Mick Hartley

Newly uncensored works on history and religion and books by opposition exiles are most popular, say booksellers in Benghazi.

“People are thirsty for knowledge, to know about their history,” said bookseller Yusuf al-Muahaishi, who said sales had doubled since mass protests prized much of east Libya from Qaddafi’s grip in mid-February.

“Books about the history of Libya were banned or censored. They mostly had to be about Qaddafi,” Muahaishi said as he served customers at the al Tamour bookshop in central Benghazi.

Qaddafi is still in power in the capital Tripoli and most of western Libya despite airstrikes by NATO forces. Fighters have made little headway after months of fighting.

Under Qaddafi’s four-decade rule, opposition was crushed, power was concentrated in his hands and the education system used to promote his Third Universal Theory, which sought to steer a course between Islam and Socialism.

Qaddafi banned political parties and set up a system for direct rule by citizens via town hall committees. Critics say the committees had no power in his centralized, authoritarian state and were mere channels for his personal patronage.

Booksellers say Qaddafi’s drive to promote his thoughts and philosophy — partly through his own authorised bestseller, the infamous “Green Book” — meant heavy censorship or the banning of books with other points of view.

Historical works about Libya before the overthrow of King Idris in 1969 were also taboo.

“Demand is good, despite the economic troubles. The most popular books are history books, and books by the exiled opposition. People never used to come in before because they thought censorship meant there was little worth buying,” said Mohammed Jarahi of the Dar wa Maktab Al-Fadhel bookshop.