By Houda Mzioudet.
Tripoli, 30 October 2013:
The president of the ‘Cyrenaica Transitional Council,’ Ahmed Zubair Al-Senussi, has distanced himself from the Political . . .[restrict]Bureau of Cyrenaica (PBC) and announced the formation of the ‘Council of Cyrenaica in Libya.’
During a Benghazi press conference on Tuesday, Senussi said he tried to work with members of PBC to come up with a common vision uniting both parties. He said, however, that the PBC proved inflexible and insisted on pursuing its own plan.
The self-proclaimed PBC has been headed by former Petroleum Facilities Guard commander Ibrahim Jadhran since 17 October. On 24 October, it announced a ‘government’ for Cyrenaica.
The Council of Cyrenaica in Libya (CCL), announced by Senussi, is an entirely separate entity from Jadhran’s PBC, which also has control over some of Libya’s oil ports.
The CCL will include representatives from Libya’s eastern tribes, Senussi said. He said there would be further announcements relating to setting up a parliament and a Shura Council of Cyrenaica. He added that the struggle for a peaceful federal system would be purely through legal channels.
Senussi first announced Cyrenaica as an independent federal entity in March 2012. He is now calling for a Federal Union, which could be supported by “the Friends of Libya, or the United Nations and faithful and honourable people of Libya.” [/restrict]
