IN the days after much of the coastal city of Derna, Libya, was washed away by devastating floods, Mahbuba Khalifa wrote a poem to honour her hometown, known by Libyans as the “City of Poets”. And then, “Libya, Libya,” they chanted. When the Arab Spring revolution came to Libya in February 2011, Derna was one of the first cities to join and came out strongly for the removal of Gaddafi. For a while, Derna remained the only city in eastern Libya that was not under the control of Khalifa Hifter, the renegade commander and former CIA asset. Each day brings news of more friends and family whom she has lost.

Source: Libya Today October 10, 2023 23:50 UTC