Amanpour: Important Differences Between Libya and Egypt

Feb. 21, 2011 — -- As we watch protests and violent crackdowns unfold in Libya, it is important to keep in mind key differences between Egypt and Libya, and that we should not expect an identical course to unfold there.

One important distnction is how very difficult it is to get information out of Libya about what is really going on. Few journalists are in the country reporting on the events at the moment. And so we must rely on information from Human Rights Watch and other human rights activist groups, along with what we've heard in radio reports from doctors at various hospitals.

To understand what is happening in Libya, we rely on these snippets, as in Libya, but even the social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, has been much less active than it was in Egypt during the height of its protests.

Protests Spread Across Middle East and Northern Africa: View ABC's Interactive Map

In Iran, there is much more activity that we can follow through social media than in Libya. But the censors in Iran are much smarter, and much more able to keep up with the young people than they were in Egypt and elsewhere, and they can counter some of the activists.

Sunday we saw Libyan leader Col. Moammar al-Gadhafi's son, Seif al-Islam, go on television to say his father was still in power. His son threatened that there could be a civil war if the protests continued. And this speech followed the same pattern that we have seen from the leadership of several countries in the face of these protests. They say this is a foreign conspiracy, this is an international conspiracy to get rid of them, that it is being coordinated by Islamists.

But this speech was particularly incoherent and detached. Seif-al-Islam seemed completely out of touch as to what was going on -- at one point threatening to unleash civil war, saying hundreds of thousands could be killed -- and on the other hand, saying we'll have massive across-the-board reforms within 48 hours.

Clearly, they are rattled. This is the most significant threat to Gadhafi's regime ever.

Another element to keep in mind is the very different relationship that Libya and Egypt have historically had with the United States. Certainly, both countries have had longtime leaders in power whom the U.S.has learned to work wtih. The now resigned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was in power for 30 years, and Gadhafi has has held power in Libya for more than 40 years.