By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 19 November 2013:
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was quizzed today by members of the General National Congress, after . . .[restrict]he was called before them to explain what had been happening since the Gharghour carnage on Friday.
Backed by members of his cabinet, including Defence Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni and senior police and army officers, Zeidan said that the government had developed “a direct plan” to implement Law 27, that banned armed militias from Libyan cities. However it had taken a long time to determine who was targeted by the legislation.
He reminded members of congress that a committee had been formed under Electricity Minister Ali Muhairiq, which had been in touch with many of the armed groups, seeking to limit their number and function.
He said that the government had continued to work on the implementation of the law, and pointed to the recent transfer of the control of the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) to the army.
Congressman Omar Hemidan, who is also the GNC spokesman, said “What happened last Friday was a disaster by any standards and no law and no norms allow such an assault on civilians”. He added that congress had sought to intervene, counselling restraint, because events such as Gharghour “ could lead to a rift in the social fabric”.
Ali Muhairiq said the Ministry of Justice had opened an investigation into what happened at Gharghour and that the Ministry of the Interior had evidence, which it would be submitting to the Attorney-General.
Muhairiq told congress that any armed man who had not been recruited into the military and had received a military number, would be targeted by Law 27.
He added that in his view, it was most important to develop a plan that provided for the absorption of militiamen into the military, as well as collecting up their weapons. However he also warned that, as the militias were disbanded, alternative security provision should be made, to “fill the void” left by the militias’ departure from the scene.
With contributions from Ahmed Elumami [/restrict]
