By Ahmed Elumami
Tripoli, 14 May 2013:
As part of its response to the Benghazi bombing, the GNC has instructed the army to spearhead . . .[restrict]a drive to remove from the city, all illegal militias and formations that do not work under the ministries of Defence and the Interior.
In Resolution 47 the General National Congress has empowered the army to join the police in checking foreigners and deporting those whose papers are not in order. The security forces have also been given the green light to remove illegal dwellings, crack down on drugs and alcohol and to stop all vehicles that have blacked-out windows and no registration plates.
The measures, which Congress said were designed to enhance security in Benghazi, will be imposed via a new Joint Security Room which will oversee cooperation between the police and the army.
Interior Minister Ashour Shuwail, who was sent to Benghazi last night by Prime Minister Ali Zaidan, said at a press conference in the city this afternoon, that the government was acting on the GNC resolution immediately.
The Joint Security Room is being headed by a high-ranking officer from the Libyan General Staff, working with senior personnel from the Interior Ministry, the General Intelligence Service, the police and the army.
The GNC has asked the Interior Ministry and the General Staff to furnish technology for the new operations room, as well as providing security forces with all the weapons, ammunition and other equipment needed to carry out the security tasks Congressmen have set out in Resolution 47.
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