By Tom Westcott and Siraj Essul.
Tripoli, 30 April 2013:
In a move against the actions of militiamen who have blockaded and attacked . . .[restrict]four government ministries in support of the controversial Political Isolation Law, protestors gathered this evening in Tripoli’s Algeria Square. They vow to remain there until law and order is re-established in the country.
Like the militiamen who have blockaded the ministries – thought to be no more than a couple of hundred – numbers were small. The counter-protest started at 5pm with just seven people, but had grown to around 50 an hour later. However, those present, mainly from civil society organisations, believed that their nascent campaign against the militias would be strongly supported across the country.
They stressed that they were not against the Isolation Law which would ban several thousand Qaddafi-era officials from holding posts in government or state institutions. They were purely against the attacks on the ministries, they said, and the violence, kidnapping, torture and other crimes practiced by a number of militias.
The “only solution is people on the street taking action”, said one demonstrator.
They waved placards that read “Not everyone who holds a weapon is a man” and “Step aside Mok Mok” – the term meaning “foolish” given to anti-government protestors that took off last month.
Several had masking tape over their mouths to symbolise their opposition to the growing number of attacks on journalists by militiamen. [/restrict]
