NBC's Engel Texting Scripts From Libya

From Brian Williams, Anchor NBC Nightly News:

Our intrepid Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel has been on a several day trek across the Libyan desert for days -- a journey that started where I last saw him in Cairo.  Armed with conversational Arabic and an unbeatable knowledge of the region and culture, he has driven from city to city, town to town, hamlet to wide spot in the road. 

Throughout, he's had no telephone communications with us, and no computers. On rare occasion he uses a portable uplink to talk with us, but his cellular phone has been dead. That's notable in a nation with 100% cell phone penetration.  While internet use is limited to 5-10% of the Libyan population, cell phones are ubiquitous. He's actually been writing his stories for our broadcast via text message, which our foreign producer Andy Franklin somehow cobbles together into Richard's amazing stories all this week. 

Then, suddenly, this afternoon our time...Richard's cell phone sprung to life. Full service. Right there, where he stood, in the dark of night in Benghazi, Libya, his cell phone started to ring. He answered. It was a robocall from a telemarketing firm, offering a lower credit card interest rate.  And, that's how Richard Engel knew life was returning a bit closer to normal today, in Libya.

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