Tripoli--Sitting in his workshop among the winding streets of Tripoli's Old City, Abdulwahab al-Saudi bangs away at a piece of copper.
After nearly two hours, he sets the crescent-shaped work down and moves on to the next piece.
With Libya plagued by chaos and violence since the end of the 2011 revolt that toppled Moamer Kadhafi, Saudi has little hope of finding buyers for his copperwork.
But like other craftsmen and merchants in the Old City, he is keeping up traditions that have endured here for centuries.
"No one is buying anymore, we just make the objects and store them," Saudi says.
For more than 2,500 years, Tripoli's Old City has been the beating heart of this city -- a vibrant warren of white-washed buildings, workshops and market stalls.
Founded by Phoenician traders in the seventh century BC, it contains a wealth of historic treasures, from the 10th century Al-Naqah mosque -- one of the oldest in North Africa -- to the Christ the King church, which dates back to 1829.
For centuries it has welcomed visitors to Libya's shores. Facing the Mediterranean at its entrance lies the Roman arch of Marcus Aurelius, next to it the house of the first diplomatic mission to Libya, established in 1630 by the French. Overhead is an Ottoman clock tower built in 1870.
But with Libya a battleground between rival governments and Tripoli under the control of the Islamist-backed Fajr Libya militia, today visitors are scarce.
Next to Saudi's shop sits fellow copper-worker Mukhtar Ramadan, whose family has been in the business for 150 years.
"We have many problems, we are struggling to get in raw materials to do our work," Ramadan says, adding that his sales have fallen to almost nothing since the revolution.
"There isn't any tourism anymore."
AFP
