By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 15 May 2013:
Rumours that the headquarters of the General Chief of Staff, Major-General Yousef Mangoush, sustained an attack . . .[restrict]by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) have today been denied.
A spokesman for the General Chief of Staff, Colonel Ali Sheikhi, denied that there had been either an assassination attempt on Mangoush, or an attack on his headquarters this morning.
Sheikhi told the Libya Herald that Mangoush was still in post and was in Tripoli doing his normal work. Nothing had happened at the headquarters, he added.
Rumours about an RPG attack targeting Mangoush have been widely circulating on social media networks today.
Hundreds of people in Benghazi staged a protest last night, following Monday’s car blast near the Jala hospital. They demanded that the General National Congress (GNC) replace Mangoush, because he has been unable to rebuild the Libyan army or enhance security in the city.
The GNC’s defence committee voted, on 7 May, to consider appointing a new Chief of Staff in a month’s time. Mangoush will stay in post and continue to run the military until 7 June, when the GNC will meet again and decide whether to replace him or keep him in office. [/restrict]
