Frederic Wehrey - The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya

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FOR MY PARENTS

What fury , citizens, what anarchy of iron?

LUCAN , CIVIL WAR

Q ADHAFI F AMILY

M UAMMAR AL- Q ADHAFI ruler of Libya, 1969 to 2011.

S AIF AL- I SLAM AL- Q ADHAFI Western-educated second son of Muammar Qadhafi; captured in 2011.

K HAMIS AL- Q ADHAFI youngest son of Muammar Qadhafi; commander of an elite military unit; killed in 2011.

A MERICANS

B RIAN L INVILL U.S. military attach in Libya, 2008 to 2012.

J. C HRISTOPHER S TEVENS U.S. special envoy to the Libyan opposition, 2011; U.S. ambassador to Libya, 2012. Killed on September 11, 2012, during an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, along with three other Americans: Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty.

D EBORAH J ONES U.S. ambassador to Libya, 2013 to 2015.

G ENE C RETZ U.S. ambassador to Libya, 2008 to 2012.

U NITED N ATIONS

B ERNARDINO L E N head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), 2014 to 2015.

L IBYAN P OLITICIANS

M AHMUD J IBRIL U.S.-educated technocrat under Qadhafi; interim prime minister under the National Transitional Council; head of the National Forces Alliance political gathering.

A LI Z EIDAN prime minister of Libya, 2013 to 2014.

M USTAFA A BD AL- J ALIL former judge under Qadhafi; chairman of the National Transitional Council.

L IBYAN A CTIVISTS

S ALWA B UGAIGHIS human rights lawyer; murdered in Benghazi on June 25, 2014.

W AIL G HERIANI Salwas son.

I MAN B UGAIGHIS Salwas sister; professor of orthodontics; former spokesperson for the National Transitional Council.

L AILA B UGAIGHIS chief medical officer at the Benghazi Medical Center; Salwas cousin.

F ATHI T ERBIL lawyer representing the families of prisoners killed in the 1996 massacre at Abu Salim prison; his detention helps spark the 2011 uprising.

A BD AL- S ALAM AL- M ISMARI lawyer and activist; assassinated in 2013.

A BU B AKER H ABIB English school owner in Benghazi and confidant of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.

M ARYAM activist in Derna.

L IBYAN I SLAMISTS IN T RIPOLI

A BD AL- R AUF K ARA Salafist militia leader in Tripoli who heads the capitals de facto police and antiterrorism squad.

A BD AL- H AKIM B ELHAJ former leader in the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) turned businessman and politician.

M ISRATANS

S ALIM J OHA former army officer and revolutionary leader during the 2011 siege of Misrata.

A BD AL- R AHMAN AL- S UWAYHLI Misratan political leader; supporter of the Political Isolation Law and of Libya Dawn.

S ALAH B ADI hard-line militia leader in Misrata; a commander of the military forces attacking Tripoli during Libya Dawn.

Z INTANIS

U THMAN M LEQTA former caterer and head of a Zintani militia allied with Hiftar.

L IBYAN N ATIONAL A RMY AND O PERATION D IGNITY

K HALIFA H IFTAR former army officer under Qadhafi and dissident, residing in the United States. Returns to Libya in 2011 in an unsuccessful bid for military leadership of the anti-Qadhafi rebels. Launches Operation Dignity in Benghazi in 2014.

W ANIS B U K HAMADA commander of the Benghazi-based Thunderbolt Special Forces; joins Operation Dignity in 2014.

A BD AL- S ALAM AL- H ASI Special Forces general who serves as a longtime liaison to the Americans during and after the 2011 revolution.

I SSAM leader of a pro-Dignity militia in Benghazis Majuri neighborhood.

L IBYAN F EDERALISTS

I BRAHIM J ADHRAN federalist militia leader and head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard who blockades oil facilities in the Gulf of Sirt from 2013 to 2016.

A BU B AKR B AIRA U.S.-educated federalist politician.

L IBYAN I SLAMISTS IN B ENGHAZI AND THE E AST

W ISSAM BIN H AMID former car mechanic; head of the Benghazi Libya Shield One militia; later leads the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council against General Hiftars campaign.

F AWZI B U K ATIF U.S.-educated engineer; Muslim Brotherhood member. His February 17 Brigade militia was contracted to protect the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi.

M UHAMMAD AL- G HARABI Islamist and leader of the Rafallah al-Sahati Companies militia in Benghazi.

F ATHI AL- O BEIDI deputy to Wissam bin Hamid who assists the Americans during the 2012 attack in Benghazi.

T ARIQ Islamist militia fighter in the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council.

S ALIM D ARBI former jihadist and cofounder of the Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade in Derna; killed fighting the Islamic State.

A BD AL- H AKIM AL- H ASADI former jihadist and cofounder of the Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade.

L IBYAN J IHADISTS

A HMED A BU K HATTALA former mechanic and Abu Salim prisoner who leads a jihadist militia in Benghazi; key suspect in the 2012 Benghazi attack; apprehended by the Americans in 2014; tried and convicted in 2017.

M UHAMMAD AL- Z AHAWI leader of the jihadist Ansar al-Sharia militia; killed in 2015.

A HMED Libyan jihadist in Syria turned Islamic State fighter.

F ROM THE ROCKING BOAT, they could see the coast of Qaminis town. They were a few hours out of Benghazi when the motor died, somewhere on the eastern rim of the Gulf of Sidra. It was the onset of dusk. The crew set about repairs, while the dying and wounded waited. Now, in the moonless dark around them, they heard the boom and splash of artillery fired from the shore. And with each lurch and roll, Tariq felt an unbearable pain from his shattered femur.

He could hardly believe itd come to this. He was thirty-six years old and had been born into privilege in England, where his father had been a professor. Hed come back to Benghazi, studying law at the university and entering private practice. In 2011, he was among the first to revolt, joining a group of lawyers, doctors, and academics protesting at the citys courthouse. Then came the fighting against the dictator. Nostalgia had suffused those heady months with more unity than had actually existed among the rebels. But at least they shared a goal. In the years that followed, many of the protestors would be murdered or exiled. Those who remained would join the opposing sides of a war that ravaged the city of the revolutions birth.

It was nearly three years to the day after the dictators death when that war came to Tariqs home in Benghazi. He lived in a neighborhood called Tabalino, just north of the university, a well-to-do quarter of cubist villas, iron balustrades, and leafy streets. It was known for private schools and a reputable clinic, all since shuttered. The university was now the front line. One night, a militia made up of young men hed grown up with and gone to school with attacked Tariqs house. He fled into the desert with his wife and newborn. And then he returned to Benghazi to join the battle.