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| Africa North |
| Thousands Rally for Libya ex-General in Tripoli, Benghazi |
| 2014-05-31 |
| [An Nahar] Thousands rallied Friday in Libya's two main cities to a rogue general who has been pressing an offensive against jihadist militias in the east of the country for two weeks. The crowds rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud criticizing new Prime Minister Ahmed Miitig, whose cabinet is already mired in a political standoff with its predecessor. Khalifa Haftar, head of the so-called National Army, launched his assault on Islamist militias in the eastern city of Benghazi on May 16, and has won the support of units from the regular army and air force, as well as some militias who fought to oust strongman 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... in 2011. The retired general has said he aims to wipe out "terrorism" in the eastern city, which has been a hotbed of Islamist militancy since uprising, and last week he said the country had become a "terrorist hub." Authorities have accused Haftar of launching a coup, but he has said the people had given him a "mandate" for the operation. In Benghazi, hundreds of people gathered outside the Tibesti Hotel, where they rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud in support of Haftar's offensive and against terrorism. Since 2011, dozens of members of the security forces have been bumped off or killed in kabooms around Benghazi. No group has claimed the attacks, but the violence has been blamed on radical Islamists who control swathes of the Mediterranean city. And in Martyrs' Square in 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... , hundreds more rallied amid tight security to show their backing for Haftar and to voice their disapproval for Miitig's government. Demonstrators carried a mock coffin that bore the slogan "Miitig's government," "the GNC" and "Ansar al-Sharia." ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, with the Libyan and Tunisian versions currently most active... The General National Congress is the Islamist-dominated interim parliament that elected Miitig amid claims of improprieties after Abdullah al-Thani resigned last month. Ansar al-Sharia is a jihadist militia based in Benghazi classified by Washington as a terrorist organization. Others chanted "Free Libya, Miitig out," "Libya is not Kandahar," while other banners read "The people and the army, we are fighting terrorism," or "yes to a civil state." Several hundred meters (yards) away in the capital's Algeria Square, dozens of Islamists held a rival demonstration, denouncing what they called Haftar's "coup d'etat" and stressing their "support for the democratic process." A city that was ultra-safe during Qadaffy's rule has become a nightmare for residents, who are constantly on tenterhooks for fear new fighting will erupt between rival former militias, many of which are from cities outside Tripoli. |
| Posted by:Fred |