Libya Tawergha
AP-APTN-1830: Libya Tawergha
Sunday, 30 October 2011
STORY:Libya Tawergha- REPLAY Score-settling tarnishes image of revolutionary fighters
LENGTH: 02:40
FIRST RUN: 1430
RESTRICTIONS: AP Clients Only
TYPE: Arabic/Nat
SOURCE: AP TELEVISION
STORY NUMBER: 712352
DATELINE: Tawergha/Misrata - 28 Oct 2011
LENGTH: 02:40
AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
SHOTLIST:
Tawergha
1. Close up of road sign for Tawergha
2. Wide of empty street
3. Mid exterior of abandoned apartment complex
4. Burnt out cars in front of apartment complex
5. Interior of abandoned apartment, pan from flag on wall to clothes scattered on floor
6. Close up of identity document of person who fled Tawergha, zoom out to show empty apartment
7. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Naji Akhlaf, revolutionary fighter from Misrata:
"We came back here to check out whether the people of Tawergha came back to their houses or not, because frankly speaking we don't want them to return."
8. Close up of graffiti on wall reading: (Arabic) "We don't deserve to live on land that we don't defend"
9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Naji Akhlaf, revolutionary fighter from Misrata:
"There used to be no problems between us and the people from Tawergha, but they started the aggression, and came and marched on our homes. We just opened our houses to them and they lived among us and they had the chance to work in our town. We did the best we could for them but eventually they stood with Gadhafi against us. What did they get from Gadhafi?"
10. Wide exterior of medical clinic
11. Mid of medical clinic
12. Various interiors of clinic showing damage
Misrata
13. Wide of street showing apartment buildings where Tawergha residents once lived, now occupied by other displaced people
14. Mid of women on balcony outside apartment
15. Close up of window with someone holding a gun
16. Various of elderly woman outside apartment block with children
17. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Bashir Ahmed Ayeshi, Misrata resident:
"People from Tawergha and Misrata used to live together."
18. Children standing outside apartment block
19. Close up of small boy with plastic bottle
20. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Bashir Ahmed Ayeshi, Misrata resident:
"We know that they (Tawergha residents of Misrata) want to get back to their places, but we refuse that totally because of what they did to Misrata."
Tawergha
21. Wide exterior of looted shop
22. Wide exterior of another looted shop
23. Mid interior of shop, looking through broken window
STORYLINE:
As months of fighting in Libya draw to a close, the town of Tawergha stands abandoned and derelict.
Once loyal to former leader Moammar Gadhafi, Tawergha's 25-thousand residents have fled, fearing retribution from residents of neighbouring Misrata.
By their own admission, vengeful victors from Misrata have burned and ransacked homes, crossed out Tawergha's name on road signs, and vowed not to let anyone return.
The country's interim leaders have appealed for restraint, but seem unable to control revolutionary forces whose recent vigilante acts, including the suspected killing of Gadhafi while in custody, have begun to tarnish their heroic image abroad.
Failure to resolve such conflicts and bring regime supporters into the fold could destabilise Libya and hamper the attempted transition to democracy, officials have warned.
Outside abandoned apartment buildings in Tawergha, burnt out cars litter the road.
Inside the apartments, the personal possessions of people who fled are scattered on the floor.
A tour of Tawergha on Friday showed widespread vandalism.
The school, clinic, small shops and modern apartments had been ransacked.
Misratan Naji Akhlaf, who fought with the revolutionary forces, was visiting Tawergha on Friday to see if any locals had returned.
"Frankly speaking we don't want them to return," he said.
Akhlaf said in the past there were no problems between Tawergha and Misrata, which lie some 20 miles (32 kilometres) apart.
"But eventually they stood with Gadhafi against us" he said.
People in Misrata, which was heavily damaged during the war, are in no mood for reconciliation.
The port city of 300-thousand rose up early against Gadhafi and came under siege for several weeks by Gadhafi fighters, many of whom were from Tawergha which served as a staging ground for the loyalists.
During the siege, Gadhafi fighters sniped at residents from roof tops and shelled the city indiscriminately.
Nearly 1,300 Misrata residents were killed and thousands wounded in the fighting, city officials say.
Misrata officials have accused the Tawerghans, some of them descendants of African slaves, of particular brutality during the war, including alleged acts of rape and looting.
Most of Tawergha's residents fled as the Misrata brigades approached, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Human Rights Watch said in a report on Sunday that more than 100 civilians stayed in their homes, but that the militias quickly forced them out.
Tawerghans also lived in other parts of Libya, including in Misrata where a rundown apartment complex that once housed hundreds of them is to be razed.
City officials say the complex is also home to non-Tawerghans and is being torn down because it's unsanitary and unsafe.
Tawerghans have fled those apartments and their neighbours say they won't allow them back.
"We know that they want to get back to their places, but we refuse that totally because of what they did to Misrata," said resident Bashir Ahmed Ayeshi.
Aid officials believe it's unlikely the Tawergha, and the Mushashya from Zintan who face a similar conflict, will be able to return home anytime soon because emotions are still running high.
Libya's interim leader, Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, has called for restraint.
He has promised that those guilty of abuses during the war will eventually be punished by the authorities, though it's unclear how quickly a justice system could be set up.
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(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
AP-NY-10-30-11 1430EDT