By Sami Zaptia.
Tripoli, 26 December 2013:
Small groups of demonstrators briefly blocked the entrances of both the Central . . .[restrict]Bank of Libya (CBL) and Tripoli port this morning. The action caused congestion to early morning commuters at the port entrance roundabout.
The blockaders warned CBL and Tripoli Port employees not to enter and demanded that those already at work vacate the two sites.
There was a brief standoff between some port workers and the blockaders, with reports that port workers were able to eventually force their way into their place of work.
While the two actions were apparently connected and coordinated, there was confusion as to the exact demands of both sets of blockaders with the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan being the best conclusion.
However, the blockades were notable in comparison to other blockades and demonstrations for their lack of focus and determination. Early in the week, for example, a larger and more determined group stormed both the LTT and Libyana mobile phone companies, forcing engineers at knife-point to shut-down the internet system for the whole of Libya for half a day.
The effort failed, however, as eastern Libya was able to utilize its connection to Egypt while in the west of the country an emergency system in a secret location set up during the revolution was put into operation.
It is believed that the two CBL and Tripoli Port blockades were an expansion of the storming of the LTT and Libyana Mobile phone headquarters.
By the middle of the day both attempts to blockade the CBL and the port fizzled out with no reported damage or violence.
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