Libya (Reuters) - Oblivious to thunderclouds of flies, Mohamed Ibrahim sifts through heaps of rubbish on the outskirts of the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi in search of anything of value. Sometimes I am lucky and it's a piece of copper cable. Anything I can sell," said Ibrahim, a former Gadaffi soldier in his 50s wearing a worn out T-shift emblazoned with "One world one love." "I know the end of hard life is near. Muammar (Gaddafi) will leave soon. Everything will change. I will get a job and a house for my family."Like many in the rebel-controlled east, Ibrahim sees Gaddafi's expected overthrow as an immediate solution to many of his problems in a region plagued by unemployment, crumbling social services and infrastructure. But with the war dragging into a fifth month and Gaddafi showing no signs of giving up, there appears to be no quick fix. Old Gaddafi-era problems are now compounded by a flurry of new ones, and the cash-strapped rebel leadership in Benghazi, chaotic city of 700,000 -- is overwhelmed. Rising food prices and persistent power cuts due to diesel shortages at power plants are slowly chipping away at people's confidence. Schools remain closed, and a sense of uncertainly prevails in a region awash with guns and landmines. "I've stopped thinking about when it will all end. I only make plans for tomorrow, that's it," said Adel al-Tajouri, a pediatrician at Benghazi's main hospital. "The hospital does not have enough nurses, many wards are still closed. At home, we have electricity only 40 percent of the time. It's difficult to buy baby food. Prices are up. But people are patient. It has to end at some point." Streets are strewn with growing heaps of rubbish and the sharp stench of sewage hangs heavily in some areas. Many houses are still gutted and pockmarked with bullet holes from earlier fighting. Construction sites are frozen. The desert nation has always depended on food imports but the fast depreciating Libyan currency is making them more expensive. The dinar is now trading at around 1.80 to the dollar on the black market, compared to about 1.25 before the war. Many people are trapped in government-held western parts of the country, unable to rejoin their families in the east.
