Libya’s new leaders on Sunday declared the country “liberated”, three days after Moamer Qaddafi was captured and killed, paving the way for the formation of an interim government. The long-awaited declaration came amid raging controversy over the circumstances of Qaddafi’s death after he was taken alive during the fall of his hometown Sirte.
Britain said the incident had “stained” the National Transitional Council (NTC). “Declaration of Liberation. Raise your head high. You are a free Libyan,” NTC Vice Chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga told a massive rally in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising against Qaddafi was launched eight months ago. Tens of thousands of voices echoed him chanting, “You are a free Libyan.”
In reaction to the announcement in Benghazi, US President Barrack Obama swiftly hailed Libya’s “era of promise” and urged national reconciliation. Benghazi’s Kish Square was awash with the green, red and black flags of the revolution that toppled Qaddafi, while the formal declaration raised a deafening roar that reverberated across the Mediterranean city.
