Not many Saudis know about Libya. For them, Libya is a vague country that has, for many years, been isolated from the rest of the world. The only thing the Saudis know about Libya is that it has an eccentric president.
Saud Al-Harbi, a student at King Abdulaziz University, said he hardly knows anything about Libya save its leader, Qaddafi.
“For me, Libya has always been a strange country. One that is isolated from the rest of the Arab world. I have met people from all across the Arab world except from Libya,” he said.
“The unfortunate events that are currently taking place in Libya has been an eye opener for me. I have, for the first time in my life, learned that the country has tribes and clans like Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Harbi.
For Ayman Mansour, a Saudi government employee, Libya has always been associated with terrorism and that tensions have always existed between the Kingdom and Libya.
“I know a few things about Libya. I know that Libya was involved in the Lockerbie bombing and the plot to assassinate Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah. The country supported and financed terrorist organizations around the world. Then there is the nonsense that we hear Qaddafi speak on TV and at international events,” said Mansour.
“Unlike Egypt, we never hear about cultural activities in Libya. We never hear about its theater. We also never hear about the arts or sports in that country. For me and for many Saudis like myself, Libya is a country that has only existed on the map but never in our minds and hearts,” he added.
Faraj Salama, a 28-year-old Jeddah-based private sector employee, said the first Libyan he was aware of and met was Tareq Al-Tayeb, a Libyan footballer who used to play for the Saudi teams Hilal and Shabab a few years ago.
“That was my first encounter with a Libyan national. The country has been so closed off that we don’t know what is happening there. As it is the case, we never even heard about Libya on TV,” said Salama.
“Many people have learned about Libya because of recent events there. They’re reading about this Arab country on the Internet. Many of my friends are intrigued by Libya and are reading about it on the Net,” he added.
Suleiman Al-Ahmadi, a government employee in Madinah, said Qaddafi isolated Libya from the rest of the world many years ago.
“There is no tourism in Libya unlike in Egypt, Syria or Tunisia. Qaddafi has been careful to shut the country off from the rest of the world. This has been deliberately done to hide his crimes and suspicious activities,” said Al-Ahmadi.
“It is Qaddafi’s fault what is happening there. He should have looked after his people. The only thing I know about Libya was what I watched in Anthony Quinn’s movie, ‘Lion of the Desert.’ This is from where I learned about the Libyan freedom fighter, Omar Mukhtar,” he added.
