– Election candidate shot in south
– Transparency Authority to remove two NTC members.
By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 16 May:
The official press conference was . . .[restrict]a rather shorter than usual affair today, where official spokesperson Nasser Al-Mana looked in a hurry, slightly underprepared and short of news.
Al-Mana was also about to wrap up his press conference without mentioning the clashes and deaths that occurred in Ghadames, had they not been raised by a member of the media.
Seven dead and 20 injured in Ghadames clashes
In response to a prompt by a member of the media, the official spokesperson admitted that today morning there were clashes in Ghadames and that 7 died and 20 were injured when they were attached by outsiders. The airport had to be closed. The Libyan National Army intervened. More military and humanitarian help is on its way. ‘The city is now under control’, the spokesperson assured.
‘We don’t have full details yet as to where these outsiders came from. We will give more details at the end of the investigation’.
Election Candidate shot dead in the South
“In the Murzuk-Obari area Dr Khaled Abukhatwan, a medical doctor and candidate for the forthcoming elections, was killed. He died as a martyr of the post revolution and state establishment stage. The government has formed an investigation and fact-finding committee. We are hopeful that we will arrest those who were responsible.”
Criminals kill driver and guards transferring bank cash
“The Ministry of Interior is sorry and apologizes for the attack on a vehicle near the town of Marj on its way from Benghazi to Tobruk carrying money to the North Africa Bank. This attack led to the death of four people including driver and guards. They were killed by criminals and an organized group. They have been arrested and investigations are continuing. They will be dealt with without leniency. The results of the investigation will be revealed.
“We want pass our condolences to the families of the victims. The government had sent a delegation to visit the families and the Prime Minister had phoned the families to pass on his condolences.”
Updates on the trail of Saif and Senussi?
In answer to a question on the latest on the trail of Saif-Al Islam Qaddafi and Abdallah Senussi, the spokesperson said that there were no further developments. “Discussions continue with Mauritania and France with the insistence by Libya that it has the full right to put them on trail in Libya. We are proceeding with preparations for this,” he insisted.
Transparency Authority to remove members of the NTC
On the question of the news of the Transparency Authority removing two members of the NTC for not being fit for their positions, the spokesperson replied that “the Transparency Authority is an independent body. I like you read the reports but I have nothing to add. This is progress in Libya. The Prime Minister and the Government hear the results of the activities of this body like others, and we have no comments”.
“We call for the laws of the Transparency Authority be upheld. The law should be above all. We are sorry to hear when any name is mentioned, but are happy that the law is being enforced.”
Afriqiyia aircraft held in Saudi
The spokesperson had no comment on the breaking news that a Libyan Afriqiyia Airlines craft was held in Saudi Arabia. “The Ministry of Transport will be issuing a statement soon,” he said.
The return of Libyan army vehicles from Tunisia
‘”The Minister of Defence met with his Tunisian counterpart and discussed ways of cooperation in various fields including the return to Libya of its vehicles, mechanised units and arms that were held in Tunisia during the war.
“The Ministry also announced that the wages of its medical corps will be equated with those of the medical sector.
“The Libyan Chief of Staff also met his Tunisian counterpart and discussed ways of improving border security.
“The Ministry also announced that Metiga Airport and the Sirte steam power station are now all free of war leftovers.
“It also announced that the Melitah Complex has been contracted out for demeaning.”
Justice: Libya assets the right to put on trail its citizens
“The Minister of Justice met with his South African counterpart to study areas of cooperation and he also put forward a proposal to study the possibility of cooperation with regards to the putting on trail of criminals.
“The Libyan Minister also took part in a conference in South Africa and during this conference it was asserted that Libya had the legal right put Libyans on trail.
“Today ends the third round of the training of 50 judges and other experts in election appeals held in various Libyan cities in preparation for the elections.
“The Ain Zara Court Centre as well as in various towns in the Western (Nafusa) mountains were received by the Ministry of Justice after the completion of maintenance on them.”
Publicly owned agricultural land returned to state
“The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources announced that the 5th Agricultural Fair held in Tripoli last week attracted 121 local and international companies.
“It also announced that 208,000 hectares in south west Libya were inspected and around 9,500 hectares were treated for various infections.
“It also announced that numerous state-owned agricultural areas that had been taken over by Libyans have now been returned.”
Ministerial wages publicized on social networks
In a question regarding the accuracy of ministerial wages publicised on social network sites, the spokesperson replied that “we are a country of law and transparency and that there is already much information available on the internet and government website. But we would like to assure all that there are no hidden facts and that in time everything will be published. We need clear procedures on these matters”. The spokesperson then joked that during the old regime, the publicised wages were minor and that reality was totally different.
Resignation of Deputy HNEC head
On the news of the resignation of the deputy head of the High National Election Commission (HNEC) posted on the social networks, spokesperson Al-Mana said the government had “no comments. No details reached us of the resignation”. [/restrict]
