Word: libyans
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...took power in a 1969 military coup. With the country's approximately $10 billion in annual revenues, mostly from oil, the ascetic, fanatically religious Gaddafi has become, among other things, one of the world's foremost backers of terrorism and insurrection. Pursuing a dream of a Libyan-led Islamic sphere of influence, he has fomented a coup against the regime of Sudanese President Jaafar Numeiry, expropriated land from neighboring Chad, and edged relations with Egypt perilously close to outright war. Despite these foreign excesses, he remains securely in power at home. Last week TIME Correspondent David Beckwith visited...
...took the floor to express grievances and make their views known. The proceedings, lasting eight to ten hours daily, were telecast nationally, and Gaddafi made no move to clear the hall (as he had done at the congressional session in January) of outsiders who might draw wrong conclusions about Libyan unity...
Gaddafi had asked each municipality to present budget requests, with the suggestion that they be raised by no more than 10% over the last submissions. Most, however, demanded increases of 100% or more for everything from hospitals to police stations to cultural centers. When Libyan Treasury Minister Muhammad Zarouk Rajab urged restraint, an elderly delegate in a black fez and business suit took exception. "There are no controls!" he shouted. "How can we ask for services when we don't know how much money can be spent?" Finally, Gaddafi called a halt to the budget discussions by announcing that...
Later, when tedium set in, Gaddafi managed to arouse the assembly by signaling to Premier Abdul Salam Jalloud. who announced that any Libyan wanting to build a house would receive free land, along with a guaranteed bank loan for construction. The crowd came alive with cheers...
Gaddafi seems not quite sure how long his xenophobic regime can last, though no members of his Revolutionary Command Council currently challenge his authority. He never leaves the country without turning over control of three key army units to members of his Bedouin family, and Libyan jails contain many political prisoners. But the Egyptians, who in the .words of one official have been actively interested in "stirring up something" against him, admit that they have had no success. Predicts a U.S. diplomat who has watched Gaddafi's theatrics from the sidelines: "Barring a freak accident...