Opposition fighters clear the side of a highway near Ras Lanuf on March 5, 2011
(2 of 2)
The regime, for its part, has accused the revolutionaries in the east of wanting an Islamic emirate and of belonging to al-Qaeda. Indeed, Gaddafi has warned of an extremist-driven civil war. The oil workers and bankers who have taken up arms say the colonel is being ridiculous. "They think we are Taliban or al-Qaeda because they want to fool the Americans. But we are just religious. That's all," says Hamid Gabayli, a ground engineer and volunteer fighter at a desert checkpoint. Many others echo him. "We don't like bin Laden, and we don't like al-Qaeda," says Idriss, at the Ajdabiyah checkpoint. The men around him nod.
Islamist extremism does, however, have roots in Libya. The town of Darnah, up the road going east from Benghazi, was the site of a failed Islamist uprising against Gaddafi in the 1990s. Later, it became known for the young men who left it to join the insurgency in Iraq. "If you asked any of the mujahedin from Libya in Iraq where they're from, they said Darnah," says Mohamed el-Tahawy, a banker who drove from the eastern city of Tobruk to join the battle in Ras Lanuf. He adds that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the fearsome leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq who was killed in 2006, once said, "I will go to Darnah to see what is this city that is sending so many."
But in the current conflict, few people have Iraq fighting experience, el-Tahawy says. Most of those veterans are dead. Furthermore, the tone in this battle is different. "There is a big difference between Libya and Iraq," he explains. "In Iraq, they were fighting an occupation." He doesn't think foreign fighters will flock to the North African nation the way they poured into Iraq. "Maybe Egyptian doctors will come to help," he says. "But if you told me that the Egyptian army was coming in — no, we won't accept that. This is our problem. We can handle it ourselves." A spokesman for the National Council reiterated the opposition's call for no interference in its war. "We request a no-fly zone, and we are requesting help to stop the flow of mercenaries into the country," says Abdel Hafidh Ghoga. "However, we still insist unequivocally that we don't need any troops on Libyan soil."
To the rebel fighters in the desert, that applies to foreign Muslims and Arabs too, even if they could use war veterans as they inch closer to Sert. The men of eastern Libya say they will do it alone. At the Brega checkpoint, Kilani reflects on the use of the word mujahedin. "We are mujahedin in Libya only," he says. "We don't have any interest outside Libya." Then he pauses. "Actually, don't use the word mujahedin," he says. "Use revolutionaries." A sandstorm whips dust through the checkpoint. Trucks full of fighters pass. The men in them fire their guns into the air, shouting, "God is great."