美国经济学家变身利比亚石油财政部长

    今年2月，利比亚革命爆发，局势一片混乱。如今塔胡尼已经60岁了，他坐在电视机前收看相关报道，一刻也不肯离身，直到意识到自己无法再置身事外。他发邮件给好友们解释道：“我必须赶回祖国，尽我所能，出一份力。”

    那时他还无法想象“出一份力”到底意味着什么：利比亚战士们沿着海岸线发起一场场致命的战斗，北约战机则在上空强力打击卡扎菲武装，这是一场漫长而代价沉重的战争。在反对派领导层中，塔胡尼升迁很快。他活力充沛，笑容可亲，很快就赢得了许多朋友。与许多其他在海外度过一生多数时光的利比亚人一样，他回到祖国时，满腔都是活力和主意。爱尔兰、西班牙、英国、加拿大等国，到处都有流亡海外的利比亚人赶回祖国，投身革命。与他们一样，经济学家塔胡尼发现自己突然置身于宏大的全球历史之中——用他的话说，这是一段“使人精疲力竭而又振奋不已的时光。”

    然而，这种兴奋之中也潜藏着众多不详的危险。塔胡尼称，目前这些危险已经成为利比亚最值得担忧的问题。坐拥武装的不同派别彼此对立，全都声称自己为推翻卡扎菲立下首功，埋下了引发新一轮冲突的可能性。卡扎菲购买的大量武器装备保管不善，给利比亚留下了许多毫无戒备的武器库。不过，至少在眼下，塔胡尼还可以品尝胜利的美好滋味。“几乎每一个小时，我胸中洋溢的激情都可以回味一辈子，”他说。

    卡扎菲后来被反对派武装从下水道拖出，随后遭射杀。他身亡的消息传来时，塔胡尼迎来了生命中最激动的一刻。几个小时后，他随车队奔赴饱受战火蹂躏的米苏拉塔，代表反对派领导层正式确认卡扎菲那血迹斑斑、伤痕累累的尸体。一切发展得太快，人们甚至没有多少时间来仔细品味这一刻的感受。

    “40年来，我每天早上醒来，每天晚上睡下时都会想到他。现在他已成往事，”塔胡尼告诉我，“这是什么感觉呢？我也不知道，我需要平静一会儿。”

    祝他好运吧。卡扎菲丧命之后两天，塔胡尼回到了班加西。我跟他同车赶赴解放庆典。在典礼上，反对派国家过渡委员会（the rebel's National Transitional Council）主席正式宣布战争已经结束。对于自己在新政府中将扮演何种角色，塔胡尼还不是很确定。直到10月底，利比亚临时政府总理阿卜杜勒-拉希姆•凯卜仍未选定内阁成员。后卡扎菲时代的第一场大选可能于明年夏季举行。届时，塔胡尼本人的职位也可能会更上一层楼。不过，有些利比亚人认为他更像是个外国人，太美国化了。不经意间，他谈及利比亚人时会说“他们”，而且据他本人的说法，他那美国式迅速同时处理多项任务的风格，与利比亚式的冗长讨论格格不入，形成鲜明对比。“我的做事风格使人们感到震惊，”他说。

    Then came the moment in February when the tumultuous Libyan revolution erupted. Tarhouni, now 60, sat glued to the television until he could no longer stand staying away. He emailed friends, explaining, "I need to go back to help as much as I can."

    Little did he imagine what that "help" would entail: a long, grinding war in which Libyan fighters waged lethal battles along the coast while NATO bombers pummeled the country from above. Tarhouni rose fast in the rebel leadership; he had kinetic energy and a broad smile, and he quickly won friends. Like many other Libyans who'd spent much of their lives abroad, he arrived back brimming with energy and ideas. Like those other émigrés from Ireland, Spain, Britain, Canada, and elsewhere who flew home for the revolution, the economist found himself suddenly thrust into outsize global history -- an "exhausting, exhilarating time," he says.

    Amid the excitement are also ominous perils, which Tarhouni says are now his country's most pressing worries. Well-armed rival brigades each claim primacy in toppling Qaddafi, raising the potential for fresh conflicts. And Qaddafi's profligate weapons purchases have left Libya with mountains of unsecured armaments. But for now Tarhouni is relishing an extraordinary taste of victory. "Almost every hour you pack enough emotions for a lifetime," he says.

    The most intense emotion came when Tarhouni got word that Qaddafi was dead, captured in a sewage ditch and shot by rebels. A few hours later Tarhouni sped by convoy to the war-ravaged town of Misurata to formally identify the bloodied and beaten corpse of his tormenter on behalf of the rebel leaders. In the breakneck speed of their work, there was little time for the experience to hit home.

    "For 40 years I'd wake up and go to sleep with him in my mind. And now he's not here anymore," Tarhouni tells me. "How does it feel? I have no idea. I need some quiet time."

    Good luck with that. Two days after Qaddafi's death, Tarhouni is in Benghazi. I hitch a ride with him to the liberation ceremony, where the rebel's National Transitional Council president formally declares the war over. Tarhouni remains uncertain about what role he'll play in the new government. The new interim Prime Minister, Abdurrahim El Keeb, had yet to pick his cabinet by the end of October. It's possible too that Tarhouni's bigger role could come when Libya's first post-Qaddafi elections are held, probably next summer. But some Libyans believe he is too much of an outsider, too American. He unwittingly refers to Libyans as "they" and says his American-style rapid multitasking is a sharp contrast to Libyans' languorous discussions. "People are shocked at the way I do things," he says.