From February 14th to February 18th, the borders that Libya shares with Tunisia and Egypt were closed to help prevent violence on the second anniversary of the start of the Libyan Revolution. There were calls for protests to be held nationwide, and citizens were arming themselves to protect their neighborhoods in case of any violence.
Ever since the reopening of the borders, locals on the Egyptian border have been blockading the border. Libya has announced that there have been no changes to the visa requirements needed to cross the border. Egyptians living on the border used to be able to cross without them, but this has been stopped.
Protesters on the Egyptian side of the border burning tyres (tires), and traffic is still being blocked in both directions. Negotiators have been sent in to talk with the protesters.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201302230126.html
http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/02/22/mounting-traffic-chaos-on-egyptian-border/
From what I have read, the issue that the civilians in Libya have is that there has not been an adequate push for reform by the new government, and that some people even want to have a second revolution in Libya. They want change to happen, and they have decided to make it an international issue in the hopes of finally getting the reforms that they want. I think Libya has more hopes of making these reforms happen because of their working relationships with Europe (mainly France), but I'm not really sure where I think this one is heading yet.
From what I have seen, nobody can really tell where Libya is headed. The largely-championed revolution has led only to disorder and a questionable future. Furthermore, as Libyans have alienated foreign actors - as in the Benghazi event - the potential for any international involvement and assistance in pushing reforms remains bleak in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree with your statements on Libya. I definitely believe it will be difficult and highly doubtful that any successful reforms will occur in Libya, that is at least in the near future. The idea that they have attempted to make it an international issue also seems doubtful since I don't believe that it is viewed as a high priority at the moment.
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