Tripoli stories

In case you missed them or are curious, here are a few stories we did in Libya.

Libya part 2

I suppose I do have a unique job. Just last March I left Benghazi under the cover of darkness and headed for the safety of the Egyptian Libyan border. I'm now making my way back to Tunisia then on to Beijing having spent the last week and and bit in Tripoli. My how things have changed. The majority of people in Libya are now free to speak openly about the oppression that they have faced over the last 42 years. In March, when things could have go either way people were hesitate to give us their full names. Now people are over joyed that they can speak their opinion, give there name, and not face the torture at the hands of a truly bizarre character.

While in the Gaddafi compound that was heavy damaged and looted, many people were busy trying to salvage anything they could. Some just wanted to see inside. It was truly a pleasure to see people literally jumping for joy at the departure of a Tyrant. It was also heartbreaking to see the spot where more than a hundred bodies were discovered burned and locked in a shed. A few escaped, but most didn't and were burned beyond recognition. Truly the act of cowards and mad men. I guess they believe that the dead tell no tells. I guess we will have to wait and see. Even after the bodies had been removed, the smell is something that lingers. Not something I will soon forget.

What's next for Libya now is the hard part. Putting down the guns, putting aside differences and shaping Libya into what could be a leading African country. What ever happens to Gaddafi now will be anti climatic. He may go down fighting, be captured alive, take his own life, who knows? Many Libyans I have meet would like to see him placed in a cage and put on display. Left to bake or rot in the sun down by the port, or hung from Green Square. Most want to see him humiliated as he has humiliated them for the last 42 years. Death they say would be to easy for him.

Of the 50.000 deaths that are spoken of by CNN and others, most Libyans say that is the tax, the price they have to pay for freedom. It's a heavy price. Something I don't think most Canadians could ever get there head around. One gentleman I meet put it this way. "We use to be embarrassed to say we are from Libya, but now I'm proud to call myself Libyan. We may not have much, no food, no water, no money, but now we are free."

update

Just heading out for my holidays, three weeks back home with my wife, my dog and my parents, (my dad turns 80 at the end of July). Jas and I have been busy post hernia operation with a quick overnight to Shanghai via highspeed train. The Chinese are building more and more highspeed in an effort to a) connect the country, b) continue infrastructure programs to stave of inflation and keep economic growth, and c) to prove they can. They are bidding on the California highspeed rail project amongst others. Unfortunately it has encountered a few problems. Namely the Minister in charge being removed over corruption and embezzlement allegations. Oh and the train has been running at 300 kph instead of 350 kph due to safety concerns. It doesn't seem to faze most people here. They also have had more than a dozen stoppages over power issues. I guess safety be dammed. Our trip wasn't stalled, and if was not a bad way to get from Beijing to Shanghai. Comfortable and roomy.

It looks like my chapter here is closing. I informed the company in the winter that I preferred not to renew my contract and there is hope that I will have a job in Ottawa come this fall. There is no time frame as of yet, so I return to Beijing mid August and wait to here when to move home.

Other than that, not much new here. The weather is warm, many, many hot, humid, ugly days here filled with pollution. Interrupted by 2 or 3 days in a row of nice blue sky sunny warm days.

Anyways some of you I may see in the coming weeks, others I will see you this fall.

Cheers

Barry

Hernia with gangrene

So what's new? A little trip down to Hong Kong for some shoots; a story about Hong Kong wine, shark fin soup ban, and finished one on real estate. Made for a nice break from Beijing, Early June found us late, but heading down to Henan and Hubei with stories about water diversion. It was to be about the drought, but it took us so long to get down there the areas we where near had finally received rain.

The fun started when I got back from Yichang and the 3 gorges dam. I've had a hernia for a while, but it hadn't affected me much until last week. So upon returning to Beijing I swung by a clinic to see what was up. They were certain that I had strangulated it and there was significant portion protruding. It was recommend that I get surgery soon, and they sent me to a specialist here in Beijing to get clearance to fly home.

No clearance was given, and I was under the knife in a few hours. Turns out that the protruding bit had already died and was full on gangrene. By 9pm I was out of surgery and was able to talk to Maggi who was more than a little concerned.

Seems though that other than the cost, everything seems to be working out fine. The price of health care, about $20,000.

Will leave you with a couple stories from the Hong Kong trip.

I write this sitting in very nice hotel in Cairo Egypt. I’m a long way from Jan 31 of this year when I first departed for Cairo, and many thousands of Kilometers. The departure of Mubarik on the 17th of February seems like years ago. Yesterday Egyptian exercises the right to vote, (on constitutional amendments) for the first time in over 40 years. The headline in the Egyptian Gazette says it all, “A taste of democracy”. I giant step in the right direction, all be it down a long road. For other countries that road is even longer.

After heading back to Beijing I was looking forward to a little relaxation as the hours we put in where long and had some challenges that seemed to make some days last for a week. How wrong I was. Sometime between 11 pm and 1 am on the 24th/25th, of February I received an email asking me to call Vancouver, also know as “the desk”. There are some other names used, but I won’t bore you with our adolescent attempts at humour that give other names for what amounts to our parents in a work environment.

So Saturday found me “packing light” for what was to be a three or four day trip to Bahrain. (Packing light was a little bit of mistake on my part, but when you are trying to get in on a tourist visa, a $85,000 of TV gear makes you a little conspicuous, however I do what I’m told most days.)

Why Bahrain? Why not? It is easy to get into, has some of its people demanding their human rights and an end to the long rule of a minority over a majority. Makes sense to me. Ok maybe not easy to get to. I flew overnight in a very small seat Air China middle seat from Beijing to Deli. Where I spent four hours trying to get a boarding pass for the trip to Bahrain. Eventually made the flight, once again crammed into the middle and arrived along with Tom Popyk in Bahrain, happy that that fourteen hour adventure was over and ready to work. Ok, I was exhausted and ready for a shower.

Tom and I spent two days around Bahrain’s now well known Pearl Roundabout. It became the focal point of the protesters. Many were eager to show us the bullet holes in lampposts and creators in the concrete. I hunt; I’ve seen bullet holes, those we not just rubber bullets. There was the usual festive atmosphere at Pearl Roundabout; volunteers handing out food and drink, medical aid for those that need it, even a protesters media centre. Protestors are getting pretty media savvy these days.

The protests that started in Tunisia with the self-immolation of a fruit seller have sparked (sorry about the pun, I couldn’t pass on it) a movement that has spread all over North Africa and the Middle East. Off the top of my head: Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Morocco, Bahrain, Syria, and Iran just to name a few. People wanting their human rights a chance at a future. All simple, fundamental rights that you and I have. (Although the voter turn out in Canada is shamefully low and those that don’t vote should be fined and spend a couple of days with someone from a country where they don’t have a right to vote.)

Where was I? Right Bahrain. So on the Tuesday we head for Cairo where we try and avoid having our gear seized. (They may have booted Mubarik, but aren’t foreign media friendly at customs just yet.) At this point we are trying to figure out whether to go to Tunis, or the Egyptian side. You saw the humanitarian crisis from the Tunisian side. Egypt was similar. Eventually a crew went to Malta then to Tunisia after Tom and I headed for the Libya Egyptian border.

We crossed illegally in to Libya as Qaddafi labeled us as Al Qaida collaborators. Funny, I didn’t see anything in the way of Al Qaida the entire time I was in Libya. What I saw were people who were looking for their freedom. Freedom from a tyrant. freedom to choose, freedom to make there own opportunities, to have a chance to marry, to raise a family, to find a job.

It started well. The rebels had taken control of several cities and were euphoric in their achievements. But the Col. wasn’t going to give up that easy. As he pushed back and the situation changed it was clear to me at least that without the help of the outside world, it wouldn’t end well.

My question is this. If the Arab world resents the Western worlds intervention, why is it that the Arab League isn’t leading this? I understand the West’s caution, as you don’t want to come to a party unless you are invited. I think the Arab League needs to take a front and centre roll in this if they want to be taken seriously and not just written off as an organization that will give a stern lecture but take no action. (Sounds like the UN.) (Actually I think this also applies to China. Want to be considered a world super power. Act like one. Ignore the foreign press. Let them do their jobs. Very few listen to us anyways. And quit suppressing your people too! But I digress China is for another time.)

Once we decide that we couldn’t move the story forward much without some serious safety concerns (CBC and us were moving as a group going in and out of Libya,) we moved back to Cairo. We left under the cover of darkness. Fitting as we all felt that we were abandoning a story, and the people.

I find in interesting that Bahrain has removed the Pearl from the Pearl Roundabout. I watched it from the hotel. I guess they think that removing a symbol will remove the will of the people. Reports say there are over 40 dead in Bahrain, and it took the House of Saud to roll in and get things under control by killing unarmed protests.

The people I have met over the last 7 going on 8 weeks have left an impression on me.. They want the same things, not material things, the same chance that other 10% or less of the world has. They are willing to die for it. Would we have that resolve if the rolls were reversed? Nice of the UN to finally act on Libya, at least there is a chance now.

My apology as this has rambled on to long and in many directions. I leave you with a photo of a dog that I took in Egypt on the way back to Cairo. Other than seeing my friends safely out of Libya, the few calls home its one of the few things to make me smile in the last few weeks.

The people

I can’t help but be moved by the people we encounter here. Their passion for change, their desire to break the cycle that they have been trapped in for 42 years is incalculable. It simple defies measurement. Ebrahim we met at the edge of Ras Lanuf. He’s 26 and wants Gaddafi gone. Under educated, unemployed, and unmarried, he speaks of trying to learn English so he can leave what he calls “this shit country”. He loves his country but cannot stand the Regime anymore. He wants change or death. He explains he was beaten while he was detained 3 weeks for speaking out about Gaddafi. He wants the freedom to speak his mind.

On 18year old Bushra, she is seeking answers to her uncles Mohammad’s death in Dec 1992. She now feels empowered to speak and have her voice heard.

Powerful voices, but will they be heard or will the sounds of gunfire drowned out there voice and will they be silenced once again? Force to live under a megalomaniac who has played most world leads for years in the interest of money and or oil. I guess we will wait and see.

Benghazi and Agedabia Libya

Seems that the will and resolve of the people have outlasted the will of the military to follow their former leader and end this demonstration with violence and weaponry. I will confess to not being an expert in Middle East politics as my assignment is Asia. (Not that I’m an expert in Asia, just happen to cover it for two years so I at least have the experience of the culture and understanding of working in area.)

The peoples voice was finally heard, and the unwillingness of a military to fire on its people is what ended this. This of course is just my opinion, limited as it were. There is something infectious about the joy and utter euphoria of the people as witnessed on the night of Feb 11. The tears for the people that gave their lives in the violence, the tears for the great expatiations that the people have for their freedoms all of these are things that make one pause and thing about what we in North America have. The freedom to criticize, to speak out and to vote, these are the simple things that we take for granted and these are the things that the Egyptian people want. I just hope that they aren’t left disappointed by the change. The Vice President is from the same stripe as the outgoing regime. Will the emergency rule end? Will the SSI end its imprisonment and torture of its own people? I don’t know. The other thing I wonder is where did the thugs disappear too? The Pro Mubarak demonstrators vanished as quickly as they appeared. There are many questions that need answers, but unfortunately we the media will be long gone when they start to be asked. I just hope the people in the square, the ones who welcomed us and thanked us for coming and showing the world what we could of Egypt aren’t disappointed and are able to achieve the things that we have.

Cairo-Friday

After the fun of Wednesday Jas and I kept pretty close to the hotel on Thursday. He didn’t sleep much do to all the shooting going on Wednesday night and Thursday morning. I did sleep well. Not sure why, but did.

Friday things had calmed down a bit and the rock throwing had abated, so it was time to venture out again. The hotel was taking camera as people were coming back in and also wasn’t in the mood for another confrontation so went armed with an iphone.

Just outside the hotel we headed right, towards the back of the square. We where turned around by military, so then we headed left. Well that didn’t work either. We were stopped and taken over to two officers, we were quickly joined by two more people in plain cloths. They asked to see our passports and cell phones. “What are you doing? Where are you going?” We said that we where tourists, stuck in the hotel and wanted to get some water a food. I doubt they bought it. They looked at our cameras and we had to delete every photo and video on the spot going back to my last picture of China. Once satisfied, they then said we can’t go anywhere and said to return to the hotel.

We walked the 100 meters or so back, turned the corner and bumped in to a CNN crew who live here. A little discussion and trade of information took place, as we are all one big family in this kind of thing. They went there way and we went ours. Our decision was to try a cab and see if we could get out of our secure area. A little to secure for my liking. Three more passport inspections and 150 Turkish Pounds and we were final able to get near the square. By the way, the distance was about 500 meters.

As soon as we where in the crowd the sense of safety returned. The Anti Government protesters welcome us and we feel secure that we can engage in doing our job and talk to people openly and frankly. We gathered material on both phones, and after a couple of hours we though it wise to start heading back to the hotel. Military check points that we had attempted to cross seemed like wrong way to go so we got a cab and headed toward the back of the hotel in a round about way. Over the river, South, a few hundred meters then back over the river behind the hotel. This is where things went a little nutty.

As we crossed the bridge, traffic slowed and we were being check out by club welding kids. Through the yelling we deciphered that they wanted to know who we were and what we were doing in their country. Clearly they were edgy and fired up. They checked the trunk and some guy jumped in and we drove down under the bridge and were surrounded by more people who gave off the appearance of being less than friendly and very unwelcoming. We stopped at a barricade and were escorted through some yelling to the police. Once on the inside of the barricade I was physically patted down by a gentlemen in his 40’s who was obviously allowed to be there but wouldn’t tell me what his authority was. My guess would be plain clothed police. After a short walk we were passed to a different set off military officer who spoke some French and English.

They inspected our passports and asked us where we were going. We explained again that we were trying to get to the Hotel, which he could see was about 600 meters away. We left out the part about being journalist, but did thank him for getting us way from the mob. He returned our passports after several questions and said to go ahead. We thanked him and off we went, glad we wouldn’t be going back through the less than welcoming crowd.

Not 70 meters away we went to squeeze by the tanks when again we were stopped by military and asked for our passports. We produced them and pointed at the officer who had granted us permission to pass. This guy didn’t seem to care and said that we could go any further and needed to go back and turn right and try our luck with the crowd. This was less than appealing and we continued to try and negotiate our way passed. Explaining that we had concerns for our safety if we went back the way we came was met with a shrug. As time passed and Jas and I agreed that going anywhere near that crowd was not going to end well, we returned to the Officer who gave us permission to pass and he asked why we had returned? While explaining the situation Jas spotted more foreign people coming through the crowd. Turns out it was CBC’s Glen Kugelstadt (former Beijing bureau camera for CBC and friend) reporter Nahlah Ayed, Margaret Evans and there producer and local hire. They too had just had an encounter that was less then pleasant and were now concerned about how to safely get to the Hilton.

Thanks to Nahlah, their producer and fixer and some endless minutes of discussion, we where finally escorted past the troublesome military checkpoint and given passage to our hotel. Seems that they were two different militaries and both had different ideas of what would be our best direction. One way was along the river straight to the hotel with the military spaced about every 100 yards, the other was back through Pro Mubarak supporters with clubs and bats. I’m glad we were finally allowed option 2.

Cairo

Jas and I arrived in Cairo on Tuesday noon and got out on the streets around 3:30. Had little trouble navigating civilian checkpoints of the anti-Mubarak groups. The mood in the square was up beat and almost festive with people overjoyed with the ability to have the freedom to express them selves. Many families and youth out and chanting their message. We gathered our material, using a digital still camera actually, and returned to the hotel once again without much hassle. We filled our story and felt pretty good about the day, considering it started Monday morning at 8 am in Beijing and ended Tuesday morning around 2 am Cairo time.

Feb 2 we headed out to gather material around 11 am and within 20 meters of the hotel found Pro Mubarak protesters heading towards state TV. Just as passionate as the anti Mubarak protesters but as the crowd built you could sense the less than friendly attitude. After 2 hours or so we were heading away to try and get some pictures to contrast the demonstration but keep getting told to shoot what was going on around us. They seemed to think that we hadn’t covered their demo.

Jas and I hopped in a cab and headed back towards the airport and found some areas that seemed quiet and I got out to take a couple shots around a busy bank machine. Quickly started to get the impression I wasn’t welcome so left. As I was getting in the car I was getting a street shot and as the frame ended a cab pulled up with a Mubarak photo and flags flying.

I bailed and hopped in the cab off we went. A mile or two up the road we found a shop selling fresh juice and another convenience store with some others closed. The kind of shots we were looking for. Was getting the picts when I heard a car roll up behind me and I headed for the cab. Was confronted by about 5 guys yelling at me to shoot pictures of there car and Mubarak signs. Did as asked and then jumped in the car and locked the doors with Jas yelling to the driver to go. We were block in from behind and within seconds blocked in from the front by another car. At this point there was more than a dozen people around us, pounding at the vehicle and asking us who we were. We attempted to talk to the ones that were calmer and told them we were Canadian. They wanted and insisted we wait. They tried to check our passports but we wouldn’t hand them over, just showed them. The pounding and anger continued for about 20 more minutes and finally police arrived. An officer eventually got in the cab with us and got us out of there, we thanked him but then we headed down back streets and he wouldn’t tell us where we were headed. We reached a dead end and he wanted us to come with him so he could “check our documents” we refused, suggested that he take a photo of our passports as we would get stuck because of the looming curfew. We wouldn’t get out of the car and he finally gave in. Told us to cover the camera and get directly to the hotel. We did, and after some backed up traffic, several back streets, emerged close to the hotel and final felt that we were safe.

That, was Wednesday, a big contrast from Tuesday. Later that afternoon and night the protesters from both sides clashed in the rock throwing assaults that were seen around the world. The gunfire and petrol bombs continued until the early hours as witnessed by Jas and Dan Hodgson. Luckily I have a back facing room and slept pretty well.

If you look at the video, you will notice, it was the same cab in the first picture of the street that rolled up behind me down the road. To me it looks like these were Pro Mobarak thugs out to target the media and turn them over to police.

Video runs a little long, and the shot isn't great but hey, didn't get thumped and I call that a win.

Photos

Jan 5th things got back to as normal as they get for me here. Jas arrived from Vancouver. We started to plan out what stories where achievable and put in his paperwork so he could begin working as a journalist here. Without you press card, you aren’t allowed to work.

Starbucks is here with over 400 stores and is now going to start growing coffee in Yunnan. Yunnan is known for tea and rice terraces, so it seemed like as good a place as any and we headed out on Tuesday the 18th and flew to Kunming, then to Pu Er. Nescafe is already working in the region so we went to their collection centre to get some pictures and meet some farmers.
It is small farming operations mostly and allows them to grow a second crop to the tea. As the quality increases so does the price and the farmers seem to be pretty happy with the increase of income. We then headed out to the coffee growing hills and shot a stand up for the story.

Next day was a very interesting 10 hour ride over the mountains from Pu Er to the UNESCO Rice Terraces in the twin cities of Nansha and Xinjie we stayed in Nansha, the new city. Luckily we found a man working his terraced field on the drive and where able to get some good pictures and an on camera for a story on rice and one on food security. We where to late to shoot on the Thursday when we finally arrived in Nansha, so headed up in the fog on Friday. After waiting a long time for the fog to lift we decided to try the other side of the mountain. As you can see from the photo’s it worked out well. It then took us about 6 hours to make it Kunming where we spent the night and flew home Saturday.
I think the photos speak volumes about the rugged beauty of the place. Both Fan Di, Jas and I worked on the photos.