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By Tom Little.
Tripoli, 6 January:
The Ministry of Defence today issued a statement ordering military personnel of all ranks to rejoin their . . .[restrict]units immediately, Libyan news agency LANA reported.
In the statement, the ministry called on all soldiers, sailors and airmen to join their units across the country, apparently in response to the persistent problem of absenteeism in the security services.
The call from the ministry came just one day after Prime Minister Ali Zeidan also tackled the issue in a speech at a weekly press conference yesterday, saying: “I have given instructions that all personnel must return to work otherwise we will take all necessary steps.”
“We don’t want to do this, but we will if we have to. Refusing to return to work is unacceptable,” he added.
It is understood that there are currently many members of the armed forces who have refused to return to their units and start work again since the revolution in 2011 but who continue to receive government salaries.
The Ministry of Defence’s statement today also warned that any personnel who failed to return to work within one month would cease to receive their salaries and would be subject to strict legal investigations. [/restrict]
