Then came the moment in February when the tumultuous Libyan revolution erupted. Tarhouni, now 60, sat glued to the television until he could no longer stand staying away. He emailed friends, explaining, "I need to go back to help as much as I can."
Little did he imagine what that "help" would entail: a long, grinding war in which Libyan fighters waged lethal battles along the coast while NATO bombers pummeled the country from above. Tarhouni rose fast in the rebel leadership; he had kinetic energy and a broad smile, and he quickly won friends. Like many other Libyans who'd spent much of their lives abroad, he arrived back brimming with energy and ideas. Like those other émigrés from Ireland, Spain, Britain, Canada, and elsewhere who flew home for the revolution, the economist found himself suddenly thrust into outsize global history -- an "exhausting, exhilarating time," he says.
Amid the excitement are also ominous perils, which Tarhouni says are now his country's most pressing worries. Well-armed rival brigades each claim primacy in toppling Qaddafi, raising the potential for fresh conflicts. And Qaddafi's profligate weapons purchases have left Libya with mountains of unsecured armaments. But for now Tarhouni is relishing an extraordinary taste of victory. "Almost every hour you pack enough emotions for a lifetime," he says.
The most intense emotion came when Tarhouni got word that Qaddafi was dead, captured in a sewage ditch and shot by rebels. A few hours later Tarhouni sped by convoy to the war-ravaged town of Misurata to formally identify the bloodied and beaten corpse of his tormenter on behalf of the rebel leaders. In the breakneck speed of their work, there was little time for the experience to hit home.
"For 40 years I'd wake up and go to sleep with him in my mind. And now he's not here anymore," Tarhouni tells me. "How does it feel? I have no idea. I need some quiet time."
Good luck with that. Two days after Qaddafi's death, Tarhouni is in Benghazi. I hitch a ride with him to the liberation ceremony, where the rebel's National Transitional Council president formally declares the war over. Tarhouni remains uncertain about what role he'll play in the new government. The new interim Prime Minister, Abdurrahim El Keeb, had yet to pick his cabinet by the end of October. It's possible too that Tarhouni's bigger role could come when Libya's first post-Qaddafi elections are held, probably next summer. But some Libyans believe he is too much of an outsider, too American. He unwittingly refers to Libyans as "they" and says his American-style rapid multitasking is a sharp contrast to Libyans' languorous discussions. "People are shocked at the way I do things," he says.
