It was quite a scene at the former Libyan ambassador’s residence in Northwest Washington, D.C. Friday afternoon, where a group of protestors raised the pre-Qaddafi era flag outside of the home of Ambassador Ali Aujali, who resigned his post earlier this week.
Aujali, who said he has not spoken to anyone in the Libyan government since he resigned his post, labeled the Qaddafi regime “criminal.” He said the Libyan people have been “killed like chickens” in a massacre.
“Our goal is freedom. Our goal is democracy. Our goal is dignity. Don’t listen to the propaganda of the regime media. They are lies,” Aujali told reporters.
“Libya is not a fanatic Muslim country. Al-Qaeda — there is no presence for al-Qaeda in Libya. This is just propaganda and lies to make the West afraid of what is happening to Libya,” he said.
Sarah Abdelkadr, a 19-year-old American-born college student from Virginia whose parents emigrated from Libya 20 years ago, said she came to the flag-raising to support those fighting for freedom. She says she’s never been to Libya before, but hopes to go once Qaddafi gone.
“He’s a disgusting human being. He’s not even a human being, he’s just a nasty person, and he just needs to die,” Abdelkadr told TPM. “Kids my age are dying who are my age — it’s disgusting to even think about.”
As a group of anti-Qaddafi protestors cheered “Libya free,” the flag was raised not once but two times on the pole outside the ambassador’s home (the second time for the network cameras which hadn’t arrived in time for the first raising, as protestors cheered “Allahu Akbar”).
Aujali implored the United States to support the Libyan people.
“We want to see how is the West believe in what they’re saying, believe in what they’re telling, what they’re telling the other people — democracy, democracy, democracy,” Aujali said. “Okay, this is a people that are fighting for democracy — stand with them. Stand with them please.”
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