Part of the reason for this mess in the Middle East is American
conservatives' willingness to vote for neocons, who have never seen a war they
didn't like. We had better break that old habit. Things are NOT necessarily
better just because the White House resident has an R after his name.
In the higher echelons, they are all the same,
traitors.
I wonder how they could be dealt with?
Don Hank
East Libya autonomy movement launches government, challenges Tripoli
Ibrahim Saeed Jdharan, the head of the political bureau of the Cyrenaica
province, speaks during a news conference to announce the formation of a
government for Cyrenaica, in Ajdabiya October 24, 2013.
The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer by militias and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth.
It has no practical meaning but is sure to worsen ties between the east and
Tripoli which has rejected the self-rule notion. Officials were not immediately
available for comment.
Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the OPEC producer since the 2011 war
that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The government has been unable to rein in militia
groups, armed tribes and radical Islamists.This is especially true for eastern Libya, known as Cyrenaica, where tribes, activists and militias have been pushing for a federal system sharing power with the west and southern Fezzan.
Leaders of the movement met in the small town of Ajdabiya, close to the oil port of Brega, to launch an autonomous government, supporters said. They named themselves the Barqa, or Cyrenaica, government.
A pro-federalist television station showed more than 20 ministers taking the
oath at a podium decorated with a Cyrenaica flag.
They were joined by tribal militia leader Ibrahim Jathran, former head of
Libya's Petroleum Protection Force in charge of guarding oil facilities. He
defected in the summer and seized the biggest ports Ras Lanuf and Es-Sider with
his troops.
Once a rebel combating Gaddafi troops, he wore a business suit and a tie
during the ceremony standing next to the self-declared Prime Minister Abd-Rabbo
al-Barassi, a defected air force commander. Tribal leaders joined the
ceremony.Prime Minister Ali Zeidan had been seeking contact with the east in the past few days trying to reopen blocked oil ports in an area home to 60 percent of the country's oil production.
The protesters and strikes at ports and oil fields have knocked down crude
production to some 10 percent of Libya's capacity of 1.25 million barrels a day.
The North African country used to pump 1.4 million bpd until the strikes
started.
DEADLOCK
Zeidan said last week the blocked Hariga port in the far east would reopen on
Sunday or Monday but an oil source told Reuters talks between the government and
local officials to resume exports were continuing.
Jathran and many others in the east accuse Prime Minister Ali Zeidan as well
as Islamists in the General National Congress of corruption and failing to
provide security since Gaddafi's downfall.
The self-rule announcement came as more violence erupted in the regional
capital Benghazi, where an attack on the U.S. mission in September 2012 killed
the U.S. ambassador.
A soldier was killed and another was wounded when a mine hidden in a trash
bag exploded near an army checkpoint in Benghazi late on Saturday, a security
source said.
In Benghazi's biggest prison, a group of inmates overwhelmed a guard early on
Sunday and started a fire. A security source said 15 prisoners were wounded
during clashes with guards trying to restore order. One guard was wounded when
gunmen opened fire from outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment