By Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 15 September 2013:
Protestors from the Brigade of Liberation are staging angry protests outside the General National Congress (GNC) . . .[restrict]today, in a dispute over wages.
The protestors, who say they are members of the Brigade of Liberation, claim they haven’t been paid for 18 months. They amassed outside the GNC shortly after midday and had heated discussions with GNC security personnel, during which several warning gunshots were fired into the air.
“How can I raise my children without a salary? The government should do something quickly,” one protestor told the Libya Herald. “I’m not going to leave until Nuri Abu Sahmain solves the problem.” Another one said that the Brigade numbered 7,000 and that they were all on their way to Tripoli.
However, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence, Abdulrazaq Mohammed Al-Shebahe, told the Libya Herald that it was a paperwork problem. “These people need to officially join the brigade and fill out applications about themselves,” he said, “because we need to know exactly who these 7,000 members of the Brigade of Liberation actually are.”
The protest completely disrupted this morning’s GNC sitting, with security eventually closing the gates. [/restrict]
