[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

SHANE: We just got into rebel controlled Libya.

This is a checkpoint the rebels are controlling.

They're controlling more and more and more to Libya with

each passing day.

We're just wondering when they're going to actually get

to Tripoli.

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: They left the army and joined the revolution.

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: Where they worried if Gaddafi won they would get in

a lot of trouble?

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: He's a very courageous man.

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: Like most journalists, I'd been fascinated by Libya

for a long time.

While Gaddafi was in power, it was much like North Korea- a

hermit-like Stalinist cult of personality state, with an

absolute dictator at it's head.

To get in was extremely difficult.

[MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC]

SHANE: In 2010, after years of trying, I managed to wrangle

an invitation to a youth conference there.

We didn't really care about the event itself.

But we wanted to talk to people on the street, and see

what was really happening inside of Libya, and how it

was affected by Gaddafi's brutal regime.

But very shortly after we got there, we were arrested for

sightseeing without our minders, put under house

arrest, and repeatedly threatened with jail.

CAMERAMAN: Was that a knock?

If they ask me why I'm shooting I'm going to say this

is evidence just in case something happens to us.

SHANE: Oh that's good.

They'll take our fucking tapes.

Evidence.

Don't come here.

Don't ever come here.

They finally let us out on the day before we were supposed to

fly, but only with two secret police minders, who wouldn't

be on camera, and one youth guy who was very, very freaky.

Right.

We finally got out of Libya in November of 2010.

And this was Libya only three months later, in February.

[ROCK MUSIC AND CROWDS CHANTING]

SHANE: I didn't see Arab Spring coming, not a lot of

people did.

But I especially didn't see it happening in Libya, because

Gaddafi had such a stranglehold of

fear over the country.

But unlike Egypt and Tunisia, which were largely peaceful

protests, Gaddafi wouldn't back down, and soon began

killing his own people.

[GUNSHOTS AND SCREAMING]

SHANE: Then it exploded into a full fledged revolution, with

Gaddafi, his army, sub-Saharan mercenaries, and his arsenal

on one side, and citizens turned rebels with whatever

weapons they could find on the other.

[GUNSHOTS]

SHANE: Surprisingly, Libya had become the tip of the spear of

the Arab revolution.

And we had to go back to see for ourselves what was

happening, and to talk to the rebels who had shocked the

world by opposing their dictator.

[GUNSHOTS]

SHANE: So in July of 2011, at the height of the conflict, we

headed to the front lines, which were located about 200

kilometers east of Tripoli, in the port city of Misrata.

The problem was getting to Misrata was not easy.

NATO had imposed a no fly zone over Libya, as a way to help

the rebels.

So the only way into the country was to actually fly to

Cairo, in Egypt, then drive 20 hours across the Sahara Desert

to the border.

Once there, you had to wait for the rebels to come across,

and then bring you over.

After that, you had to drive another 15 hours to Benghazi,

the rebel capital where, if you were lucky, you could

hitchhike onto a boat, which was the only way

in or out of Misrata.

As we drove through Benghazi, it was hard to believe that

this was where the revolution had started.

Fisherman's were still fishing.

The electricity was on.

People were working.

It seemed amazing to me how normally people were going

about their daily lives [INAUDIBLE] the fighting here

had just recently ended.

But Misrata was another story.

There was still heavy fighting there.

It was completely surrounded by Gaddafi's troops.

So the few ships the rebels could muster were the only way

to supply the city.

[SIREN]

SHANE: We finally got to the port, where we met Captain

Ali, the harbor master, who promised to help us get on one

of the rare boats into Misrata.

Is this the ship?

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, that's the one.

SHANE: So this ship just arrived.

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes.

SHANE: And now it's going to turn right around and go back.

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes.

SHANE: And what are they going to load onto the ship?

CAPTAIN ALI: They are loading food, medical assistance.

[INAUDIBLE].

SHANE: This is the lifeline.

The only lifeline to Misrata is from

this ship from Benghazi.

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, that's the only one.

SHANE: And is there a lot of fighting in Misrata right now?

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, right now, yes.

SHANE: And the rebels are trying to

push towards Tripoli?

CAPTAIN ALI: They are pushing towards, not trying.

I We are pushing towards Tripoli.

SHANE: And aren't you worried for being a rebel, that--

CAPTAIN ALI: No way.

No way.

Because I will not allow him to catch me alive.

SHANE: Yes.

CAPTAIN ALI: Either we meet in Tripoli or we meet in Heaven.

SHANE: So it's either victory or death.

CAPTAIN ALI: Yes, either victory or death.

There is no other solution.

No retreat, no surrender.

SHANE: And what do the people here think of Gaddafi?

SHANE: He is the father of the devil, not

the son of the devil.

The devil is ashamed of what he's doing now to Libya.

We already know that he is crazy, but we never thought

that he would do this harm to us.

SHANE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, or the brother

leader, as he likes to be called, is a textbook

tyrannical dictator.

In fact, he's possibly the worst

despot in recent history.

In his 40 year reign, he's been both

ruthless and eccentric.

He publicly hangs dissenters at home, and he hunts down

those that escape abroad.

And has been the financial supporter of pretty much every

terrorist organization you can imagine.

And he's actually admitted to terrorist acts, like the

Lockerbie bombing in 1988.

And his brutal response to his own people's call for reform

was so barbaric that he's recently been charged with

crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

CAPTAIN ALI: We will punish them.

We will take them to court and put them in jail.

They came to kill our kids.

They came to rape our women.

They came to vanish us from the face of the earth.

We will get rid of him, sooner or later.

SHANE: And despite the fact that the boat was already

overcrowded, Captain Ali was good to his word, and got us

on the last ferry to Misrata.

[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

SHANE: So we're getting on the last boat to Misrata, to see

the sharp end of the revolution.

They're going [INAUDIBLE] to push to Tripoli.

The slogan of the revolution is, our capitalist revolution.

Meaning they're not going to settle for half and half.

They were telling us today, they're going to fight until

they're dead, because if they don't win, they're dead.

SHANE: Hello.

REBEL: Hello.

SHANE: How are you?

REBEL: How are you?

No Gaddafi.

SHANE: No Gaddafi.

No Gaddafi.

REBEL: No Gadaffi.

SHANE: No Gaddafi.

And so you go every couple of days to Misrata?

How long have you been doing the trip?

Four months?

From the beginning you've been going back and forth?

When did that happen?

One day ago they bombed this boat?

You think there will be more missiles when we go?

[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

SHANE: So in the long boat ride from Benghazi to the

front lines of Misrata, everyone was concerned with

only one thing--

getting back to the fight.

And it didn't matter in what condition.

They could have broken arms and broken legs, and in some

cases, they could even have missing limbs.

So he was just saying that he lost his leg.

And he was supposed to go to complete his statement.

But he snuck out of the hospital to go back

to Misrata to fight.

And how is it there now?

Does he know how it is now?

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: And if they don't kill Gaddafi what happens?

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: Though the fighting had been going on for nearly six

months at this point, every rebel we met on the boat was

still defiant.

Even though the odds seemed so stacked against them, most

were still really optimistic about

their chances for victory.

[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: And even though Gaddafi's troops had a vastly

superior arsenal, the rebels would fight them with anything

they could find.

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

We also spoke to a higher ranking rebel officer, who was

returning to the fight in Misrata, about what conditions

were like on the ground.

Has there been fighting in Misrata recently?

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

SHANE: Good luck.

OFFICER: Thank you.

[SHOUTING IN ARABIC]

SHANE: So we're arriving now in Misrata, which is

completely encircled by Gaddafi's troops.

They're trying to push forwards to Tripoli.

It's the front lines.

It's very close to Tripoli.

In fact, this boat is the only way in.

It's the only way out.

It's carrying about 300 troops, machine guns, aid.

There's been heavy fighting here.

Some journalists have been killed.

As we pulled into the port, there wasn't a lot of evidence

of the past fighting that had gone on.

There was some minor damage to a few of the port buildings.

There were a couple of Mad Max style trucks with machine guns

bolted on the back.

But other than that, it was strangely quiet.

But that quiet didn't last very long.

So we just arrived in Misrata.

We're hearing artillery or rocket attacks.

[GENERAL COMMOTION AND DISTANT BOOMING]

SHANE: You can see the smoke coming up there.

They know the ship is arriving, so they send some

missiles just to let them know we're here.

Hello.

Thank you.

Good, how are you?

Good.

[SPEAKING ARABIC]

Driving into Misrata, it seemed like spirits were

really high, and the city was functioning quite well.

Anyone who drove by us beeped their

horns and waved excitedly.