Libya updates November 18 , 2013 .... Fog of " liberated " Libya getting denser by the day !

Europe pulling back....

Lufthansa suspends flights until 25 November

By Tom Westcott.

Tripoli, 18 November 2013:

German airline Lufthansa has suspended its Libya flights until 25 November on the grounds of the General Strike that is taking place in Tripoli.

“We have cancelled flights until the 25 November, due to the General Strike announcements,” a spokesperson for Lufthansa told the Libya Herald. He added that any tickets booked over this week-long period would be refunded or rebooked at no extra cost.

“Since we only have one flight a day, the effect is not dramatic,” the spokesman said.

It took time to reinstate services after any flight cancellations, he said, explaining why flights were being postponed for a whole week when the General Strike had only planned for three days.

He added that Lufthansa was in touch with the appropriate authorities about the flight cancellations. A previous suspension of flights, in February this year, resulted in Lufthansa flying on a reduced schedule three times a week.

The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) told the Libya Herald at the time that the airline had not informed them of the decision to suspend flights “in the proper way.” This resulted in Lufthansa initially being refused permission to resume flights and then temporarily losing a code-sharing agreement with Libyan Airlines which boosted its flight quota. Flights returned to normal after one month.

EU reduces staff presence as “precautionary measure”

Tripoli, 18 November 2013:

The EU border assistance mission, EUBAM, has temporarily reduced its staff in Libya as “a precautionary measure” after the recent violent clashes in Tripoli.

The mission, in consultation with Brussels, had decided to move a small number of support staff from Tripoli on a temporary basis, EUBAM said in a statement. “Whilst EU staff have in no way been a target of the violence, the reduction in personnel in Tripoli is taken as a sensible and precautionary measure at this time,” EUBAM said.

It is understood that around ten people have been relocated to another country where they will continue to work remotely. A source close to the mission said that because the security situation in Libya was unpredictable, it made sense to lower the EU’s general profile.

EUBAM said that its work in Libya, with its full operational team, would continue in as normal a way as possible.

Fog of liberation ? 

Rumours abound in Tripoli

By Libya Herald staff.

Tripoli, 18 November 2013:

Denials have been as much the news as events today in unsettled Tripoli as the lack of official information about what is happening fuels the rumour mill.

This morning the head of Tripoli Local Council, Sadat Elbadri, denied reports on Facebook that he had been assassinated. Elbadri’s popularity is rising in Tripoli. It was he who called on demonstrators to go to the capital’s Gharghour district on Friday and make the Misrata forces there leave. Despite the carnage that resulted when the demonstrators were fired on, he is being seen as the only man so far who has successfully stood up to the militias. The departure of the forces was announced last night.

Later during the day, media reports that the headquarters of the Chief of Staff on Tripoli’s Airport Road had been stormed during the morning by armed groups were dismissed as nonsense by media staff there.

“It’s just a rumour. The situation is totally quiet”, a spokesman insisted, offering to provide photos of the base taken today to the Libya Herald to prove his claim.  Other reports that there had been fighting inside the headquarters between different groups were also untrue, he said.

Benghazi security head’s convoy attacked, bodyguard killed, another injured

Benghazi, 18 November 2013:

The head of the Benghazi Joint Security Room (BJSR) Colonel Abdullah Al-Saiti’s convoy was targeted in a car-bomb attack this morning that left one of his bodyguards dead and another seriously injured.

“One of Saiti’s bodyguards, Wisam Saed Al-Faisi, was killed in the blast and another was seriously injured,” spokesperson for the BJSR Abdullah Zaidi told the Libya Herald. “Saiti himself was not injured in the explosion and is now back at work.”

The car-bomb was a stationary vehicle packed with 45 kilos of heavy-duty explosives parked by the side of Dubai Street near the Magoury district of Benghazi, Zaidi said. He added that this appeared to have remotely detonated as Saiti’s convoy of four vehicles drove past.

Saiti always took the same route to work, he said, and was clearly the intended target of the attack.

Other vehicles nearby were apparently damaged in the blast.

Misrata units to quit Tripoli within 72 hours

By Taher Zaroog and Ahmed Elumami.

Army tanks in Tajoura. Will they still be needed in 72 hours? (Photo: Aimen Eljali)

Misrata and Tripoli, 17 November 2013:

Misratan military, council and civil society leaders this evening agreed  at a meeting in the city that all Misratan units would be withdrawn from Tripoli within 72 hours.

Also this evening, Zlitan congressman Abdussalam Asafran told the Libya Herald that the city councils of Tripoli and Misrata would meet each other at a point outside of Tripoli, which he did not specify, but which is believed to be the international airport.

Ibrahim Safar, a member of Misrata local council, announced that leaders of the city’s Revolutionaries, along with elders and members of the local shura and Misrata city councils, had agreed that all Misratan brigades and Libya Shield units will withdraw from Tripoli within three days.  The revolutionaries will also move out all their military equipment.

On top of this, the meeting agreed that all Mistratan members of Congress, along with any members of the government from the city would also quit the capital.

Safar said that Misratans held the government and Congress responsible for what has happened recently in the capital. They further demanded that the authorities ensure that any family from Misrata living in Tripoli, together with their homes and possessions, should be fully protected.

The meeting between the two city councils was agreed last night, when a delegation of congressmen and  members of the shura councils from Tripoli and the Jebel Nafusa flew to Misrata for emergency talks.  It was agreed then that both city councils should meet today at the GNC in the capital.  However the encounter was called off this morning on security grounds.

It is now thought to be going ahead close to Tripoli International airport.

Ajilat military intelligence chief murdered

By Houda Mzioudet,

Yousef Al Atrash, head of Ajilat military intelligence (Photo: Al Ajilat Facebook page).

Tripoli, 18 November 2013:

The head of the military intelligence in Ajilat, Yousef Abdennabi Al-Atrash, was shot dead yesterday evening. centre. Two which of his colleagues were also injured in the attack which occurred at his office in the town around 9 pm.

Azem Shalgham, a close friend of the murdered man, told the Libya Herald that Atrash had received several death threats recently. Two weeks ago, he said, the intelligence chief’s office had been attacked.

“He was jailed by Qaddafi and he actively participated in the Libyan Revolution,” Shalgham explained. Prior to become head of military intelligence, Atrash was head of Ajiat Military Council.

An official funeral took place in Ajilat this afternoon.

It is the first time that an official has been assassinated in the town.

Orders and counter-orders over the demolition of Gharghour villas

By Umar Khan and Ashraf Abdul Wahab.

Tripoli, 17 November 2013:

The deputy defence minister of Libya, Khalid Sharif, has ordered the Tripoli Local Council (TLC) to demolish all the buildings belonging to Qaddafi-regime officials in the district of Gharghour. It was from these buildings that Misratan forces fired on Friday during the massacre in which 43 people died and 460 were wounded.

The decision (number 14328-38) was issued Sunday afternoon, reportedly “after series of meetings with many officials and influential people of Tripoli”.  However within hours, the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Defence, Abdullah Al-Thinni  had countermanded Sharif’s instructions. The rescinding of the move was accompanied by a stern warning that locals should not approach the buildings and seek to destroy them themselves.

The government is clearly concerned that there should be no provocation in the 72 hours before Misratan forces are due to withdraw entirely from Tripoli.

Sharif’s people had explained that the idea behind the move is to defuse local tensions. The Gharghour buildings, mostly giant and expensive villas were taken over by brigade members from Misrata after the fall of Tripoli. In the past two years, there have been numerous arguments and gunfights over the ownership of these villas, the occupation of which, some local residents believe, has been the real reason for the unit staying on.

Army “abandoned” Tajoura base

By Umar Khan.

Tripoli, 17 November 2013:

The commander of an army unit has denied that his soldiers abandoned their Tajoura base in the face of a surprise dawn attack by Misratan forces on Saturday.

Misbah Alharna said that his men in Army Brigade 101 had fought back and held the attackers until they came under heavy shell fire, which left one of his men dead and eight other injured. Only then, he told Libyan news agency LANA, did they fall back.

However a Tajoura military council member told the Libya Herald: “We were betrayed by the National Army brigade which abandoned the post and cleared the way for this armed group to enter Tripoli.

“They didn’t put up a fight or called for reinforcement but simply abandoned their base. We pushed the Misratans out of the base after serious clashes but they did take out some equipment and ammunition when retreating from the base.”

The source said that the military council only learnt about the National Army brigade abandoning the post after dawn and immediately gathered its own forces to push the armed Misratan group back.

A senior member of the Tripoli Local Council, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed the account of Tajoura military council. He said: “We were informed about the betrayal of the National Army brigade that abandoned its base and left us open to attack. Events like these shake our trust in the army. They had the men and weapons yet they fled instead of asking for assistance from revolutionaries or their headquarters”.