By Jamal Adel.
Tripoli, 26 May 2014:
Classes were suspended on Saturday until further notice at Benghazi University’s Jalu College of Science and . . .[restrict]Arts after gunshots were fired by guards at the checkpoint in northern Jalu at a bus filled with female students from the university.
“Concerned about the security of students and staff, the Benghazi University – Jalu closed on Saturday after a bus carrying female students from the Awjila oasis was stopped at the northern checkpoint,” Salim Agelah Al-Sikran, the university’s Engineering Department Head explained to the Libya Herald.
“It is believed that the bus driver refused to stop at the checkpoint, causing the security guards to fire warning bullets,” said Sikran.
“This sparked indignation among the small Awjila community, who then attacked the premises of the Jalu unit of the Petroleum Facilities Guards (PFG) in Awjila,” said Sikran. No casualties were reported.
Some 250 kilometres south of Ajdabiya, Awjila is mainly inhabited by members of the Amazigh tribe, which is struggling to restore its long-buried Tamazight identity. In recent years, the town has become a local oil services centre.
“The suspension will not last long, as community elders have already begun talks to remedy and control the situation. We are very keen to keep this issue contained,” Sikran told this paper. [/restrict]
