Tripoli is penetrated by fear and suspicion.
There are police stationed on every street corner and, more to the point, there are thought to be thousands of state agents in workplaces, schools and cafes.
They report back anything or anyone who could be regarded as remotely suspicious.
Wanting to know what Libyans are really thinking, we gave our government minders the slip and headed across the capital to meet four young opposition activists in a safe house.
They all said they had suffered at the regime's hands in one way or another.
Friends have been killed. They're tired of the corruption and nepotism and say pressure is mounting on Col Gaddafi to go.
Salem (not his real name) told me it was, for now, simply too dangerous to head out, unarmed, on to the streets to protest because the risk of being fired on by the security services was simply too great. » | Wyre Davies, BBC News, Tripoli | Wednesday, June 15, 2011
