Tripoli, 30 August:
The National Congress has suspended three of its members over their links with the Qaddafi regime, it was announced . . .[restrict]yesterday.
The move followed an investigation by the Integrity Commission, which is responsible for investigating all those either seeking or in public office for crimes or corruption committed under the previous regime.
“We discovered the three representatives were either members of the Qaddafi Revolutionary Guards or involved in criminal anti-revolutionary activities,” the commission’s spokesman, Omar Al-Hassabi told Reuters.
“For this reason, we advised the National Congress, which suspended their membership on Wednesday morning.”
The three suspended members are Annifishi Abdussalam Abdul Manee, an individual member from Tarhouna; Salma Ekhail, a National Forces Alliance member from Zliten; and Ibrahim Mohamed Eddah, a Libyan Party for Liberty and Development member from Obari.
The three have ten days from the date of the decision to appeal.
The Libya Herald has also been informed that further suspensions may be announced in the coming days.
Prior to the elections, the Integrity Commission disqualified a comparatively small number of the 3,702 candidates standing for election, just 242 in total.
Of those, 221 were men and 21 were women. 76 men and six women won the right to return on appeal, with 135 men and 15 women remaining disqualified.
It is not known if any of the three were amongst those candidates initially disqualified who subsequently won on appeal. [/restrict]
