Wednesday, 26 June 2013

Libya: Backing down over Black Saturday

Prime Minister Ali Zidan appears to have made a major concession to the Libya Shield in his handling of the attacks of Black Saturday. This week, he announced that the relevant ministries were working to get to the bottom of the incident and that the General Prosecutor had started meeting all the relevant parties. He explained that an “action team” comprising three committees had been set up.
 
One of the tasks of this action team will be to draw up a list of all the individuals in each of the brigades operating across the country. In this way, Zidan explained, the state will be able to determine who within these brigades, including the Libya Shield, belonged to the former regime. It looks as though the prime minister may be paving the way to exonerate the Libya Shield for its actions on Black Saturday by blaming elements linked to Qadhafi's regime within it.
 
Zidan also revealed that the fact-finding committee charged with investigating the incident is to be made up of local tribal elders from Benghazi. This is hardly a resounding endorsement for the security agencies and the capacity of the state and suggests that Zidan is keen to resolve the issue locally and on a social rather than a security level.
 
For more news and expert analysis about Libya, please see Libya Focusand Libya Politics & Security.
 
© 2013 Menas Associates

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