By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 28 July 2013:
Asked by Libya Herald whether the time was right for his government to review its security policy, in view of the reality on the ground, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said that his government was “constantly reviewing its security plan” at yesterday’s press conference.
“We reinforced the army in Benghazi and Tripoli to enable it to carry out its work better. We will transfer an emergency budget to the Joint Security Room in Benghazi and Tobruk”.
“We have prepared more than 15 barracks to train security forces”.
“The (acting) Chief of Staff has been instructed to act and reinforce the security situation”.
Regarding the issue of the Chief of Staff, Zeidan said that he had talked to the GNC and asked that they hasten the appointment of the full-time Chief of Staff.
He also revealed that the GNC had assured him of their full support, including the speeding up of necessary laws to pass extra money and to allow the government to move money set in one budget for spending in other areas.
Regarding the latest spate of assassinations, Zeidan said that these were directed at the state and to delay the forthcoming elections and to delay the formation of the state. He implied that the instigators of the violence were intent on invoking a reaction from the general public. He called on the public not to “give them an opportunity”.
Regarding the demonstrations and road blocks all over Libya that followed the assassinations, Zeidan said he could understand the public’s reaction. He said that he had instructed the security forces not to take action unless collateral damage was being caused.
He, nevertheless, hoped that demonstrations would remain peaceful.
When asked about the possible role of some parties in events, Zeidan would only call on all sides not to do or say anything that would aggravate the situation. [/restrict]
