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Tripoli, 4 August:
A passer-by was slightly injured when a small bomb exploded in downtown Tripoli early this morning, Saturday, just before . . .[restrict]dawn prayers. A vehicle was also completely destroyed in the incident which followed a clash between two groups wanting to set up a pavement stall in Rasheed Street, near the Bourguiba Mosque, just south of the old city.
Impromptu street stalls are a normal occurrence during Ramadan and there are plenty in the area, known for being an open market all year round. Even outside Ramadan there are regular battles there over stall sites.
According to shop owners on the street, the dispute started on Friday evening when the two groups started fighting over the same space in the street.
They later came back with guns and gelatina, the home-made explosives used by some fishermen, reported local police. It was one of devices that was thrown and exploded. The police say that the injured man was more in a state of shock than anything else.
When Libya Herald went to the street this morning, people were going about their normal business. Some did not even know about the fight.
“It was a small thing”, said one revolutionary there. “We’ll catch the guys.”
Tripoli police, however, report they are not yet convinced all is quite what it seems. They are investigating the fact that the damage to the vehicle, a Honda Civic, appears to have been far greater than could have been caused by a gelatina bomb and that either it was a car bomb or that the vehicle had explosives inside which were for transportation elsewhere.
The car is a complete wreck. However, the lack of a tell-tale crater has led the local police station very close-by to be doubtful about notions of a car bomb.
reporting by Umar Khan [/restrict]
