New fun and freedom on Libyan radio

LIBYA: Music and laughter spill out of the grey building in the Libyan capital which is home to Radio Zone, one of the hippest channels to hit the north African nation's airwaves after the ouster of Moamer Gaddafi.

"The people haven't been heard for a while so we wanted to have a radio station where everybody can call in, speak their minds and not be afraid that they will be hung up on or made fun of," says presenter Fuad Gritli, 25. For decades, the main voice on national radio was that of the eccentricleader who took power in a bloodless coup in 1969 and then ruled with an iron grip for the next 42 years.

Then there were the state media pawns who delivered dry news bulletins faithfully reporting Kadhafi's statements and activities, plus excerpts from his now ridiculed Green Book, a personal manifesto mixing Islam with socialist ideas. AFP