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| Libya asks: where are the binmen and police now its people are free | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| In the two years since Libya's revolution Al Hadi Hamroush has watched the mound of black plastic rubbish bags outside his home grow steadily higher. | |
| After the fall of Gaddafi, the 53-year-old school caretaker moved his family to a vacant bunker in Bab al-Aziziya, the sprawling compound that once was the regime's beating heart, pleased for the chance to live rent free. | After the fall of Gaddafi, the 53-year-old school caretaker moved his family to a vacant bunker in Bab al-Aziziya, the sprawling compound that once was the regime's beating heart, pleased for the chance to live rent free. |
| When he arrived, rolling lawns stretched across the vast complex of buildings smashed by Nato bombs. Now that grass is buried under a carpet of rubbish and debris that stretches for acres – dumped here by Tripoli citizens because the new government is too befuddled and divided to organise rubbish disposal. | When he arrived, rolling lawns stretched across the vast complex of buildings smashed by Nato bombs. Now that grass is buried under a carpet of rubbish and debris that stretches for acres – dumped here by Tripoli citizens because the new government is too befuddled and divided to organise rubbish disposal. |
| For Hamroush, the stinking mound of waste is symptomatic of a revolution that has failed to deliver on its promises. "Just look at it," he says, his arm pointing to mounds of black plastic rubbish bags, dumped by trucks that come into the compound each night. "When you come out and see this every morning it is bad for your spirit." | For Hamroush, the stinking mound of waste is symptomatic of a revolution that has failed to deliver on its promises. "Just look at it," he says, his arm pointing to mounds of black plastic rubbish bags, dumped by trucks that come into the compound each night. "When you come out and see this every morning it is bad for your spirit." |
| It is a familiar refrain among Libyans as they contemplate the fruits of a revolution that cost thousands of lives and yet has left Libya mired in conflict and stagnation. | It is a familiar refrain among Libyans as they contemplate the fruits of a revolution that cost thousands of lives and yet has left Libya mired in conflict and stagnation. |
| Libya remains rich in oil but economically it is on its knees; militias control the streets and jihadis roam the east; unemployment is rampant, but despite an acute housing shortage, cranes stand idle on huge construction projects. | Libya remains rich in oil but economically it is on its knees; militias control the streets and jihadis roam the east; unemployment is rampant, but despite an acute housing shortage, cranes stand idle on huge construction projects. |
| The government has proved far from capable of dealing with Libya's many problems. This month the country's top politicians found they do not even control the building where it sits: a group of disabled war veterans occupied the national congress's chamber and, in the absence of a police force to restore order, congress members were forced to undergo the indignity of meeting in a tent at a park. | The government has proved far from capable of dealing with Libya's many problems. This month the country's top politicians found they do not even control the building where it sits: a group of disabled war veterans occupied the national congress's chamber and, in the absence of a police force to restore order, congress members were forced to undergo the indignity of meeting in a tent at a park. |
| With popular discontent growing, the government cancelled official commemorations for the 17 February revolution, fearing they would morph into protests, and the prime minister, Ali Zaidan, appealed for calm. | With popular discontent growing, the government cancelled official commemorations for the 17 February revolution, fearing they would morph into protests, and the prime minister, Ali Zaidan, appealed for calm. |
| Most of Tripoli's foreign expatriate workers, meanwhile, took the hint and caught flights out of the country, leaving business at a standstill. | Most of Tripoli's foreign expatriate workers, meanwhile, took the hint and caught flights out of the country, leaving business at a standstill. |
| One of the few areas of growth in a moribund economy is the sale of stun guns, which has ballooned amid spiralling fear of violence. | One of the few areas of growth in a moribund economy is the sale of stun guns, which has ballooned amid spiralling fear of violence. |
| "We have eight models, everybody wants them," said salesman Eamon Delor, displaying a baton-shaped black stun gun costing 63 dinars (£32) in his shop by the entrance to Tripoli's walled Old City. "Since the revolution, things have gone backwards. The streets are not safe, nobody wants to be out after dark. You can get some young militia guy giving you problems, and he's got a gun, so there's nothing you can do." | "We have eight models, everybody wants them," said salesman Eamon Delor, displaying a baton-shaped black stun gun costing 63 dinars (£32) in his shop by the entrance to Tripoli's walled Old City. "Since the revolution, things have gone backwards. The streets are not safe, nobody wants to be out after dark. You can get some young militia guy giving you problems, and he's got a gun, so there's nothing you can do." |
| Libya's hopes of a bonanza of foreign investment have also been dashed, with outsiders put off by laws prohibiting foreign investors from controlling their own company. "Foreign investors are pushing the pause button," said John Brooke, in the Tripoli office of the law firm Clyde and Co. "Why would someone invest their time, money and skill in somewhere where they have a minority stake?" | Libya's hopes of a bonanza of foreign investment have also been dashed, with outsiders put off by laws prohibiting foreign investors from controlling their own company. "Foreign investors are pushing the pause button," said John Brooke, in the Tripoli office of the law firm Clyde and Co. "Why would someone invest their time, money and skill in somewhere where they have a minority stake?" |
| This month parliament pushed the "pause button" on reform itself, deciding not to risk the controversy of crafting the constitution it was elected to supervise, and calling fresh elections for a special commission instead. The move adds at least a year to the original reform timetable, fuelling fears that a country already fragmenting into city-states will become ungovernable. | This month parliament pushed the "pause button" on reform itself, deciding not to risk the controversy of crafting the constitution it was elected to supervise, and calling fresh elections for a special commission instead. The move adds at least a year to the original reform timetable, fuelling fears that a country already fragmenting into city-states will become ungovernable. |
| In his office in the national congress building press officer Omaro Azouz, who two years ago risked his life to send out the first images of revolution in the streets of Benghazi, puts a brave face on things. "There is a lot to be done," he says, insisting reform will go to plan, if not to timetable. "We are different from the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. They had to dismantle a system, but with Libya it is the failure of a system – we have to build a new one." | |
| In Tripoli the contradictory attitude to this weekend's anniversary is clear: by night nervous militias control every junction and the streets are empty, but by day they are a riot of colour, festooned with flags, bunting and banners proclaiming free Libya. | |
| Cab driver Ishmail Shebani has two flags on his taxi, the Libyan tricolour fluttering alongside the blue and yellow of the Amazigh, a Berber people in the western mountains who endured persecution under Gaddafi. The revolution, he says, means he can give Amazigh names to his children, something banned under Gaddafi. | Cab driver Ishmail Shebani has two flags on his taxi, the Libyan tricolour fluttering alongside the blue and yellow of the Amazigh, a Berber people in the western mountains who endured persecution under Gaddafi. The revolution, he says, means he can give Amazigh names to his children, something banned under Gaddafi. |
| "I'll tell you why it's better now," he said. "I get Gaddafi guys in my cab complaining that they lost the revolution, and they don't mind being open about it. But if Gaddafi had won, the rebels would be too scared to complain out loud." | "I'll tell you why it's better now," he said. "I get Gaddafi guys in my cab complaining that they lost the revolution, and they don't mind being open about it. But if Gaddafi had won, the rebels would be too scared to complain out loud." |