Nafusa Mountains resist Kadhafi

An opposition leader from Libya's western mountains tells Magharebia how revolutionaries are holding out.

Interview by Asmaa Elourfi for Magharebia in Benghazi – 29/07/11

Libya's Nafusa Mountains were long neglected by Moamer Kadhafi's regime. Home to a large Amazigh population, they were among the first to rise up after the February 17th revolution. To learn more about how the mountain communities are faring in the months-long war, Magharebia spoke to Nalut native Issa al-Nalouti.

He read the town's oath that renounced Kadhafi's control and pledged support to the Transitional National Council. Al-Nalouti eventually escaped the mountains through the Wazen-Dhiba border crossing with Tunisia and then boarded a plane to Benghazi, where he sat down with Magharebia to explain the situation.

Magharebia: What are the conditions in Nalut?

Issa Al-Nalouti: As far as the geography of Nalut is concerned, it is located on the mountain. Kadhafi's battalions are stationed at the mountain foothill. The roads leading to Nalut are under the revolutionaries' control. However, the battalions that came from Tripoli are based at the areas of Tiji and Badr, and most of Jafara plain is also under the control of Kadhafi's battalions.

As to the areas over the mountain, they are all under revolutionaries' control. Nalut has a population of 25,000 people. The city joined the revolution on February 19th through the young people of the area who actually played an effective role. They set fire to the revolutionary committee headquarters and other facilities that were symbols of the former regime. There was no resistance on the part of the internal or external security units. After that, daily marches started to be organized in the city calling for the removal of regime.

Magharebia: When was the independence flag first raised in Nalut? Al-Nalouti: It appeared with the uprising of the revolutionaries and with the formation of a local caretaker council in Nalut. This was a spontaneous move that took place without any contacts with liberated cities. Such a council consists of some committees, such as subsistence committee, health committee and a military committee, etc. Magharebia: What were the confrontations with Kadhafi's forces like?

Al-Nalouti: In fact, the confrontations took place outside the city, at the Wazen crossing, at the area of al-Ghazaya and Nalut crossroad. These were the locations where there were clashes. There was another clash over the mountain at the area of al-Majabra. All of these confrontations are documented by dates and military communiqués listing the details of numbers of wounded people and martyrs, revolutionaries' seizure of weapons, and the number of prisoners of war.

In addition, the city of Nalut was not spared the threat of mercenaries, but we arrested them, and they included an al-Qaeda member. That person came from Tunisia, and he came along with a group from Algeria. They were arrested in the Tunisian-Libyan border at an area called Makrif. The Tunisian army arrested two of them, while a third fled to Libyan soil, and precisely to the city of Nalut as the nearest area. He came to the local council. We conducted investigations with him, and he told us that he was Libyan from the city of Derna, but was living in Algeria. He just came to us, and he was afraid of the battalions and of the Tunisian army. God only knows the truth about him. He is a young man, with his age ranging between 20 and 22. Through our investigations with him, we knew that al-Qaeda wanted to enter Libya. It seems that there has been some sort of co-ordination between that young man and the battalions. He claims to be afraid of the battalions. They are now detained at a prison in Nalut.

As to the mercenaries, some of them are alive. We ascertained that they were mercenaries through the documents they had on them. They came from Mali, Niger and some other African countries which I'm not sure of. I'm sure that they are Africans and they don't speak Arabic.

Magharebia: How much damage was caused by Kadhafi's forces in Nalut?

Al-Nalouti: There is a lot of damage. The battalions are still shelling cities in the Nafusa Mountains up till now. It's arbitrary shelling, but thanks to God, the city has a strategic location and this was the fact that protected us from the battalions. The city of Nalut is located above the mountain and the valley surrounds it from three sides. The battalions are stationed beneath the valley, especially from the northern side at the direction of Tripoli. The shells that are fired from a distance by Kadhafi's battalions reach but fall in the valley.

Magharebia: How did the families of Nalut get to the Wazen crossing with Tunisia?

Al-Nalouti: The families went out in two stages. In the first stage, families moved from the areas of Yafran, Rajban, al-Qala and Zintan to Nalut because Nalut was not initially bombarded. Then the second stage came when they moved to Dhiba in Tunisia. Kadhafi's battalions started to shell Nalut. Fearing for the safety of our women and families, we moved them to Tunisia before the arrival of battalions. We set up camps at the border, such as Dhiba, Armada and Tataouine. God bless the Tunisians who did all they could with us. Meanwhile, there are a small number of families in Nalut who didn't leave and preferred to stay.

Magharebia: How well armed are the Nalut and Nafusa Mountain revolutionaries?

Al-Nalouti: As far as revolutionaries' weapons are concerned, they have very simple weapons with which they use to defend themselves. The violent clashes took place at Wazen crossing because it is the only crossing that was getting us food supplies and medicines from Tunisia to the people in the Nafusa Mountains. That crossing was under the control of battalions, but the revolutionaries were able to seize control of it following violent clashes. It is not in the interest of Kadhafi's battalions to have that crossing under revolutionaries' control because it is the artery through which all supplies are now entering to all areas of the Nafusa Mountains.

Magharebia: What was the situation in Nalut before you came to Benghazi?

Al-Nalouti: There is little movement on the streets in Nalut because people just left. The shops are closed. Some houses were destroyed, and major sections of the mosques that were shelled were destroyed. There are 25 martyrs in the city, and even more wounded.

Source: Magharebia.
Link: http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/07/29/feature-02.