So who was the mystery man with the guitar?

Early on in the conflict Al Arabiya filmed Masoud Biswir, a rebel fighter with a guitar, singing to his comrades on the road, while carry an RPG strapped to his back.

As the war moved towards Libya’s capital city Tripoli so the spotting of this warrior poet increased.

In Tripoli, Steven Sotloff of Time Magazine was in Martyr’s Square as thousands of people flocked to it to celebrate the downfall of Gaddafi. Amongst the crowd was Masoud Biswir, with his guitar.

Sotloff writes in his September article: “The 38-year-old moved through the crowd with his guitar in one hand and his Kalashnikov in the other. Soon he was on a plywood stage as young girls in colorful headscarves were jumping and cheering. “My nation will remain strong, my nation will remain lofty, my nation will remain free,” Bwisir sang as the crowd roared.

Sotloff interviewed Biswir after the impromptu gig and learned that he was formerly a businessman from Benghazi who took up arms against Gaddafi.

“I was never a soldier,” he told Sotloff. “But when others started dying, I felt it my duty to protect my people.”

Sotloff is not the only journalist to have crossed paths with Biswir. Jason Koutsoukis of The Age ran into him on the road to Ajdabiya. People were running from explosions as Gaddafi’s forces fought the rebels, all that is except for Biswir.

Koutsoukis reports that Biswir shouted to those fleeing, “Don’t be worried, it’s OK.”

My mother don’t be worried, we know how to fight. We know how to make freedom. We know for what we die. Masoud Biswir

His report describes how “The blast interrupted an impromptu live performance of Mr Bwisir’s latest musical composition, a song about freeing his country from the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.”

Such is Biswir’s success, his song My Nation will Remain the Same has become something of an anthem and has been covered by a rock and metal band in Tripoli and published on YouTube.

So, is the guitarist photographed in Sirte Biswir? The guitar is different but it certainly seems probable – after all how many wandering minstrels with AK-47s can there be in Libya?

Whoever it is, the spirit of Biswir’s lyrics is certainly shared by those in the photograph: “My mother don’t be worried, we know how to fight.

“We know how to make freedom. We know for what we die.”

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