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| Africa North |
| Libya Parliament Meets in Tobruk as Rival Ceremony Canceled |
| 2014-08-05 |
| [An Nahar] Libya's new parliament held its first formal session Monday in the eastern city of Tobruk, as festivities rocked the capital Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and divisions between Islamists and nationalists deepened. Anti-Islamist MPs insisted on meeting in Tobruk, 1,500 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Tripoli, because of deadly festivities in the capital, some of the worst since the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... State television broadcast footage of the session, showing MPs being sworn in at a ceremony attended by representatives of the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... , the United Nations ...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly... and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The deputies were to meet again in the evening to elect a speaker, said MP Abu Bakr Biira, who is chairing the session. Islamist MPs and their allies from the western city of Misrata boycotted the Tobruk ceremony, branding it "anti-constitutional". Islamists dominated the outgoing parliament, the General National Congress, and believe that its former chief Nuri Abu Sahmein should have called the meeting of the new assembly. In a show of defiance, Abu Sahmein invited MPs to Tripoli for a parallel "handover of power" on Monday but the session was later canceled. Analysts believe the Islamists are trying to make up for their poor electoral performance by gaining influence through military might. |
| Posted by:Fred |