By Maha Ellawati.
Benghazi, 26 October 2013:
There has been a massive car explosion this morning in Benghazi in front of the Alwiya . . .[restrict]Hura school (formally known as Alwiya Khadhra) in the city’s Majouri area.
There were no casualties but the explosion resulted in the destruction of five vehicles parked in front of the school, according to Abdullah Zeidi, spokesman for the city’s Joint Operations Room. Many of the school’s windows were blown out as well. Six kilos of explosives were used, Zeidi added.
The target appears to have been the upcoming municipal elections in the city. The schools is being used by the Benghazi subcommittee of Central Committee for Municipal Councils Elections (CCMCE) as a training centre.
There were some 300 registration staff from different locations in Benghazi attending a training session for the elections. It had started yesterday. At least four of the wrecked cars belonged to volunteers and there is speculation that the aim of the attackers was to frighten all of them off taking part in the elections.
“It appears to be an attempt to sabotage the municipal elections”, one official said.
The head of the Central Committee for Municipal Councils Elections (CCMCE), Otman Gajiji, has condemned the attack, calling it an assault on Libya’s young democracy. He added that his immediate concern was for the wellbeing of those attending the course. But, he said, CCMCE would not be frightened off its work.
Earlier a spokesman at the High National Election Commission (HNEC) denied a statement from Zeidi that the training session was for officials involved in the elections for the 60-member Constitutional Committee.
Congress is due tomorrow to consider a request from the head of HNEC, Nuri Elabbar, to postpone all the municipal elections in Libya because that they might clash with those for the Constitutional Committee. It is not known if today’s attack will influence Congress members’ view either way. It had been thought that the request would be approved .
It has however, drawn criticism from the Benghazi CCMCE subcommittee. The day before yesterday, a member of the committee said on Libya Al-Ahrar TV that the city urgently needed an effective council in view of the security situation there.
With input from Ayman Amzein and Ahmed Elumami. [/restrict]
