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2023-09-28 Africa North
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Libya orders 8 officials arrested after flood disaster
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[AFRICANEWS] Libya's prosecutor general has ordered the arrest of eight officials as part of his inquiry into the recent flood disaster that killed thousands, his office said on Monday.
They're washed up.
The flash flood, which witnesses likened to a tsunami, broke through two ageing dams on September 10 after a hurricane
 ...as in blow me dow! ...
-strength storm lashed the area around Derna, a port city in Libya's east.
The officials are suspected of "bad management" and negligence, among other offences, a statement from the prosecutor general's office said, adding that seven of them served currently or previously in offices responsible for water resources and dam management.
"The mistakes that they made" and their "negligence in the matter of disaster prevention" contributed to the catastrophe, the statement charged.
Derna's mayor Abdulmonem al-Ghaithi, sacked after the flood, is among the detainees.
According to the latest toll announced by the authorities in the east of the country on Monday, at least 3,875 people died in the disaster. International aid groups have said 10,000 or more people may be missing.
After opening a probe, Libya's prosecutor general al-Seddik al-Sour said more than a week ago that the two dams upstream from Derna had been cracked since 1998.
Years of conflict
But repairs begun by a Ottoman Turkish company in 2010 were suspended after a few months when Libya's 2011 revolution flared, and the work never resumed, the prosecutor said, vowing to deal firmly with those responsible.
According to Sour's office, the investigation is focused on a dam maintenance contract reached between the Ottoman Turkish firm and Libya's water department.
It said 16 people are being investigated for their roles in the maintenance of the dams.
Of those arrested, the statement said seven including the current head of the water resources department were "unable to deny responsibility for the poor financial and administrative management incumbent upon them".
The 2011 NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
-backed revolt toppled longtime dictator Moamer Qadaffy, leading to more than a decade of start-stop conflict in the oil-rich country.
Libya is now divided between an internationally-recognised 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...
-based administration in the west -- to which Sour belongs -- and another in the flood-stricken east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar
...Self-proclaimed Field Marshal, served in the Libyan army under Muammar Qadaffy, and took part in the coup that brought Qadaffy to power in 1969. He became a prisoner of war in Chad in 1987. While held prisoner, he and his fellow officers formed a group hoping to overthrow Qadaffy, so it's kind of hard to describe him as a Qadaffy holdover. He was released around 1990 in a deal with the United States government and spent nearly two decades in the United States, gaining US citizenship. In 1993, while living in the United States, he was convicted in absentia of crimes against the Jamahiriya and sentenced to death. Haftar held a senior position in the anti-Qadaffy forces in the 2011 Libyan Civil War. In 2014 he was commander of the Libyan Army when the General National Congress (GNC) refused to give up power in accordance with its term of office. Haftar launched a campaign against the GNC and its Islamic fundamentalist allies. His campaign allowed elections to take place to replace the GNC, but then developed into a civil war. Guess you can't win them all. Actually, he is, but slowly...
Eastern forces years ago launched a failed assault on the capital which ended in a 2020 ceasefire. Since then a period of relative stability has held and allowed war-ravaged Libya to try to rebuild.
After the flood, hundreds of protesters rallied in Derna on September 18, accusing eastern authorities of neglect and calling for "a speedy investigation and legal action" against those responsible for the disaster.
Protesters later torched the home of Derna's mayor, Ghaithi, and the eastern administration dissolved Derna's municipal council.
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Posted by Fred 2023-09-28 00:00||
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File under: Arab Spring
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Posted by Grom the Reflective 2023-09-28 08:48||
2023-09-28 08:48||
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Posted by Chris 2023-09-28 11:08||
2023-09-28 11:08||
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02:03 Fred
01:56 Grom the reflective
01:54 Remoteman
01:41 Grom the reflective
01:39 Grom the reflective
01:36 Grom the reflective
01:33 Grom the reflective
01:31 Grom the reflective
01:29 Grom the reflective
01:14 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
01:03 Grom the reflective
00:34 DarthVader
00:31 Nero
00:16 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
00:14 Angealing+B.+Hayes4677
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