Libya marks 1st anniversary of uprising

In Libya, celebrations continued into the early houors of Friday morning marking the one year anniversary of the start of the uprising that led to the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.

The parties got underway exactly 12 months after the first major demonstration erupted in the city of Benghazi. Residents let off firecrackers and honked their horns as they took to the streets.

On Thursday, thousands of people gathered outside the Benghazi courthouse.

“The revolution has met one of its main targets, liberating the country and toppling the autocratic regime,” said Ali al Tarhouni, Libya’s former finance minister. “But now we are entering new challenges as we rebuild the country,” added al Tarhouni, who was also minister of oil.

Months after Gaddafi was killed, as many as 7,000 of his loyalists remain locked up in prisons and makeshift detention centres. Human rights groups claimed widespread torture has taken place.

Several prisoners have died during the alleged abuse, it is claimed.

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