Reply #17: In Libya, a long-dead hero rises again in east

[joshcryer]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2014994087_libyahero08.html">In Libya, a long-dead hero rises again in east
BENGHAZI, Libya — In eastern Libya, the spectral image of an elderly, bearded man in a skullcap or Bedouin cloak is everywhere — on bumper stickers and posters, military vehicles and checkpoints, even press IDs issued by the rebel government here.

"He is the godfather of all of us," said Salim Ismael, a retired army officer now training rebel recruits. "He is our inspiration, the spiritual leader of the Libyan revolution."

The figure is Omar Mukhtar, a 20th-century resistance hero executed by Italian occupiers 80 years ago — and, improbably enough, depicted in a 1981 Hollywood all-star epic, "The Lion of the Desert," starring Anthony Quinn as Mukhtar. A box-office flop, the film has a devoted cult following here.

"General, bring me back Mukhtar!" Rod Steiger, playing Benito Mussolini, bellows to a subordinate before dispatching him across the Mediterranean. "Bribe him or break his neck."