End of Moammar Kadafi's book bans celebrated in Libya
The protests and uprising that led to the eventual fall of Moammar Kadafi have led to significant changes in Libya, some as yet to be fully played out. One thing is certain: Longstanding censorship rules have been removed. That happened Monday, commemorated by a ceremony at the Royal Palace in Tripoli, the Libyan capital.
Tables were piled high with once-banned books as political hopefuls, returning expats and intellectuals gathered to celebrate the unbanning. The Toronto Star reports:
The palace, converted to a library and museum during Gadhafi’s post-royalist rule, grew quiet as half a dozen speakers took turns remembering the dead and wounded that sacrificed for this day.
“Here in this historic place, knowledge was banned. The previous regime called it a national library, but it was more like an indoctrination centre to control our thinking,” said Dr. Salah Abdallah Rajeb al-Aghab, a senior official with the Libyan government archeology section.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/11/this-is-where-we-reclaim-our-intellectual-freedom-unbanning-books-in-libya.html