By Tom Westcott and Ahmed Elumami.
Tripoli, 9 November 2013:
Thursday night’s clashes, during which intense gun battles raged on the streets of . . .[restrict]east Tripoli for three hours, left two dead and 29 injured.
All were from Tripoli, head of the Supreme Security Committee (SSC), Hashim Bishr, told the Libya Herald. One of the dead, he said, was an ordinary civilian, who had tried to intervene in the fighting.
The clashes are understood to have been predominantly between Tripoli-based members of Misrata brigades and a group from Suq Al-Juma, sparked by the death of the Commander of the Misrata Nosoor Battalion, Nuri Friwan, on Thursday afternoon. Several other groups are also believed to have become involved in the fighting.
Describing the negotiations between Tripoli and elders from Misrata to bring an end to the dispute as “useless,” Bishr warned there could be further fighting. The Misratan elders, he said, had demanded that Tripoli hand over the five men manning the checkpoint by the planetarium near Shara Al-Shat on the night Friwan was injured.
“Everything needs to be under the rule of law,” Bishr said, “Both sides should be investigated by the Attorney General.”
During the clashes, Bishr said, he talked to the Minister of Justice, Salah Marghani, and requested a neutral force, either from the Judicial Police or Special Forces, to intervene in the fighting. He said that other security forces, including some members of the SSC itself, could not be relied upon not to take sides. He said no such neutral force had yet been provided. [/restrict]
