By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 11 September 2013:
Some 300 publishing houses of the 400 already confirmed for this year’s International Book Fair are . . .[restrict]Libyan, according to the Ministry of Culture.
Other participating countries include Algeria, Oman, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait and India. The Ministry said that 13 shipping containers filled with books had arrived in Tripoli in the last few days, in preparation for the fair which opens on 1 October.
The containers have arrived in good time to allow for logistics, such as customs-clearance, storage and transfer to Tripoli International Fairground. In May this year, more than half the stalls at a food and farming fair were left empty on the opening night after a container full of supplies was held by customs at Khoms Port.
Deputy Culture Minister and head of the high committee for Tripoli International Book Fair Abdulrazag Al-Ibara told the Libya Herald that the Ministry would not put a ban on the sale of any publication. The Ministry’s position on freedom of expression was “non-divisible, as long as the publication does not contain indecent material,” he said.
The book fair will be held at Tripoli International Fairground on Omar Muktar Street from 1 – 10 October. [/restrict]
