In Post-Embargo Libya, Terrorism Yields to Tourism

It’s a country of 5 million people with hundreds of miles of pristine beaches, spectacular unspoiled desert scenery and Roman ruins that sweep away the centuries. But it does have a small image problem.

Libya would like to be your tourist destination.

Since the country’s “revolutionary guide,” Moammar Kadafi, agreed in April to hand over two suspects to stand trial in the 1988 Pan Am jet bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, the U.N. Security Council has lifted the seven-year air embargo on the North African country.

Now airlines from a dozen countries are providing regular flights to and from Libya, and even Libyan Arab Airlines has dusted off its creaky old Boeing 727s and Fokkers for short-haul flights around the Mediterranean.

Nevertheless, the country still faces formidable obstacles, not the least of which is its reputation as a supporter of international terrorism. (In reality, diplomats say, Libya hasn’t been actively engaged in terrorism for some time and Kadafi has been gradually moderating his radical positions, but the perception dies slowly.)

Officials talk here of a new climate of openness to the world. For Khalif Abuzeyd, production manager of the National Textile Company, that means dreams of exporting his company’s pajamas and sportswear to Western Europe. For Nouri Shebani, manager of the Gortoba Center for Rehabilitation of Children, it means increased contacts with European specialists on physical and occupational therapy for youngsters with cerebral palsy.

For almost everyone, there is an almost palpable sense of hope that Libya’s status as a world pariah may be coming to an end now that the Lockerbie suspects are finally going to trial in the Netherlands.

“We believe the world needs us and we need the world, just like any other country,” Shebani said. “We want to be open very much.”

Kadafi Still Holds Political Reins

Politically, Libya is still a one-man band. In theory, Kadafi isn’t supposed to have any official executive function, and under the country’s unique governing system, which he devised, decisions are supposed to be made by grass-roots assemblies in which anyone can participate.

In practice, Kadafi presides over an authoritarian state in which, diplomats believe, he is the only true power center. After three decades in control, he is treated with almost regal deference. His image stares out from buildings, fences and lampposts throughout the country. (Usually he’s in aviator sunglasses, grimacing solemnly skyward, but sometimes he’s on horseback, galloping out of the desert.) His exhortations are widely quoted on billboards and placards.

Despite the ubiquity of the state’s propaganda, the vast majority of Libyans don’t take it seriously, asserted one longtime resident diplomat. Rather, their eyes are trained on satellite TV broadcasts. With Libya shut off from the rest of the world for most of this decade by the Security Council’s sanctions, those broadcasts have become the Libyans’ window to the world.

What are Libyans watching? Programs from Italy--Libya’s former colonial power--are big, so much so that many Libyan children have taught themselves Italian by watching cartoons.

For the adult generation, a spectrum of Italian, French and Spanish channels shows beautiful young women and men dressed in the latest sleek Western fashions, hinting at the sensuality and sumptuousness of the modern consumer society.

And four or five widely viewed Arabic-language satellite channels offer glimpses of more open societies even within the Arab world. Nightly, they air discussions with political and economic viewpoints that are almost never acknowledged in Libya’s own dull and tightly controlled internal media.

Libya’s oil income of $7 billion to $10 billion per year ensures a basic standard of living for the country’s small population, but the international television broadcasts convey the notion that there is more to be had and enjoyed elsewhere. And, so, the old revolutionary slogans aren’t going down as easily.

“With the satellite dishes, they can now see everything,” one diplomat said. As a result, he said, “To me, they are changing very fast, especially the young generation.”

Signs of alienation from the regime can be found among the young merchants working in the open-air market here in the capital. Anwar, a 27-year-old gold dealer, was delighted to find a visitor from the United States in his tiny shop and within minutes was asking for help to obtain a visa.

It’s not that business isn’t good in Tripoli, he conveyed in halting English as a steady trickle of customers flowed in to look at the baubles in his glass cases. In fact, every dollar of investment yields two dollars in profit, he claimed.

The problem is the police in Libya, he said, who at any moment could come and confiscate a rich man’s wealth and beat him up in the bargain. Anwar pantomimed kicking. “In America, you are free,” he said wistfully.

Others expressed delight that the U.N. sanctions have been lifted and said they hope it will lead to more contacts with outsiders.

The lifting of the restrictions on air travel already has been of significant benefit to the ordinary Libyan’s pocketbook. In the euphoria after the decision, the black-market price for dollars fell from 3.2 Libyan dinars to 1.8, reducing the cost of imported goods in the markets by nearly half.

But, because the government had long blamed all of the country’s economic problems on the sanctions, people were expecting even more of a boon. That, in turn, is putting pressure on the government to deliver.

“Sanctions were the great excuse for everything that went wrong. That excuse is now gone,” one Western diplomat said.

Hence, Libya is now looking for other revenue sources, and tourism is one obvious potential engine for growth. With worldwide travel booming, Libya hopes to capitalize on the fact that it is something of an undiscovered treasure.

“We have an economy with only one leg, petroleum. Now we need the other leg, the tourist business,” said one government antiquities official, who asked not to be identified by name. Travelers from America would be particularly welcome, he said, despite poor relations between the governments. “Governments change, but people’s relationships are lasting,” he said.

Sandwiched between Egypt and Tunisia, North African countries that have made themselves into popular tourist destinations, Libya says it has assets to rival Tunisia’s beaches and Egypt’s antiquities.

An Ancient City Preserved in Sand

Its crown jewel is the ancient Phoenician-Roman city of Leptis Magna, which in its day had a population of 80,000. For 14 centuries, the seaside city was buried in--and preserved by--the blowing sand. Today, several decades after its excavation, it is largely intact.

Since Libya first began allowing tourists in six years ago, backpackers and adventure travelers from around the world have been quietly making their way to Leptis Magna, about a two-hour drive east of Tripoli, to wander its stone streets and explore its Roman baths, temples, amphitheater, marble-lined basilica and the forum surrounded by carved heads of Medusa.

“Now that the blockade is over, it’s easier. . . . Leptis Magna is definitely worth the trip,” said Frank Hering, 32, a visitor from Heidelberg, Germany. “It is one of the best Roman sites we’ve ever seen.”

Hering and his companion, Ursula Becker, 32, said they were undeterred by Libya’s reputation for terrorism when they were planning their two-week journey, which included Tripoli, Leptis Magna and the desert settlements of southern Libya. And they said they would recommend the trip to their friends.

“From what we can tell, it’s quite calm here,” Hering said. And although the accommodations were rudimentary, Hering said he was struck by the overall level of development in Libya.

“It’s the only country around here,” he said, “where you can drink the water from the tap.”