Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo Explained

Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo
محمد
Occupation:Middle Manager, National Oil Company
Birth Date: 1962
Birth Place:Libya
Death Place:Benghazi, Libya
Death Cause:Altruistic suicide
blew up gates to military base in Benghazi
Nationality: Libya

Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo (c. 1962 – 20 February 2011) was a Libyan middle manager for a state oil company in Benghazi, Libya. In the wake of the Libyan Civil War, Zeyo found he could no longer bury the civilian youth killed by Muammar Gaddafi's forces; he subsequently decided to use his car to blow up the gates to a military base in Benghazi.[1] This allowed the civilian oppositional fighters to overrun the base and claim Benghazi as an oppositional stronghold in the Libyan Civil War.[1]

Background

NPR reporter Lourdes Garcia-Navarro describes Zeyo as "the most unlikely hero of the Libyan Civil War."[2] As an older gentleman of 49 amongst the youth democracy protesters, the middle-manager for a state oil company joined the peaceful protest movement as soon as it began.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fadel . Leila . Libya's unlikely hero: Mehdi Mohammed Zeyo . The San Francisco Chronicle. 2 March 2011. 19 March 2011.
  2. Web site: Garcia-Navarro . Lordes . Libya's Rebellion Spawns A Trio Of Unlikely Heroes . NPR . 28 February 2011 . 19 March 2011.