His son is in charge of disaster aid, while talk of elections will be put on hold
after a disaster, even the most maladroit politician knows to follow a script: soothe survivors, praise aid workers, vow to rebuild. For thugs who dominate eastern Libya, however, even such basic displays of human decency are a struggle. One, clad in army fatigues, tooled around a flood-battered city behind the wheel of a Humvee, more conquering general than contrite governor. Another blamed the victims for their own deaths.
Rescuers describe scenes of utter despair in Derna, the city walloped earlier this month by a Mediterranean storm called Daniel. Record rainfall caused two dams south of Derna to fail. Floodwaters surged through the narrowThe Libyan Red Crescent says that 11,300 people died, while the World Health Organisation says it has identified 3,958 bodies, with another 9,000 people missing. The final toll may not be known for months, if ever. Many bodies were washed out to sea or buried under rubble.
On September 18th hundreds of angry protesters gathered outside a well-known Derna mosque. They chanted slogans against Aguila Saleh, the head of Libya’s eastern parliament. Some then burnt the home of the mayor, who was suspended after the flood . The floods could have been lessened if Libya had invested in repairing the dams, which were half a century old. But Mr Haftar cares little for upgrading Libya’s infrastructure. His son Saddam, whose name is a homage to the late Iraqi dictator, has taken charge of relief efforts. That helps cement the family’s control, but it offers little succour to survivors.
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