How safe is zawiya right now?

Hi world,

I'm currently in Zawiya and the talk of the moment here, it seems is not very reassuring. I've heard about safety issues and of kidnappings. People have advised me to avoid being on my own and others have been taking precautions themselves.

Is there anyone who could give me an accurate view of the situation here? Any advice would be welcome too. Thanks

Jameela

A teacher of English was attacked in Zawia last month in what turned out to be an attempted abduction with a firearm. He has since left the country. Expat females have been subjected to verbal abuse in the street before now.

Hi and thank you for your reply, do you know what if the abduction attempt was on the new campus? That's where i work now?

I've had reports since of armed robbery in people houses just outside of Zawia and there is definitely more police and army on checkpoints than before.

Let's be careful then, i hope you're safe where you are.

PS: i lived and worked in Cardiff for 3 years, and i've been around Wales some, lovely lovely country and people there are really amazing!

Thanks for your nice comments about us Welsh people. The attempted abduction happened near to the teacher's villa in central Zawia. It could happen anywhere with people toting weapons. I now work in elsewhere, but I get reliable correspondence about what is happening elsewhere.

abductions and kdnapings  happen    in britain and rest of europe  dailly        zawia is my town   my    best and precious advise is for you to go home

to Brigader,

alhamdulillah not all people in Libya treat expats the way you do. I have chosen to live in Libya and i like it very much and i plan to stay here. I was only asking questions about security because i am new to the country and i am unable to assess the situation on my own.

It was never my intention to say anything bad about Libya or Zawia, you must have misunderstood. My best and precious advice to you if you really love Libya is to let other people love it too.

How do you think people feel about Libyans when people like you make very nasty comments like that?

Again alhamdulillah all the libyans i've met and worked with are very friendly and welcoming.

are you an islam extremist? i've heard that zawiya is controlled by muslim brotherhood

@ joesmith

who are you talking to? me or brigader? I'm not sure what you meant by your question but i am a muslim myself (a revert actually) and while Zawiya like all Libya is ruled by islamic law and customs, i dont think you could say there is extremism here. People are free to do what they like within the limits of the law, that's for muslims and non muslims too. If you're worried about what it means to live in a muslim country, you should simply ask questions to people. Libyans are very welcoming and helpful, i'm sure you'll find people to guide you through customs, does and donts etc etc...