Cafes in Tripoli put on air of normality

Weaving between tables at a seaside restaurant in Libya's capital bearing freshly baked rosemary bread, Abdelmuttaleb Twigiri shuttles between the wood-fired oven and his customers in a blur of hospitality.
It's the opening night of his brainchild Toucan, a Mediterranean "fusion" eatery that Twigiri hopes will give residents of once-bustling Tripoli a rare taste of normality amid political chaos.
"If I think of a government that could provide everything I need, I'd risk waiting a very long time," the 46-year-old tells. "It's only thanks to the people that life goes on."
The North African nation has been mired in unrest since the 2011 Nato-backed ouster of longtime dictator Muammer Gaddafi, with militants fighting for power and a piece of Libya's vast oil reserves.
A militia alliance swept into the capital in August 2014, setting up its own parliament and forcing the internationally recognised administration to flee to the remote east.
Although a new, UN-backed unity government has gradually asserted its authority in the capital, Tripoli residents have grown used to fending for themselves.
It is in keeping with Tripolitans' do-it-yourself spirit that Twigiri created Toucan.
"There are enough people in distress," he says. "But now we want to live."
His establishment is one of several cafes and restaurants to spring up in the past three months along a 15-kilometre stretch of road linking several neighbourhoods in western Tripoli.
They are braving an economic crisis marked by a dramatic cut in oil revenues, spiralling living costs, late wages and a recent liquidity shortage. Entrepreneurs hope the unity government can calm some of the chaos befalling Libya, particularly security in a country that is increasingly a haven for extremists including the Daesh group.
"Once people feel safe, they invest," explains Abdelqader Al Kanuni, president of a local charitable fund.
 

• MENA