Hours after their comrades were ambushed by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces, Libyan rebels fighting an increasingly tough battle to retain control of the country’s east broke out in raucous laughter as a song mocking the leader blared from a car stereo.
“Hey Gaddafi with the messy hair, your end will come one day soon,” said the song, prompting one insurgent to start dancing.
It’s been a rough couple of days for Libya’s ragtag rebel army as Gaddafi’s forces have recaptured several towns in the east, and comic relief is hard to come by in the vast desert.
The song that got the rebels laughing appears to be response to a pro-Gaddafi anthem played in his stronghold Tripoli. It has the same rhythm and involves a play on Gaddafi’s February 17 speech wherein he vows to wipe out rebels street by street, alley by alley.
Muhammad Abdul Latif, 21, lauding the effort, said, “We may not have the weapons to beat Gaddafi now. But at least we can poke fun at him.”