Items of interest - Libya Herald

http://www.libyaherald.com/coastal-road-block-by-cyrenaica-federalists-report/

Coastal road blocked by Cyrenaica federalists: report

Tripoli, 20 June:

Cyrenaica federalists are reported to have set up a road block on the coastal highway today, Tuesday, at Wadi Al-Ahmar between Sirte and Ben Jawad. They are said to be demanding the NTC and government agree to an equal number of seats in the National Conference for the country’s three historic regions: Cyrenaica, Tripolitania and Fezzan, rather than a system based on demographics.

The road was apparently closed by the self-appointed Cyrenaica Transitional Council’s military arm, led by Hamed Al-Hassi.  He said that his forces were closing just the road for the moment but if the NTC did not accept the federalists’ demands, they would move to the oil refinery at Ras Lanouf and facilities at Brega and Zueitina and stop the oil flowing altogether.

It is unclear how effective the block is. A passenger bus travelling from the Egyptian border to Tripoli is said to have been forced to turn back to Benghazi. However, the federalists said they were letting elderly people through, as well as anyone needing medical attention.

Libya Herald tried to contact the Interior ministry for comment, but phone calls were unanswered.

Last month, a number of federalists camped out at Wadi Al-Ahmar, the historic border between Cyrenaica and Tripolitania, again in protest at the seat distribution. However, they left at the end of May following an announcement by Yousef Mangoush, the chief of staff, that the area was a protected military zone and anyone found carrying weapons there would be treated as hostile agents and arrested.

There was also talk of blockading oil facilties at the time.  The chairman of the Cyrenaica Council’s political office, Abu Bakr Ebera, warned that protestors would try stopping oil sales. However, he also said that it probably would not happen because sales were subject to international agreements.

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http://www.libyaherald.com/official-death-toll-triples-for-nafusa-mountain-clashes/

Official death toll triples for Nafusa Mountain clashes

Tripoli, 20 June: 

105 people were killed and around 500 wounded during last week’s clashes in the Nafusa Mountains, government spokesman Nasser El-Manee said today.

The new death toll for the fighting, which took place over one week around Zintan and Shagiga, is triple that given by the health ministry just a few days ago, in which it was claimed that 32 had died and 162 had been wounded.

There have been no new reports of fighting since Monday, two days after the government sent forces to the region and declared it a military zone. “The armed forces are now on the ground and calm has returned”, El-Manee said.

He added that “both heavy and light weapons” had been used during the fighting. Last Thursday, Libya Herald reporters clearly overheard sustained heavy gunfire from nearby Jadu.

The fighting initially began on 11 June after a brigadesman from Zintan was allegedly shot dead at a checkpoint controlled by the Mashasha tribe. Resentment between the two groups was exacerbated by last year’s revolution, in which the Zintanis and the Mashasha fought on opposing sides, with the Mashasha supporting Qaddafi.

On Sunday, Libya’s UN chief, Ian Martin, warned that imposing temporary ceasefires was not enough, and that the government and others involved needed to address the root causes of such conflicts.

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Convoy reported attacked in Bani Walid

Tripoli, 20 June:

A convoy of vehicles belonging to the Wadi Al-Ajaal National Security Directorate was reportedly attacked in the Bani Walid area on Monday afternoon according to a security source. It was on its way from Tripoli to the Awbari area in southern Libya.

The source said that a group called the Sawf Al-Gene Martyrs Brigade had ambushed the 10 vehicles and that it was using the former Internal Security headquarters in Bani Walid as its base.

There has, however, been no independent verification of the attack so far.

The source added that both the convoy’s personnel and their vehicles were being held by the brigade which was under the command of Salim Al’waer and that the detainees’ fate was unknown.

He said that there had been appeals to the Interior Ministry to intervene immediately and also put an end to such attacks.