Libya Music Scene Reborn After Years of Suppression

Patriotic songs composed by Libyan rebels during their revolt against Moammar Gadhafi fill the air every evening in Benghazi's Tahrir Square. After years of censorship under his ousted regime, a new music scene is taking off.

In the seafront former parking lot which became a key symbol of the seven-month uprising, an eclectic bazaar has sprung up at which vendors sell CDs and tapes honoring the conflict's "martyrs" and extolling the "free Libya."

"Salah Ghaly, please," a girl asks anxiously at one stall, referring to a young Libyan singer famous for his hit songs about Tripoli and Benghazi.

"It was important to sing for the two cities," Ghaly told Agence France Presse by telephone from his base in Cairo.

During the conflict, there were fears that antagonism could grow between the capital, which was always pampered by Kadhafi, and the neglected second-largest city Benghazi which served as the rebels' war-time base.

"Tripoli is capital of free Libya. I will never accept any other," Ghaly sings, echoing the slogans of Libya's new rulers.

Young Libyans say Ghaly's songs boosted their confidence.

"You cannot imagine what his songs did for our morale," said Safa Fathi al-Fakhri, 19.

"In the past, we only knew Moammar Gadhafi, his Green Book and his regime's green flag. There was nothing else. We were ignorant, we did not know any artist," she said.

Patriotic songs have flourished since the uprising began.

Many young Libyans are taking advantage of their newfound freedom to express themselves in ways that were unimaginable under Gadhafi's iron-fisted 42-year rule.

Guys Underground is a pop group, which formed in Benghazi in 2008 but which failed to get off the ground until the revolt broke out in February 17.

"Under Gadhafi, we could not deal with sensitive issues such as politics," one of the group's members, Marwen Gargum, said.

"We tried to talk indirectly about what was really going on in Libya," the 23-year-old told AFP.

"We did not have the means to record CDs. If you wanted a sponsor or a studio, you had to sing for Kadhafi."

Gargum said the old regime created all sorts problems for the group.

"They cut the power three times during our concerts. They forced us to sing in Arabic. They hacked our Internet site. They liked to prevent people from having fun. That was Gadhafi's regime," he said, a wry smile on his face.

One of Guys Underground's hits is "We Win or We Die," a song composed by a friend who was killed by a stray bullet to the chest a few days after completing it.

Before the fall of Gadhafi, the group "had lost hope and thought of fleeing the country," said Gargum.

"We want to make ourselves known in the United States and Europe. We do not want people to say: 'Libya equals Al-Qaeda and Libya equals desert and camels'."

Abdel Moneim al-Erwiya, 59, applauded enthusiastically as he listened to the youngsters perform on a makeshift stage in Benghazi.

"Before February 17, the people were frustrated. Today talent is springing up everywhere and it is only the beginning," he said.