9 June 2011 Last updated at 10:10

In pictures: Libyan rebel art takes aim at Gaddafi

Libyan rebels are learning to fight like soldiers, but many opponents of Col Muammar Gaddafi are expert with the pen and brush – and are eager to take aim at Libya's authoritarian leader for the last 40 years.

Gaddafi graffiti (Image: Rory Mulholland)

Caricatures of the Libyan leader have sprung up all across the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, in the east of the country.

The detested strongman's many eccentricities make him a perfect target for satire, says Rory Mulholland, a reporter with French news agency AFP, who took these pictures in May.

Mr Mulholland says he was keen to document the spontaneous outpouring of art - a visual manifestation of Libya’s new-found freedom of expression.

The works are varied - this one seeming to draw inspiration from celebrated British graffiti artist Banksy.

And they are not limited to traditional media - digital artists, using their Photoshop skills, have jumped on board too.

Some of the street art is aspirational - "Free Libya" is a common slogan - and some show a blood-thirsty Gaddafi slaughtering or robbing his people.

But mostly, it simply and gleefully mocks the flamboyant strongman, says Mr Mulholland.

Some of the work is poignant, expressing aspirations common across the region.

For one young man - part of a group churning out paper drawings of the detested dictator - art cost him his life. Despite being warned to stop, Qais al-Halali did not. The police finally caught up with him in late March, shooting him dead as he drove up to a checkpoint, his colleagues say. They continue to draw in his honour.

Middle East

In pictures: Libyan rebel art takes aim at Gaddafi

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