Hundreds dig up former army headquarters in search of bodies as Gaddafi's control over country continues to slip
Martin Chulov in Benghazi
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 February 2011
"...The people of Benghazi came throughout the week to this godforsaken patch of earth in the back of the city's ransacked military base, convinced they were closing in on a scene of unimaginable horror. Fleeing soldiers buried dozens of people in underground vaults in the hours before they fled the city on Sunday.
After a walk through the two nearby dungeons that were used to house political dissidents and regime enemies, it's not hard to see what fuels the bystanders' paranoia. "Anyone who upset him either ended up dead on his own doorstep, or in one of these holes," said Hussein Abbas, pointing to one of the two giant mounds atop the underground cells. "We have to get these people out."....
Throughout this giant base, the damage is immense and the celebration is continuing. At least 5,000 soldiers and officers were based here until Sunday, when they were ousted by thousands of people who came at them with bulldozers, TNT and Molotov cocktails. Everything has been ransacked. The blackened barracks still smoulder. It seems to be the only place in town where the victory gunfire that still peppers Benghazi's night sky seems appropriate.
"This camp was the darkest fear of all of Benghazi," said one man, Nouri Kaskas. "Everybody had a relative somewhere who was in one of these holes."
"It is an unbelievable feeling to be standing here," said Assaad Mari, 25. "For 42 years nobody could get close to this place."
In the capital there were widespread reports that the Mizgati air force base, which has been a cornerstone of Gaddafi's four-decade grip on power, had met the same fate. Several senior officers took to opposition radio stations to announce that the base had fallen, a potential death knell to the dictator's ailing regime....."
Martin Chulov in Benghazi
guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 February 2011
"...The people of Benghazi came throughout the week to this godforsaken patch of earth in the back of the city's ransacked military base, convinced they were closing in on a scene of unimaginable horror. Fleeing soldiers buried dozens of people in underground vaults in the hours before they fled the city on Sunday.
After a walk through the two nearby dungeons that were used to house political dissidents and regime enemies, it's not hard to see what fuels the bystanders' paranoia. "Anyone who upset him either ended up dead on his own doorstep, or in one of these holes," said Hussein Abbas, pointing to one of the two giant mounds atop the underground cells. "We have to get these people out."....
Throughout this giant base, the damage is immense and the celebration is continuing. At least 5,000 soldiers and officers were based here until Sunday, when they were ousted by thousands of people who came at them with bulldozers, TNT and Molotov cocktails. Everything has been ransacked. The blackened barracks still smoulder. It seems to be the only place in town where the victory gunfire that still peppers Benghazi's night sky seems appropriate.
"This camp was the darkest fear of all of Benghazi," said one man, Nouri Kaskas. "Everybody had a relative somewhere who was in one of these holes."
"It is an unbelievable feeling to be standing here," said Assaad Mari, 25. "For 42 years nobody could get close to this place."
In the capital there were widespread reports that the Mizgati air force base, which has been a cornerstone of Gaddafi's four-decade grip on power, had met the same fate. Several senior officers took to opposition radio stations to announce that the base had fallen, a potential death knell to the dictator's ailing regime....."
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