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| Africa North |
| Gadhafi Handing Out Cash to the People |
| 2011-02-28 |
| What we found was normal traffic in the streets, people walking, or at cafes and restaurants. At just about every bank we saw, there were long lines of men and women waiting for the cash handouts that Col. Moammar Gadhafi had just announced. The leader was giving each family the equivalent of As we walked up with our cameras to talk to them, many burst into pro-Gadhafi chants once they realized we were journalists. They were friendly, although some complained to the government minder with us that they had been waiting in line for hours and still had not received their handouts. There were also lines at local bakeries. One woman we talked to at the Square today repeated the charge that anti-government protestors are taking hallucinogenic pills, and said she had been educated in America. She told us that Libyans are happy with Gadhafi as their leader, and that their country is a happy and peaceful one. She must be one of those taking the pills. Another English-speaking man told us that while "the tension is still so thick you could cut it with a knife," things had died down since this time last week, when, he acknowledged, the sound of gunfire could be heard in Tripoli. |
| Posted by:gorb |