Syria and Libya: Two paths to freedom

15 March 2012 Last updated at 20:27 ET By Rana Jawad BBC News, Tripoli

People in Libya and Syria both rose up to overthrow decades of tyrannical rule. A year on, why are they living two very different realities?

There was a time during the Libyan uprising when Libyans worriedly stared at the screens.

They watched events unfold in Syria after their own moves to rise against a man who brutally suppressed them for decades.

Although they understood the Syrian cries for freedom, they worried that the world's attention would swiftly shift to President Bashar al-Assad's lethal crackdown.

They worried that their battle and their needs would be forgotten and Syria would become a priority. How wrong they were.

Was it simply easier for outside observers to unite against Col Muammar Gaddafi, a man who appeared to the world as a dishevelled loon, as opposed to Mr Assad's suave looks and measured public tone?

It certainly made it easier for the UN Security Council to pass a resolution on Libya that paved the way for intervention.

However, there were bigger factors at play.

Though all the recent uprisings in the Arab world have the shared thread of freedom running through them, the joins between them are not all seamless.

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Syria and Libya: Two paths to freedom