla and his family slipped out. I found them sitting by a wall near the field hospital outside the city, uncertain what to do or where to go. “I left the hospital on 15 September, the day the fighting started,” he explained. “I haven’t been back since. I came to Libya 13 years ago to earn money. For 10 of those, I worked as a tailor. For the last three years, I worked in the hospital.” He showed his pass from Ibn Sana. It described him as a driver and a tailor. “The only time I went out of my house was to search for food for my children. I had a car from the hospital. After a while, they would not let me get food from the shops. All the shops were closed. They said: ‘Bring your family to the security building.’ Outside was a place where you could buy food. “We were in my house with another Malian family of three and hid in the basement. Most days I slept and hid in my house. I did not know what was happening outside. ‘We were lucky. Nothing happened to our house. All the other houses around ours were hit by shells and missiles. Most of the houses were empty. They fired during the day, but not after seven at night. Then it was quieter. “There was water, but we had no electricity. I was not frightened for myself but for my children and my family. Every day we talked about escaping. My life was in the hands of God. “Then three days ago the other family went and did not return. So on Friday, before seven in the morning, I went out of the house and walked 100 metres. No one fired at me, so I went back for the family and we walked out with the clothes that we were wearing. Then some government fighters picked us up and took us here. “I would have left Libya in February,” he added sadly. “But I needed the money.” Details of conditions for civilians and pro-Gaddafi troops in the last pocket held by Gaddafi fighters in Sirte’s District 2, a coastal strip no wider than 700

Posted by on October 15, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.