An all-round war between Tripoli, Benghazi

Xinhua, May 22, 2011

Scrambling for domestic, international recognition

Gaddafi's government and the opposition are also fighting against each other on winning legitimacy by scrambling for domestic and international support.

The Libyan government is now facing more challenges now. Although most of countries still view the government in Tripoli the legitimate representative of Libyan people, the Libyan government has received only one diplomatic delegation after being sanctioned by the UN Security Council Resolution 1970 and 1973, which was from Yemen.

Gaddafi and his family members have now also been sanctioned. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday issued warranties for Gaddafi, his son Islam and his brother-in- law Senussi, for "war crimes and crimes against humanity." Libyan government expressed regret over ICC's decision, saying that the ICC has reached incoherent conclusions based on media report.

To date only several countries have recognized the NTC as sole legitimate representative of Libyan people, including France, Italy, Qatar, Gambia, etc., but Ghoga told Xinhua in an earlier interview that it is just a legal issue.

The Arab League declared that the Gaddafi's government had "lost its legitimacy". In addition, the European Union will open an office in Benghazi. Major opposition leaders, Mustafa Abdul Jalil and Mahmoud Jebril, have recently visited Britain and America respectively.

"These countries (organizations) are de facto supporters of us," said Ghoga.

The two sides are also trying to win people's support with different methods. The Libyan government made "patriotic songs" praising Gaddafi's contributions to the country. The Libyan government is also making a big fuss about the civilians' casualties by NATO's airstrikes.

In Benghazi, the opposition, and most of the people are taking advantage of all ways, graffiti, media, etc., to uglify Gaddafi and his government. The opposition has recently won a major battle in media war -- the Arab League banned Libyan state TV from all Arab-own satellites.

The opposition last week have called for a local councils' meeting attended by representatives from different cities, especially from the Gaddafi's controlled west part of the country. Representatives expressed their support to the opposition, denouncing the tribal representatives' meeting earlier this month in Tripoli as "purely fabricated."