By Hadi Fornaji.
Tripoli, 23 June 2013:
The Grand Mufti has added his voice to that of the Prime Minister calling on Tawerghans . . .[restrict]not to return to their deserted hometown from which they were expelled in August 2011. They plan to do so on Tuesday.
Sheikh Sadeq Al-Ghariani has called the move “dangerous”, “wrong” and had to be reconsidered “because it could result in civil war and even more shedding of innocent blood”.
However, he accused the government and Congress for the Tawerghans’ present plight.
The displaced Tawerghans were unable to send their children to school, he claimed, and many of them were without money, were unable to work or support their families. Not only had they not been given decent living conditions in the camps, no government officials “even cared to pay them a visit”, he stated. Other Libyan and international bodies had done so, although he suggested they were doing so “to exploit their situation”.
Moreover, the situation had not been resolved, he said. The perpetrators of the crimes Tawerghans are accused of had never been brought to justice.
“The Government must bear full responsibility for these displaced families, “ he declared. It was because of the authorities’ inaction that the Tawerghans were so desperate as to opt on for such a “dangerous” course.
He called on the government make the Tawergha issue its top priority, above all others, insisting that it provide suitable accommodation to the displaced families, pay wages owed to them, and ensure their children were educated.
There had to be justice, he said. Without it, and without the perpetrators of crimes being brought to account, there could be no reconciliation. He called on those motivated by desire for revenge and hatred need to be forgiving and tolerant.
Speaking today in his press conference with visiting Maltese Premier Joseph Muscat, Ali Zeidan welcomed the Grand Mufti’s intervention, and his concern for the Tawerghans. [/restrict]
