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Tripoli, 19 May 2012:
An armed group attempted to assassinate NTC members, Khaled Saeh and Fathi Al Baaja on Thursday night at . . .[restrict]Benghazi Airport. This attempt follows the firing on Fathi Al-Jihanni, director of Benghazi Medical Centre, the largest hospital in the eastern region.
According to Al-Jazeera net, Saeh has accused an armed group said to belong to the Cyrenaica Military Council.
Saeh reported that he had tried to talk to the group before the shooting began and that the attackers had told him they belong to the Cyrenaica military council. He added that he had met them in the morning when in Tripoli to solve their problems and receive their payments. Saleh also said that they threatened to kill him and that he requested Cyrenaica’s council to arrest them.
A member of Cyrenaica’s military council, Saleh Obeidi, refuted Saeh’s accusations and said that the council has nothing against the transitional council’s members and called for the names of the those involved to be reported to him. He also denied that the military council of Cyrenaica had ordered anybody to go to the airport.
The NGO, the Libyan Observatory for Human Rights, condemned the attempt. It called all the armed battalions to join the defense ministry and build up the country’s national army. It also called on the interior and defense ministries to provide protection and security to all the governmental officials in the country in light of the current phase of political attacks. The observatory also stated that the above incident threatens the process of democratic transformation in the country and called for prosecution of those involved in the assassination attempts.
A candidate for the 19 June elections of the national conference, Khaled Abu Khutwa from Murzuk city was assassinated by unknown individuals in the southern town of Obari after he submitted his candidacy documents to the voter’s registration centre in Obari. [/restrict]
