By George Grant.
Benghazi, 6 July:
One man was killed and another wounded outside Benghazi today, when suspected pro-federalist gunmen fired on a . . .[restrict]helicopter carrying voting materials for tomorrow’s elections.
The helicopter, which was destined for Tocra, approximately 60 kilometres east of Benghazi, made a forced landing in the Budezira area on the outskirts of the city.
The dead man was Abdullah Al-Barassi, believed to have been aged 22 and a volunteer with the HNEC.
The attack is the latest and most serious demonstration of violence by federalists demanding equal numbers of seats on the National Conference and greater autonomy for eastern Libya.
Yesterday, pro-federalist militiamen closed down oil terminals at Ras Lanuf, Sidra, Brega and Al-Hreigaarea, the same day that a storage centre for election materials in Ajdabiya was burned to the ground.
Earlier today, a C5 rocket and an RPG were also fired at the Benghazi Medical Centre by unknown assailants, although both missed their target.
The violence has shocked residents in the eastern city, and with just hours to go before Satuday’s historic elections, the federalists’ increasingly aggressive tactics now appear to be turning voters against them.
“I used to be with the federalists, but they have ruined themselves with these actions”, said Bilal Bettamer, a law student at Beghazi University. “They are too aggressive; they are behaving like terrorists, and I cannot support that. I can tell you that a lot of my friends and family feel the same way.”
This evening, some 2,000 anti-federalist demonstrators once again gathered outside the courthouse in Benghazi to show their support for tomorrow’s elections, with similar rallies having been held every evening since Monday, following Sunday’s raid on the HNEC headquarters in the city.
“I’ve been coming here almost every night to protest against the violence”, said Seraj Bugaughis, a former head of finance at the AGOCO oil company. “I think this violence has made people still more determined to vote.”
Others in Benghazi have also insisted that the federalists will not prevent the vote from going ahead.
“They are a minority, but an extremely noisy one”, said Suleiman Zubi, Benghazi’s former election commissioner and now a candidate for tomorrow’s elections. “Stopping oil refineries will not stop this vote from going ahead. People haven’t come this far only to throw it all away now”.
In spite of this, federalists in the city seem undeterred. A smaller but no less vocal rally of around 300 demonstrators gathered off Dubai street in Benghazi this evening, calling for a boycott of the elections.
“We got rid of one tyrant, now we want to rule ourselves”, said Othman Assati. “We believe there is a lot of foreign money going into Tripoli right now, and we want to be ruled by Libyans”.
Speaking earlier today, Majid Wanis, the son of the last prime minister before Qaddafi and a leading federalist, warned there could be further violence if their demands for equal representation on the National Conference was not met.
“What we are talking about is a second revolution”, he said. “If they ignore us, they could have a revolt on their hands”.
Wanis said that the NTC’s last minute decision to allow the constitution-writing committee to be selected on the basis of popular elections rather than being appointed by the National Conference had changed little.
“This is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. We wanted a constitution before the elections, so everyone could know what it is they are voting for. This election is no election for us”.
With fears that more attacks could accompany voting tomorrow, security for the elections will be high, with plans to deploy at least 30 security personnel to every polling station.
“We are expecting some trouble tomorrow”, said Mohammed Barce, a company commander of the national army’s 1st Brigade. “However, we will be deployed all over the city and we’ve been tasked with making sure the voting goes smoothly”.
Down at the HNEC headquarters itself, the mood is equally defiant, and almost no trace of last Sunday’s raid can be found, save for a small scorch mark where ballot papers and computers were burned outside.
“Benghazi is ready for this vote and we are determined to make it a success”, said Khaled Zew, the commission’s coordinator for candidates and parties.
“We have electronic copies of everything that was destroyed. In Benghazi, everything will be fine; in Ajdabiya, it’s a race against time to get everything ready”.
There are 20 parties standing for election tomorrow along with 258 individual candidates, and with voter registration exceeding 80 per cent in the east, turnout is expected to be high.
“I am just looking forward to my opportunity to vote”, said Ali Ghrour, a hotel receptionist and management trainee. “We have all been through so much together, and this election is about moving Libya forwards. This is not the time to be dividing now”.
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