By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 10 September 2013:
The Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Social Affairs sent employees home on . . .[restrict]Sunday, in response to “polite requests” from local protestors participating in what was intended to be a nationwide general strike.
The Ministry of Youth and Sports was not targeted specifically but was entered by protestors because it was close to Sabaa District Council offices in Tripoli, from where the strikers had set off.
Director of media for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mazen Dreibika, told the Libya Herald that a group of young protesters entered the building at 8:30 am and presented themselves to the Ministry’s administration department. They made a “polite request” for everyone to stop working, and the administration department decided to comply and instructed employees to leave.
“Everyone, including myself, left the Ministry,” Dreibika said. “We respected the protesters’ civilised and legitimate demands and left to avoid causing any problems.”
He added that the nearby Ministry of Social Affairs responded to similar requests and also sent its employees home for the day.
Sunday’s general strike attracted only a very modest turnout but was another example of a completely peaceful protest. At the end of August Prime Minister Ali Zeidan praised a peaceful protest staged outside Congress by people seeking compensation for war damages, calling it a “model demonstration.” [/restrict]
