Tobruk is about an hour and a half from Libya's border with Egypt, a drive through flat, sparsely populated scrubland along the Mediteranean coast. The communities along the route are scattered and sparsely populated in low, rectangular block buildings, many painted a decaying, sand-battered white with green doors and shutters. As darkness settles over Libya on Tuesday, the towns almost disappear into pitch black darkness, with electricity limited, despite many power lines. Sporadic lakes of sewage break up fields of garbage. "You see how Libyans are living here," says my guide, Emat al-Maijri, an activist, pointing to the buildings. "And with all this oil!"
But the men of Tobruk are proud to have been among the first to push Gaddafi's regime out of their city. There were only three or four fatalities here, with about 50 injured, residents say. That's because Tobruk, in Libya's far east, fell fast. It was part of the domino collapse of Libya's eastern towns - the first to fall to the anti-government protesters. "All of Libya is against Qaddafi," says Gamal Shallouf, a marine biologist turned activist here in Tobruk. But he says the east was the first to fall because it has long felt neglected by a ruler who focused development projects on the capital and his home town of Sert. People here also feel a closeness to Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and the site of past uprisings in the country's history. "Maybe because Benghazi started it and so we supported Benghazi. After just two days, every town was burning. Gaddafi never cared about eastern Libya. He doesn't care about Libya at all, just his own city, Sert." (See "The Rule of Libya's Colonel Gaddafi")
Tawfik al-Shohiby, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Tobrouk says Benghazi lies at the uprising's epicenter because it was the site of regime brutality in 2006. Feb. 17 was the date of protest announced on Facebook, he says. But they chose the date for a reason. "You know this date in 2006 - 14 people were killed outside the Italian consulate in Benghazi. They were out protesting against the cartoons of [the Prophet] Muhammad. They were protesting and the police killed them. The first one who died was a child." He adds, "This was our first opportunity to say 'No' to a dictator."
But what are Libyans going to do if and when they rid themselves of Gaddafi? For one, the activists in Tobruk feel a lot more fighting has yet to take place. Sert, parts of Tripoli, and the south are believed to be under Gaddafi loyalist control still; and there are still reports of intense fighting between hired mercenaries and residents. There are reports of labor strikes on oil fields in Misla and Nafoora. But people on the border and in Tobruk say confidence is rising in the east of the country where the country is under control of "the people." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)
But are the people really united? In their speeches, both Muammar Gaddafi and his son (and assumed heir) Saif warned that Libya's tribalism would tear the country apart without their dynasty's firm rule. "Libya is not Egypt or Tunisia," the son warned again and again on Sunday night. But the residents of Tobruk say the Gaddafis created the tribalism. Says Shallouf the marine biologist: "Gaddafi made the tribes here. He made it tribal. After Gaddafi brought down our king, he established governance at the tribal level. He thought it was a good idea. But it was a devilish idea. He created tribal governments. He supported some not others. But we didn't feel this was right. We now feel we have only one family - the Libyan family."
Still, even the activiss wanted only so much change. Libya, they explan, is more traditional than its neighbors Tunisia and Egypt. They say they want to see a new government that preserves Libyan culture; they don't want democracy imported from elsewhere. Shaiby says: "I have one soul. I will give it for this revolution. Not just for money. But for freedom. We want freedom, but democracy that fits with our culture. Not just any democracy. One that respects our religion. Libya is 100% Muslim and Sunni, and 100% original Libyan. So we need to make our own democracy. We need support from outside - the US and U.K. - but not to tell us what to do. We just want advice."
Shallouf wants to see a government that gives back to its people. Many others echo the complaint that the people don't see enough of Libya's oil revenues. "We have so much money but our government makes business in Africa for Gaddafi and his sons only," says Shallouf. "I am the manager of a marine biology research center. Do you know how much the government gives me a month? Only $300. I have just one child, a girl. If I had another, I don't know what I would do." (Egypt's Uprising: Complete Coverage)
Shallouf complains that European and U.S. companies have their hands too deep in Libya's oil. "OK," he says, "we respect all deals, but I think the money from the oil should be for us and the oil should be for us. It should go toward development. Libya needs human development. Gaddafi broke [the] sciences here, and health. And he broke the police. They made us hopeless. So that we need all kinds of development."
Shaiby doesn't think that the current crisis will devastate Libya's oil economy as the Gaddafis have threatened. "Every company and country wants to work in Libya," he says. "After Gaddafi is down and the situation is better, it will be better than good." Shallouf agrees, "We trust that foreign people in all countries hate Gaddafi and don't trust him because he's crazy and has made many troubles in the world with our money."
(See TIME's photogallery "Mass Demonstrations in Egypt.")
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