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By Libya Herald staff
Tripoli, 19 May 2014:
“It is time to take a stand to get the militias out . . .[restrict]of Tripoli.”Speaking by phone to Libya Herald staff, outgoing head of the Tripoli Local Council Sadat Elbadri stated,
He further added that the city of Tripoli is suffering because of the militias and the “security void,” saying, “People are leaving Libya because the city is getting worse.”
“Where has all the bravery gone?” Elbadri poignantly asked. “We hope that someone in the Congress will take a stand against these militias.”
His demands came as Tripoli slowly got back to work a day after experiencing some of the worst fighting since the revolution. While traffic was light and some shops and banks remained closed, many businesses were open for business, and people seemed to be venturing out again after rushing to the safety of their homes yesterday afternoon.
“We are open for business as usual,” was the standard reply to Libya Herald staff on phone calls made to several European embassies. The embassies of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and France, as well as the US embassy, were all open today.
The Maltese Embassy was closed but embassy staff would not specify the reason when reached by Libya Herald staff.
Both campuses of the University of Tripoli were also closed today. However, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Education primary and secondary schools were open and students taking exams, as previously scheduled, even in schools near to the Airport Road.
Tripoli International Airport was also operating as normal, with Libyan Airlines, Tunisair, Buraq , EgyptAir, and Turkish Airlines’ flights running as scheduled. Only Afriqiyah Airlines had cancellations.
The Ministry of Health’s Facebook page posted news of a doctor being killed yesterday. A stray bullet killed Dr Abdul Atheem Tajby during the clashes. It is reported that he worked at the St James Hospita,l which was closed today.
The Ministry also announced that Deputy Minister of Health Hussein Al-Rujbani had been kidnapped for several hours during the clashes and subsequently released. [/restrict]
