Lourdes Garcia-Navarro

The Libyan government has given armed groups until Tuesday to disarm and depart from the capital. But the deadline is unlikely to be met. It's indicative of the wider problem in Libya where anyone with a uniform and a gun can say they are in charge.

Thousands of sub-Saharan Africans are either stranded or imprisoned in Libya in the wake of the revolt against Moammar Gadhafi — and they haven't been having an easy time. Many have been detained and abused, accused of being mercenaries in Gadhafi's army.

On a recent day at the military airport in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, a Libyan fighter lines up 115 Nigerians to be deported.

More than ready to leave, the women and men gather their meager belongings.

Egyptians in Cairo and Alexandria are among those voting today in the first stage of parliamentary elections. These are the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted. Two other stages are scheduled for December and January.

Transcript

SCOTT SIMON, host: Libya faces many challenges as it grapples with life after dictatorship. Of course, Moammar Gadhafi is dead. His fugitive son, Saif al Islam, is reportedly in talks with the International Criminal Court to face charges of alleged crimes against humanity. The city of Bani Walid was the last place in Libya known to have him. It's also the seat of the largest tribe in Libya. NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro travelled to Bani Walid yesterday and found a tribe that's aggrieved and city that is seething.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (foreign language spoken)

NATO's role in Libya was crucial to the rebellion that toppled Moammar Gadhafi, but that assistance came at a cost, according to some Libyans.

Mohammed Abueishi lives in the Souq al-Juma neighborhood of Tripoli, near an apartment building on a quiet residential street that was hit by a NATO airstrike a little after 1 a.m. on June 19.

"I was sleeping and suddenly there was an enormous blast and all the doors and the windows burst open. There was a huge amount of dust in the house," he said. "I stumbled out to find my uncle's house destroyed."

Libya's liberation was declared over the weekend, and residents of Sirte, Moammar Gadhafi's battered hometown, are beginning to return to their homes.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, host: This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

It's an historic day in Libya. The country's new leaders are set to declare their country liberated. An interim government will soon be sworn in and Libyans are hoping to have elections in eight months. But the road ahead won't be easy. In Misrata, Moammar Gadhafi's body has been left on display. Libyans who went to see his corpse yesterday had their own thoughts on what lies ahead and what the former dictator's death means to them.

NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro is in Misrata.

Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi terrorized the Libyan city of Misrata during the civil war. Because it never fell, the city became an icon of the revolution. But Misrata now is gaining a reputation for a militia that is carrying out acts of vengeance, looting and restricting movements in and out of the city.

Wags now quip that a visa is needed to enter Misrata because of the tight restrictions on access to the large coastal city. But it's no joke to the people here.

From presidential palace to people's market — in Libya, Moammar Gadhafi's compound in the heart of Tripoli has been put to new use, as NPR's Lourdes Garcia-Navarro explains in this Reporter's Notebook.

For most Libyans, Bab al-Azizia was the most foreboding address in the country. Moammar Gadhafi gave some of his most defiant speeches from the sprawling compound in Tripoli.