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| Africa North |
| Libyans in US allege coercion |
| 2011-02-19 |
| [Al Jazeera] In an apparent effort to control the public narrative in the wake of rare protests that have spread throughout Libya, the country's government is threatening to withdraw scholarship funding from citizens studying in the United States unless they attend pro-government rallies in Washington this weekend, Al Jizz has learned. Several Libyans studying in the US said they and their peers have received phone calls this week from a man employed by the Libyan embassy instructing them to join rallies in the capital on Friday and Saturday. The man told the students that their government-funded scholarships would be cut off if they did not attend. Ali Suleiman Aujali, the Libyan ambassador to the United States, denied the students' allegations. He told Al Jizz they were "completely incorrect" and an attempt to "blackmail" the government's reputation. The reports of coercion come as protesters in Libya mounted a "day of rage" on Thursday and continued their calls for the end of Muammar Qadaffy's 42-year reign as Libya's leader. At least 14 people are reported to have died as a result of unrest that began on Monday and has broken out in cities throughout the country, including Tripoli, the capital, and Benghazi, Libya's second-largest city, where most of the deaths have been reported. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Way, way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was in college, we had a lot of Iranian kids going to school on the shah. Other than going to classes, their main pastime was accusing each other of being SAVAK agents. If you really wanted to get a rise outta them, you'd ask them if they'd sent the shah his thank you card yet. You'd usually ask them that after they'd taken off their Lone Ranger masks after attending the latest "Death to The Shah!" rally. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2011-02-19 17:09 |
| #3 Let me see if I can get this right. The Libyan govt. is PAYING for their education. OK? Now the Libyan govt. wants something back for their perfectly good money the students have been taking with a smile? Alright so far? Yes. Libya has been paying for students' education overseas for decades. But you missed a few things. Like a price tag. Little things, like having to 'report in' to the local Libyan consulate regularly. And an even higher one price if one does not cooperate. Like finding out your scholarship is cancelled and your family disgraced. That is, if your family hasn't disowned you. I mean isnt that what relatives in power do for one another in Camelstan? Some, but not all of the students have "relatives in power". Some get the opportunity like any other student in any other country. But there's always a price tag. You scratch my kaffiyey and I scratch yours? Or you else you find out that dear old Dad has been demoted to third manager in a remote office where no one seems to be able to contact him. And Uncle Ali bin Kickback seems to be on a business trip and the family doesn't know where he is. Or you get picked up at the airport and find yourself in a labor battalion near the Chad border. Like I (or the Libyan students I knew way back when) said, there's always a price tag. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2011-02-19 16:52 |
| #2 The difference, Dribble, is that the USA is a democracy, and Libya isn't. Think about it. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-02-19 09:41 |
| #1 Let me see if I can get this right. The Libyan govt. is PAYING for their education. OK? Now the Libyan govt. wants something back for their perfectly good money the students have been taking with a smile? Alright so far? So let's turn it around a little...say its the US govt. paying for your education at the Sorbonne and they want you to turn out for a rally out of patriotism for your country in say Paris , France? Pick a cause....any cause. YOUR govt. needs you. So are you gonna help your govt. who has been helping YOU? After all, you wouldnt have that cushy scholarship except for Uncle Ali bin Kickback who works for the Ministry of Camels and sits on his tarboosh all day smoking a hookah anyway, right? And even your Dad does work for Ali bin Jeffe anyway and you were looking forward to getting in on the gravy train yourself, weren't you..(just like all your friends)? I mean isnt that what relatives in power do for one another in Camelstan? You scratch my kaffiyey and I scratch yours? Sign here. Your name IS Ali bin Freeloader, isn't it? Fine old Arab family. Or are you going to STAY in the United States after graduation.... and get a job driving a cab in Queens? |
| Posted by: Dribble2716 2011-02-19 08:21 |