Today's issue of Aljamahiria, a Gaddafi mouthpiece and a limited-readership daily, sounds hardly different. According to the newspaper, the year is still 1379, at least in Tripoli and the month is not April but rather "the month of birds". For those uninitiated, this bizarre and out-of-step calendar was introduced by none other than the 'Brother Leader' to Libyans in 1986, days after Reagan bombed his headquarters. It's purely Gaddafi-style, neither Gregorian nor Hijri. As you scan the headlines, it's mostly recycled news you get from yesterday, last week and possibly last month. "Throngs of people continue to flood the headquarters of the brother leader as human shields". Bab Al-Azizya, a Gaddafi monster fortress previously out of reach for ordinary people, has been under recent attack by coalition air strikes. Another headline claims preparations are still under way for the big "Peace March to Benghazi" but then a different headline on a different page sounds more threatening "We will destroy our enemies".
Hidden in the bundled and hastily compiled electronic leaflet are also small headlines which reveal some light on everyday life in Tripoli and the dire state of Gaddafi's crumbling system. One caller to the editor complained why no new passports were being issued. Another caller was asking why there was no money handed out this month as was done last month. He or she was referring to a meager amount of LD 500 (~US$200) promised by Gaddafi to families in Tripoli. Yet a third caller wondered why the fish market has been closed for so long.
As usual, the back page is reserved for the "beloved" leader's own rallies, the same paid crowds that can be seen on TV, haunting foreign journalists wherever they go. The flags are pure green and the signs still remind you that, at least as far as these loyalists are concerned, democracy spells "Allah, Muammar, Libya and no more", in that order. As expected, there is no news about the siege and bombardment of Misrata, its cries and its call for freedom. Neither is there any news about the destruction and misery that is taking place all around the country. Instead, Gaddafi's propaganda paper prefers to tell you about Europe's financial woes, sports news and even the latest news about Catherine Zeta Jones and Jennifer Lopez.
