Libya news items - July 4th and 3rd .....

http://www.libyaherald.com/kufra-election-boycott-going-ahead-as-1000-tebu-are-disbarred-from-vote/

Kufra election boycott going ahead as 1,000 Tebu are disbarred from vote

By George Grant.

Tripoli, 4 July:

Libya’s Tebu leader has said that fighting around Kufra will prevent many of his tribesmen from voting on 7 July

More than 1,000 Tebu from the southern desert town of Kufra have been disbarred from voting in Saturday’s elections, it has emerged.

The decision, which was announced by the HNEC on 26 June as Law 92, has left approximately 15 per cent of Kufra’s 7,000 Tebu disenfranchised ahead of Saturday’s historic vote.

“To say we are upset about this would be an understatement”, said Hussein Chake, the leader of Libya’s Tebu population. “The HNEC concluded that these individuals were ineligible to vote between 3-6 June, so why did they wait so long before announcing their decision? We have had almost no time to challenge the verdict”.

Chake said he had met with HNEC head Nuri El-Abbar to protest, but had been told the decision was final. The HNEC has declared that the vast majority of the 1,008 Tebu on the list do not hold Libyan nationality or else do not have valid identity cards.

A much smaller percentage have been disqualified by virtue of being members of the national army, who are not permitted to vote in the elections.

“The problem with this is that I do not know of any Tebu who are in the army”, Chake said. “One of these men is my cousin, but he left the army in 1988!”

Many of the disbarred Tebu are from the Aouzou Strip in northern Chad, which was claimed by Libya shortly after Qaddafi came to power in 1969. The area was the focus of frequent bouts of conflict between the two countries, although an internationally agreed resolution was reached in 1994 when the International Court of Justice ruled 16-1 in favour of Chadian sovereignty.

“The HNEC’s decision to disbar these Tebu has been ratified by the courts”, said Khaled Al-Jazwee, the deputy head of the HNEC’s legal department. “It’s too late for these elections, but the Tebu have said they will challenge the judgement nevertheless to prove that they are Libyans.”

The decision has threatened to provoke a further deterioration in relations between the Tebu and the government, which have been strained in recent weeks by intermittent clashes between Tebu tribesmen and government forces around Kufra.

“We are very angry with the government”, said Chake. “When the fighting broke out between Zintan and the Mashasha, the problem was taken seriously. Mustafa Jalil, Prime Minister El-Kib and Sheikh Ghariani [the chief mufti] all spoke on TV demanding an end to the fighting, but we have had nothing like the same focus on Kufra.

“We have been relying on the Red Cross for medical treatment and evacuation. The government has helped only Arabs”.

Chake said that the large number of Tebus displaced from Kufra in the fighting presented an additional obstacle to voting on 7 July. “We believe around 1,500 Tebu have left, including myself. We are registered to vote in Kufra, but we are not there, so what can we do?”

The Tebu leader said he had approached El-Abbar to request the elections in Kufra be delayed for a period of one month to enable him to launch an appeal against Law 92 and to allow time for the fighting to die down, but said this request had been refused.

The Tebu have previously threatened to boycott the elections in Kufra unless national army forces are withdrawn from the region, and Chake confirmed that with the additional imposition of Law 92, that boycott would be taking place.

“I would like to make clear, however, that this is a localised dispute relating specifically to Kufra”, the tribesman said. “Tebu elsewhere in Libya will still be voting on 7 July”.

and......

http://www.libyaherald.com/zway-tribesmen-cut-oil-production/

Zway tribesmen “cut” oil production

By Hadi Fornaji.

Wintershall rig in Jakhira (photo: Wintershall)

Tripoli, 4 July:

Zway tribesmen are reported to have stopped oil production on Tuesday in three oilfields in eastern Libya in protest at continued clashes in Kufra.

The move follows a warning four days ago from Zway leaders in Kufra. They said that if the government and NTC did not take decisive action to put an end to the violence in the town within 72 hours, they would stop oil flowing.

Clashes have been on-going in the south-eastern oasis town since February. They first erupted as a smuggling turf war between the town’s small but well-armed Tebu community and the majority Zway tribe, but then developed into a war of attrition between the Tebus and the Libya Shield forces sent in by the authorities to restore law and order.   The Zway are accused by the Tebus of fighting alongside the Shield forces.

The three fields are said to include Wintershall’s Nafura C96 concession at Jakhira and the nearby concession in the Amal field held by Harouge (formerly Veba) Oil.

With a population of around 6,000, the oasis of Jakhira is also mainly inhabited by the Zway, although located just 250 kilometres from Ajdabiya and several hundred from Kufra.  “Inevitably, what is going on in Kufra is impacting in Jakhira,” said Abdulmenem Sbeta from Wintershall.  The Zway, he said, were a tough people and those in Jakhira had played a “heroic role” during the revolution, protecting the interests of Wintershall, for which the company was “highly appreciative”.

Oil production in the C96 concession and the neighbouring C97 area which Wintershall have had since 1962, was running at 120,000 barrels a day (b/d) three years ago but was reduced to 85,000 b/d following NOC pressure. It is now around 75,000 b/d.

The Zway have the means to control production in both Nafura and Amal fields.  They are the security guards in the former and the latter is just a hour’s drive away.

The Zway are also threatening to stop water following in the Man-made River in their attempts to force the government to take decisive action in Kufra. As with the oil, they have the means, even though the source of the water is in a Tebu controlled area; the pipeline passes through Zway areas, which means they can turn off the pumps and prevent the water heading north.

http://www.libyaherald.com/zawiya-offers-national-conference-seats-to-benghazi-in-extraordinary-bid-to-diffuse-federalism-row/

Zawiya offers National Conference seats to Benghazi in extraordinary bid to diffuse federalism row

By George Grant.

Zawiya, 3 July:

Zawiyans carried banners offering the city’s National Conference seats to Benghazi and calling for national unity. Photograph: George Grant

The western city of Zawiya has launched an extraordinary bid to defuse pro-federalist tensions in eastern Libya by offering all of its eight seats in the National Conference to Benghazi.

Although clearly established legal impediments prevent the offer from being taken up in practice, it is nonetheless seen as a significant gesture with potentially far-reaching ramifications ahead of the 7 July vote.

“We took this decision because we believe passionately in the unity of Libya”, said Osama Kubbar, one of the individual candidates offering to surrender his seat.

“Zawiya stood with Benghazi from the very outset of the revolution, and our two cities have a close and historic relationship. Seats count for nothing compared to the sacrifices all Libyans have made to make this a free country”.

In the past week, anger amongst federalists who believe the distribution of seats on the National Conference discriminates against eastern Libya has been growing.

On Sunday, between 100-200 demonstrators ransacked the office of the HNEC in Benghazi, burning election materials and chanting pro-federalist slogans. The HNEC office in Tobruk was also stormed on the same day, with protesters beating its deputy chairman, Mufta Othman, as they did so.

As things stand, 100 seats on the Conference are reserved for western Libya, as against 60 for the east and 40 for the south. The proportions are based on demographics, but federalists, along with many others in eastern Libya, fear that they will be at a disadvantage when it comes to making key decisions about Libya’s future in the National Conference, including voting to ratify the permanent constitution.

Kubbar says that today’s gesture by the people of Zawiya has not gone unnoticed in the east. “I just spoke with Abdul Jawed Al-Fagee, our point of contact with the federalists in Benghazi, and he was deeply moved. He said to me ‘don’t talk to us about federalism after today; don’t talk to us about giving up your seats; just support  our push for equal seats in the National Conference’.”

At a rally of some 300 people in Zawiya this afternoon, organisers also said they had been contacted by leaders in the eastern cities of Beida, Derna and Tobruk, all of whom had offered to surrender their seats in return.

“We are ready to do anything for the unity of Libya”, said Hadi Kormani, an elderly participant in today’s rally. “When Benghazi rose up last year, Zawiya stood with them. So why are we dividing over a few seats now?”

Set against the dramatic backdrop of Zawiya’s main square, still shattered by intensive fighting during last year’s revolution, many demonstrators had brought placards expressing their solidarity with eastern Libya.

“For the unity of Libya, the city of Zawiya sacrifices its seats to Benghazi”, said one. “Our love for Benghazi is bigger than the world can imagine”, said another.

A delegation from Zawiya is due to travel to Benghazi tomorrow to speak to federalists about their offer and to ask them to support the elections going ahead.

On Sunday, the leading Islamist cleric Ali Salabi visited the eastern city in his own bid to calm tensions, although he did not succeed.

Zawiya’s eight National Conference seats are divided evenly between political parties and individual candidates, with 147 people running for the individual seats alone. It is understood that the vast majority of them agreed to the move when the decision was taken yesterday evening.

With just four days to go until the elections, it remains to be seen how effective today’s efforts will be in helping to stem frustrations in eastern Libya, in particular preventing a boycott of the elections by federalists.

However, large counter-federalist rallies have taken place in a number of eastern Libyan cities today, and they are expected to continue in the run-up to the vote.

and....

http://www.libyaherald.com/mass-demonstrations-in-benghazi-against-federalists-attack-on-election-offices/

Mass demonstrations in Benghazi against federalists’ attack on election offices

By Maha Ellawati

Anti-federalist demonstrators outside Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel

Benghazi, 3 July.

Demonstrations were planned for the second day running in Benghazi today, Tuesday, against the actions of federalists who on Sunday ransacked the city’s High National Elections Commission (HNEC) building and burned much of its contents outside. In the event, no one turned up.

On Monday, however, over 5,000 people joined a rally in support of Saturday’s National Conference elections this weekend.  Alerted by text messages sent by Libyan mobile telecom company Almadar, local residents headed to the city’s Tahrir Square, where members of the local council condemned the attack.  They said that the incident was outrageous and that government and NTC had to ensure that the elections took place as planned and on time.

The federalists, who have threatened to boycott the poll, have been demanding that the seats being contested in the elections be divided equally between the historic regions of Libya — Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan — rather than based on population.  If fact, however, the system is already weighted heavily in Benghazi’s favour.  It will have 26 seats in the National Conference as opposed to Tripoli’s 30, although it is less than half the size of Tripoli in terms of population.

Federalists want an autonomous Cyrenaica

A number of human rights activists, media personalities and intellectuals also took part in Monday’s mass demonstration. They angrily denounced the attack but also accused the prime minister and the ministers of the interior and justice of failing to provide adequate security around the HNEC’s offices.

The action of the federalists was an attack on democracy and an attempt to forcibly impose views on the public, they said. But they stressed that “this shameful act will not prevent us from continuing the democratic transition which has long being awaited.  It is the dream of our martyrs and wounded, and the aspirations of those missing.”

Among those who participated in Monday’s demonstration was Ismael Salabi, a leader of one of the city’s brigades. Rejecting federalism, he called for national unity and and insisted that the National Conference elections must not be postponed.

The Bengahzi protestors say they plan to demonstrate every day against the federalists until the elections take place on Saturday, with a major protest on Friday.

and.....

http://www.libyaherald.com/melinda-taylor-and-icc-team-freed-in-zintan/

Melinda Taylor and ICC team freed in Zintan

By George Grant.

Zintan, 2 July:

Investigations into the actions of Melinda Taylor (R) and Helene Assaf (L) are now being undertaken by the government and the ICC. Photograph: George Grant

The detained Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor was released from captivity in Zintan today, along with three other International Criminal Court representatives held in the town for the past three weeks.

ICC President Sang-Hyun Song, who was only informed of the decision yesterday, flew into Tripoli this morning to be present in Zintan for the announcement.

“I wish to apologise for the difficulties resulting from this train of events”, Sang said. “The information reported by the Libyanauthorities will be fully investigated in accordance with ICC procedures following the return of the four staff members to The Hague”.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdul Aziz announced that a trial would also be held in Libya on 23 July, although the accused would not themselves be present at the hearing.

Taylor was arrested in Zintan on 7 June, suspected of attempting to smuggle “dangerous” documents to Saif Al-Islam Qaddafi, for whom she is acting as a defence representative.

Amongst the documents were said to be letters from Saif’s fugitive former right-hand man, Mohammed Ismail, with whom the government believes Taylor has been in contact.

Blank letters marked only with Saif’s signature were also said to have been found on the lawyer, as well as a note in which he complained of
mistreatment at the hands of his captors and the absence of the rule of law in Libya.

Taylor’s Lebanese interpreter, Helene Assaf, was said to have been found in possession of a “spy camera”.

Ajme Al-Ettery, the commander of the brigade that arrested the ICC team, struck a combative note when he hinted at direct complicity between Taylor and Mohammed Ismail.

“We were expecting there would be some entities who would like to help Saif Qaddafi escape from Zintan, the militiaman said. ”But it is very regrettable that this has been done through members of the ICC”.

Dressed in black robes and headscarves, both Taylor and Assaf appeared nervous and overwhelmed as they were led first to lunch in the midst of a throng of waiting journalists, and then to their vehicles.

None of the newly-released ICC team were permitted to answer questions, with both the Libyan authorities and the ICC insisting that the substance of the allegations would be directly addressed in their respective investigations.

The events of the past three weeks have placed considerable strain on the relationship between the government and the ICC, at a time
when the two are still negotiating where and by whom Saif Qaddafi should be tried.

Under UN Security Council resolution 1970, the ICC has been mandated to investigate and prosecute Saif for crimes committed during last year’s uprising against the Qaddafi regime.

The Libyan government has argued that this mandate should now be revoked and that the dictator’s son should be tried inside Libya and according to Libyan law.

The ICC has said it must be sure that Saif will receive a free and fair trial in Libya before granting its consent, and the court appears to now be moving in that direction.

On 1 June, the ICC postponed its request that Libya hand Saif over to them for trial pending its final determination of whether the conditions required to hold a fair trial inside the country have been met.

On 22 June, the ICC issued a statement in which it declared itself  ”ready to assist national authorities with their investigations if requests are submitted to the Court. The ICC is committed to continued mutual cooperation with the Libyan authorities and will do everything it can to assist them.”