Tripoli, 22 December:
Interior Minister Ashour Shuwail denied that individuals and groups that the Libyan media had suggested were wanted in connection . . .[restrict]with attacks on security personnel in Benghazi were being sought by the authorities in the eastern city.
Several news websites and satellite television channels had published lists of names allegedly implicated in the string of assassinations, and those named in the lists have strenuously denied their involvement in the attacks.
Shuwail said in a press conference on Thursday that those named, including the group Ansar Al-Sharia, were not being sought in relation to events in Benghazi over recent months, contrary to what some media outlets had said.
The Interior Minister also condemned the attacks in Benghazi, including the most recent outbreak on Thursday, saying that the event had shown that “there are those who are exploiting the situation to sow discord”.
However, Shuwail did say that suspects arrested last week in relation to the violence in the eastern city had been transferred outside Benghazi “out of concern for their safety and to prevent more casualties”.
His statement seemed to refer to the fact that the crowd that gathered outside the General Security Directorate in the city’s Al-Hawari district had been calling for the release of two prisoners they believed were being held there.
The suspects had been handed over to the judiciary, Shuwail said, and he hoped that a counsel would be appointed to investigate the case in the coming day. He also urged all sides in Benghazi to exercise self-restraint in the coming days.
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