Return to Libya imminent???

Hi Siddiq,
I work in hotel industry and i am waiting fo any alert from my company but nothing received till now but i think current situation is complicated in libya coz qaddaafi still free and his follows still around in additaion all libyans having guns it is too much now in libya, so it will be better if any expats insde libya can help us to know the sitaution there
thx

Good to hear from u Saddiqi ... Repsol, Total, ENI & Mellitah along with WAHA and ZOC have started operating in their tripoli offices ... i m on the ground in trp ... situation pretty much in control ... loads of check points, some areas affected my the mobs "robbed" but things seem to be in shape sooner or later ...

Siddiqui wrote:

From the news on TV, looks like Libya will be getting back to normal soon.

We are already in the process of alerting our employees to get ready to return to work soon as the green light is recieved from our forward team which is doing the survey of security situation in the field and coordinating with AGOCO on the startup of operations.

I heard that ISM will be starting up the school pretty soon and some of the expat staff are already in Tripoli and some are expected in the coming days. Not sure if this is correct or not.

The Pakistani Community School has resumed work in Tripoli, that is confirmed.

It would be good to share info from various other companies on the plans to restart operations in Libya.

If someone from Libya can post updates on the current situation on the ground it would be very helpful indeed for the people preparing to return to work.

Regards,

Siddiqui

Congrats on your quick return. Best of luck.

Good to hear from you Arooj. I would appreciate regular feedback on the situation if possible, especially pertaining to Water, Power and security issues.

Thanks.

Hi guys,

i need your advise my turkish company contact me to come back to Tripoli and i consfued about accept or not becuase i worry about current situation in Libya especiallt after qaddafi's speech yeatrday so i appreciate if anyon insde libya can give us information about current situation in real life insde Libya especailly Tripoli and is it safe to be back or not???

Thx in advance

Hilton,

How are they planning on bringing you back to Tripoli? Do you still have valid residence and exit/re-entry visa?

My information from inside Tripoli is all good. Water, electricity, food supply is almost back to normal. Fuel supply is getting better.

People are driving about without any problems during day time. During evenings there is increased security presence with multiple checkpoints so most expats are avoiding staying out late.

Hope this helps.

Thx Siddiqi
my residence vaild till December 2011 but when we exit from Libya we dont have exot entry visa due to the worst situation there and we have only red stamp in Tripoli airport.
may ask if u now in Libya or not yet?
thx

I am in Karachi, waiting to get back. My residence visa expired in March so still trying to figure out the options for returning.

The ground situation is perfectly normal, although I would say that the "war" is still ongoing in parts of the country including pockets in Tripoli. The shops and business operations are not fully operating I mean you can tell from the timings and the goods available. I would wait for another 2 months before planning to come back as an expat.

Gernademan wrote:

The ground situation is perfectly normal, .

lets pray it stays that way. remember, this is vaugely reminiscent of how things happened in somalia 20 yrs ago. the rebels "kicked out" the dictator and it turned out that they were nothing but thugs, warring tribes and factions; now with serious weapons.

they proceeded to partition mogadishu amongst themselves and managed to reduce it to rubble.

douglas, please lets not think like that, lets pray, wish & hope for the best for Libya & its people

LeMonde wrote:

douglas, please lets not think like that, lets pray, wish & hope for the best for Libya & its people

???! as someone who is planning to go back to the city I miss very much, I find above statement peculiar: 'let's not THINK".. why not????

Let us THINK, please. Thinking makes people more prepared, more realistic, more rational, smarter and wiser. Praying, wishing, hoping are just ... emotional reactions. But when you think you understand, compare, learn from past experiences and prepare yourself much better to life.
At school we do not teach students to pray, wish and hope. We teach them to think so that they can be prepared for life.

Let's try think about what will happen to all those armed factions in Tripoli, how will they manage to create a united government with democratic rule. Because if they can not do that (as history and experience shows us) that will be very VERY bad for Libyans and those of us who love and miss our lives in Libya.

Dictatorships are easy; you pray and hope and survive! Freedom requires lots of rational thinking.Please stop praying, wishing and hoping and start thinking so that Libya can be a livable, viable and improved land for everyone who enjoys the country and its people.

We want to go back to Tripoli asap, but yes I am afraid it might be full of praying, wishing and hoping people who may not be thinking.
I hope I am wrong. I think I am right :-)

fk

Ready or not, here I come............

All arrangements are done, flying to Tunis on the 21st, cross into Libya on the 22nd and off to Tripoli.

Any hiccups, will be faced as appropriate.

Will let you all know when I get there.

Siddiqui

Hi people,
I am living and working in Benghazi where things are relatively normal. My wife and I were evacuated in late Feb. returned in May, left for a summer break and have returned again ( all via Cairo road trip). Turkish Air are now flying 4 days a week and apparently will up it to 7 days/week. The streets are quiet and moving around is easy as long as you take normal precautions. Things are improving - now it's a case of building infrastructure. Plenty of rubbish around though......more than before. Power cuts are now infrequent and the shops are filling. LPG has spiked but appears to be coming down again. There are more police/ traffic police around - not that the driving has improved! Compared to recent riots in London Benghazi is great!!

Hi Siddique Sb,

Are you travelling back to Libya on your expenses or your company AGOCO arranged every thing?

Welcome back to your home brightlights and may ask you (how is your trip from Cairo to benghazi and is it safe and how long it takes to arrive benghazi and how much ticket cost and where can i find bus or vehicle in Cairo to Libya )becuase my company ask me to travel by bus and i hesitated to do it .

thx in advance

LeMonde wrote:

douglas, please lets not think like that, lets pray, wish & hope for the best for Libya & its people

Sorry to sound jaded and to shine a sour light on this, I really do wish everyone, especially the libyan people peace and a safe and just future.

but as someone who is old enough to recall the turmoil of the early 90's, I think its important to not stick one's head in the sand and hope for the best, and make people aware and point out that there are some very strange and odd similarities between what is happening here and what happened in somalia to the somalis 15 years ago.

there are some very alarming events and reports about problems emminating within the rebels which have been on going for a few months now and these reports are not coming from the propaganda of the former regieme, they are coming from aid, humanitarian and independent news agencies.

fatmakumru wrote:

We want to go back to Tripoli asap, but yes I am afraid it might be full of praying, wishing and hoping people who may not be thinking.

not much one can do except wait and see.

Hi!!!
I feel happy for everybody who is coming back not only to earn money but to help Libyan brothers rebuild their country from the scratch. For those who are still abit skeptical you have all the reasons to be but I think at such a stage when Libyan brothers have liberated themselves at great human costs. The least we could do is to be optimistic.

I can re-confirm Mr.Siddiqui's information that the power&water supply is back to normal for some time now. 90% shops all over Tripoli are open. Food is available but the price is double of what we used to buy but coming down everyday. Fuel is sufficiently available though i saw huge lines of cars waiting to get filled yesterday on almost all Petrol Stations but they were getting fuel and driving out instantly.

Security is improving on daily basis. The best part is that these "Revolutionary Fighters" are very nice people. Most of them are Graduates and very friendly. Reggata and Palm city are back in demand. With UN agencies taking most of the Palm City.

Libyans were under a tyrant for almost 42 years we have to give them time to understand democracy. They will gradually learn how to respect different opinions.

We should stand by our Libyan Brothers till they figure it out.

For all of those who have doubts to return, i would like to say that the situation is improving and alot of foreigners have stayed here during the whole conflict. Everything now is becoming available which during Gadhafi's control on Tripoli it wasn't. I heard that in the Tunisia-Libya borders they allow foreigners without visa. Although the old system i dont believe will come to place anymore with exit and entry system. And alot of companies started returning but definitely gradually. International flights are on the way to begin.
Goodluck to all....

South African nationals not allowed back in country for the time being. RJ and Turkish to restart flights very soon

IWANT  TO SAY   TRIPOLI  IS      GLORIOUS   SINCE 20TH AUGUST TRIPOLI w AS LIBERATED  " I ONLY JUST  TASTED  FREEDOM  ITS  INCREDIBLE                 IamFREEEEEEEEEEEE      LIBYA   IS OPEN TO ALL                                                     anyone can   contactme

Hi FREEANYWAY and welcome to Expat.com!

You should lower Caps lock when you write on the forum, to ease the reading.

Thanks,
Harmonie.

PROBLEM IN MY LAPTOP MADE ME WRITE WITH CAPSLOCK  ON   SORRY

Dear Mr Siddiqui,

We are anxiously waiting to hear from you. We hope you are safe and sound in Tripoli.

Very good news to hear...?

Dear All,

Sorry for my disappearing act! I was having problems with my internet connection here in Tripoli both ADSL and Wimax seemed to be having trouble. ADSL is working now and for free. Wimax will have to go for repairs.

Well, I arrived at the border from Tunisia on Thursday afternoon, waited in total for about an hour at the crossing to take care of the paperwork. I had arranged for some people to get me through the formalities so it went good.

The drive to Tripoli was interesting with a large number of building on both side of the road bore scars of the heavy fighting that went on in Libya. Results of NATO's bombing were also on display at the various military installations along the way.

There are numerous check points every few kilometers along the way.

All the way from the border to Tripoli I did not see a single car with BLUE plates....... No foreigners in sight.

The traffic in Tripoli is light these days as compared to normal, driving habits though are still the same...... sorry guys, the revolution did not fix that problem!

I read in some earlier posts that 90% shops are open, I would say its more like 60-70% open. The bread shops usually have queues of 15-20 people as not all of them are open and even the opening hours are reduced. Some shops are not opening on Saturday completely so I will have a better idea once the working week starts from tomorrow.

Grocery shops are open but with reduced inventory, shelves are thinned out and not everything is available. Same for fruits and vegetables.

Internet has been made free, I found LD 120 credit in my pre-paid SIM once I turned it on here. Petrol is easily available and the price is reduced to LD 0.15/litre.

Bab-Aziziya compound has been destroyed mainly by Nato bombings. It's open to the public now. People have many horror stories to tell about the happenings here and the atrocities committed by the Qaddafi regime in crushing the revolution.

Anyway, that's it for now. I will update the forum as I go along. If anyone needs any specific information, PM me and I will try and help as I can.

Regards,
Amir

Good to hear from you Mr Siddiqui. Congratulations for making it back to Tripoli safe & sound.
Can you tell me if your residence visa was still valid?
What formalities were done at the border?
I am a doctor and was with Central Hospital in Tripoli. My residence visa expires on 10th October.
Can I take the Tunis route after that? I am not sure if I would be able to arrange for someone from Tripoli to pick me at the border. In that case, how does one manage to get to Tripoli?

My visa expired in March. I don't know what formalities were done at the counter, I just stayed in the car the whole time. There is no entry stamp in my passport.

I am not sure if general admission is being allowed without visa but I hear many people have returned with expired visas already.

Siddiqui

Many foreigners have entered Libya in the last 2 weeks but not exactly on their VISA but because of their contacts. It would be better if you contact your former employer to arrange for such an entry other wise it would be very risky.

Siddiqui wrote:

My visa expired in March. I don't know what formalities were done at the counter, I just stayed in the car the whole time. There is no entry stamp in my passport.

I am not sure if general admission is being allowed without visa but I hear many people have returned with expired visas already.

Siddiqui

@Siddique, if you don't mind may I ask where you come from?

@Gernademan
There are few icons beneath the name of the member that represents the country from which he(member) is coming from or belongs to. Hope this helps

Hi Siddiqui,
Nice to hear from you.

I recently got an offer from Libya Waha Oil Co., and i have also recieved the Entry Visa, my only concern is to know current status of Libya and would it be a right decesion to come to Libya in this situation.

I would appriciate if you could let me know the current status of Libya as well let me know about the Waha Oil Co.


Thanks & Regards,
Liyakhat.

Hello Liyakhat.

Welcome to Expar Blog!

This post is dated 2011.

You may start a new thread on the Tripoli forum.

Thank you,
Aurélie