Libya updates - if one consider what a post - Assad Syria might look like - past is prologue.....

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Huge explosion flattens Benghazi police station – no casualties reported

By Maha Ellawati and Ayman Amzein.

The Al-Hadayeq (the gardens) police station in Benghazi was completely destroyed early this morning by a massive explosion. (Photo: Abdalha Doma)

Benghazi, 19 June 2013:

A huge explosion totally flattened the police station in the Al-Hadayeq (the gardens) district of Benghazi early this morning, but miraculously there are no casualties being reported.

The sound of the explosion at about 2.30 am today was so loud that it was reportedly heard across most of the districts of Benghazi. It is thought that there were no casualties within the police station because the station had been closed down after an earlier attack in May.

Samir Al-Lamamy, a witness and resident of the Al-Hadayeq district told Libya Herald that “the explosion led to the complete destruction of the police station leveling it to the ground”.

Al-Lamamy also speculated that “there might have been more than one bomb planted in the police station because the explosion was so strong that it totally destroyed it”.

He also confirmed that “there were no human casualties reported so far”, but added that “the explosion had caused much damage to nearby buildings, homes and shops. Glass doors and windows were shattered”, he added.

The Al-Hadayeq Street is considered a main shopping area, full of many retail outlets. Miraculously, a nearby petrol station was not affected by the explosion.

This is not the first time that the police station is attacked, having been previously subjected to an attack on the 15^th May.

On that occasion, the death of a local young man led to the police station being burnt down, and as a result the station was vacated and closed down since.

The police station was having renovations made to it after its last attack, ostensibly readying to for re-opening, before this morning’s explosion totally destroyed it.

There are no indications as to who might have been responsible for the explosion, but media reports say that the authorities are attempting to identify the type of explosive that was used.

UN told that Libya’s transition will remain difficult and that Political Isolation Law violates civil rights.

By Hadi Fornaji.

UNSMIL head Tarek Mitri briefing the UN Security Council on Libya (Photo: United Nations)

Tripoli, 19 June 2013:

In his latest quarterly briefing on Libya, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of UNSMIL, Tarek Mitri, has told the UN Security Council that, largely because of the security situation, the current transition period is likely to be longer and more difficult than previously expected. “The Libyan people will continue to endure for the foreseeable future the heavy legacy bequeathed to them over decades of brutal rule,” told the Security Council yesterday. “Managing the transition is bound therefore to be difficult.”

While explaining that there was widespread desire in Libya to ensure the exclusion of Qaddafi-era officials from positions of power, he criticized the Political Isolation Law in its current form as unjust.

“Written advice was provided to the General National Congress on international standards, best practices and potential risks of exclusionary measures. The current law falls short of these standards in a number of areas. We believe many of the criteria for exclusion are arbitrary, far-reaching, at times vague, and are likely to violate the civil and political rights of large numbers of individuals.”

The law as it was framed also risked damaging Libya.

“In the context of Libya’s transition and the legacy of weak state institutions, the implementation of the law risks further weakening of those institutions.”

There is, as a result, an urgent need to adopt “a transitional justice law anchored in truth-seeking, accountability and reparations”. But this was being done. “A draft law is currently being considered by the General National Congress. UNSMIL continues to advise on its scope and implementation.”

He paid particular tribute to Mohamed Magarief who resigned as head of the General National Congress following the passing of the law “for his support to the UN’s role in Libya and his confidence in UNSMIL and in me since I took up my duties as Special Representative of the Secretary-General. We also owe him a word of praise and respect for his dignified statesmanship as he distanced himself from the Libyan political scene.”

Despite Congress passing laws criminalising torture, kidnapping and discrimination, and abolishing the jurisdiction of military courts over civilians, there was concern about the number of Libyans being held in jail without being tried and instances of torture.

“An estimated seven to eight thousand detainees still await to be charged or released, Mitri said. “The process of transferring detainees to the authority of the state moves slowly. In Bani Walid, the scene of armed conflict last October, unanswered questions continue to surround the cases of bodies handed over by Misrata in April. In a number of detention centres, we have observed cases of torture. There is also evidence of deaths in custody due to torture.”

There was also concern about the unilateral announcement by Tawerghan community leaders of their plans to return to their home town on 25 June. He called it “a move fraught with risks”.

However, despite the powerful challenges, Mitri remained fundamentally optimistic.

“The mood in Libya today may have changed since I last briefed the Council in March”, he said. “Despite the gravity of some of the security and political developments that have taken place over the course of the last three months, Libyans have not lost confidence.”

Following Mitri’s briefing there was a closed-door session of the Security Council on Libya. Afterwards, the president of the Security Council this month, British ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, said that the international community was committed to helping Libya deal with the security situation.

“I think there is a desire of the international community to support this transition. It’s proving to be difficult and you would expect that after 42 years of dictatorship with no institutions, with no elections taking place. There was infrastructure but there were no institutions in the country as a whole. So it’s not surprising that it’s taking some time,” the ambassador said.

Interior Ministry preparing master plan to dissolve all brigades

By Umar Khan.

Tripoli, 18 June 2013:

Following the General National Congress’s demand that Prime Minister Ali Zeidan set out plans to dissolve all brigades throughout the country, the task has fallen to the Interior Ministry.

Resolution No. 53/2013, passed by Congress on 9 June, was both an acceptance of the resignation of Yousef Mangoush as Chief of Staff and an order to Zeidan to send plans within a fortnight for the dissolution of all brigades by the end of the year, by force if necessary, and the integration of their members on an individual basis into the army or police.

The resolution was a response to events the day before when 31 people died in Benghazi in protests against Libya Shield Brigade No. 1. It was originally aimed at dissolving the dozen brigades of Libya Shield that come directly under the Chief of Staff’s office. However, in view of the sensitivity of the incident, Interior Ministry officials lobbied to extend the resolution to include all armed groups and brigades.

Faced with such a major task, the Ministry has been holding meetings with the brigades to decide the mechanism of disbanding them and integrate their members into the regular security forces.

A senior Ministry official told the Libya Herald on the condition of anonymity that the Ministry would seek an extension on to the two-week deadline as preparing such a plan in the time period was “almost impossible”. He also said that the Ministry had met with the commanders of all the Libya Shield brigades in the first of what would be series of meetings to outline steps on disbanding the brigades and how to implement the resolution.

“We are meeting the Libya Shield commanders today. There are 12 of them in attendance. It is a start and we will meet all of these brigades to come up with a plan. It is like an impossible mission given the current situation, but fortunately many are willing to put Libya before their own interests.”

The plan, when ready, would see all armed groups and brigades disbanded and would render any permission or letters of authority granted by any ministry null and void.

“All the permissions and authorities would be withdrawn. The fighters would have the choice of either joining the security forces or they will be helped to reintegrate into the normal life. There are government departments taking care of that, already.”

The official also said that brigade members would be allowed to join the security forces on an individual basis.

“All the fighters would be required to join the security forces independently and nobody would be allowed enter as a commander of a thousand or so fighters – only as an individual fighter. This would end the system of affiliating cities with brigades or vice versa. There is no space for regionalism in professional security forces.”

This is the most serious effort by officials as yet to dissolve of the armed brigades and strengthen the national army and police. The government has come under severe criticism for failing to rein in on the militias and provide security and stability to the country.

The brigades of Libya Shield are not the only ones that will be dissolved. The plan will include the many other powerful brigades that already fall under the ministries – including, but not limited to, the Qaaqaa, Sawaq, Nawasi and Swehli brigades – as well as brigades that currently do not take orders from any government department. All brigades are to go.

Daily carnage in Iraq......

Baghdad Rattled by Blasts: 43 Killed Across Iraq

Tuesday: 43 Killed, 81 Wounded

by Margaret Griffis, June 18, 2013

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In Baghdad, a pair of suicide bombers attacked a Shi’ite mosque in the Qahiradistrict, killing 37 and wounding 57 more; the pair killed several guards before blowing themselves up during noon prayers. One person was killed and six were wounded in Habibiya. A bomb in Mansour wounded four people.

A bomb in Garma killed a civilian and wounded his brother.

In Mosul, ten people were wounded in a car bombing. Security forces killed two gunmen.

A police captain and a policeman were wounded in a roadside bombing in Falluja.

A roadside bomb wounded a police officer in Kirkuk.

In Hit, a bomb targeted a political candidate but left no casualties.

A bomb targeted a police chief in Shurqat, but no casualties were reported.