In Underground Jail, Symbols of Gadhafi Brutality

Cells were located under Gadhafi's luxurious compound in Benghazi
By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2011 11:19 AM CDT
In Underground Jail, Symbols of Gadhafi Brutality
A youth peers into an underground jail at a palace compound of Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi in Benghazi, eastern Libya.   (Getty Images)

Moammar Gadhafi's Benghazi compound lies in ruins, torched and defaced by angry rebels who made an eerie discovery underground: A series of tiny cinder-block jail cells, evoking the incredible cruelty of which the regime is capable. Few locals seemed to even be aware of the jail's existence, but now the complex has become a kind of morbid tourist attraction, reports the Washington Post. "If I go inside there, perhaps I will die," says one man.

The residents of Benghazi, the home of the three-week-old rebellion, know that hell will have no fury like Gadhafi should their city fall again fall under his control. "I expect anything from Gadhafi. He could bomb Benghazi, even use chemical weapons," says one resident. And under the morbid fascination with the underground prison lies fear: "I won't condemn anything until he is gone. We're still afraid of his regime," says one woman. "He could come back. He has survived for more than 40 years." (More Libya stories.)

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