By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 22 November 2013:
Speaking at the press conference held yesterday evening at the end of the Sawaq militia handover . . .[restrict]of the Islamic Call Society complex located in Jibs-Gate on the Swani Road, the Prime Minister warned “opportunists” against moving into public property.
“Only the state had the right to be a custodian over public or contested property”, he stated. “Public property does not need anyone else to act as its custodian on the public’s behalf.”.
With regards to the attempt to demolish the series of large Gharghour villas that had been occupied by the Misratan militia and used as their base, Zeidan confirmed that it was he who had intervened to stop the demolition.
The Prime Minister said that such an act was “destructive” at a time when the nation suffered “a housing shortage”.
“We must construct not destroy”, he added. “Destruction was such a regressive act. We must safeguard our heritage and our building, not destroy them”. [/restrict]