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By Noora Ibrahim.
Benghazi, 18 August 2014:
The Islamist Revolutionary Council of Benghazi and the Muslim Brotherhood and their allies . . .[restrict]in the city have found themselves locked in a bitter feud over a new local organisation.
While considered to be at least sympathetic to one another’s causes, yesterday the Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi, an umbrella organisation including Ansar Al-Sharia and Libya Shield, denounced the new local body headed by local Muslim Brotherhood leaders.
The Revolutionary Shura Council of Benghazi accused the newly formed Shura Council of Benghazi of attempting to capitalise on the blood of the city’s martyrs and trying to grab power out of instability. The similarity between the names of the two organisations, the revolutionary council said, was also an attempt to steal further credibility.
The revolutionary council said that both the Justice and Construction Party, the Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, and the National Forces Alliance, their political rivals, were equally responsible for the country’s problems. It said the groups had sought to “control the political landscape of the country while ignoring the revolutionaries”.
The Revolutionary Shura Council reiterated its condemnation of democracy saying its goals did not align with those of the Benghazi Shura Council.
Benghazi Shura Council, which was inaugurated last week, was set up to deal with instability and, in particular, look to lay the ground work for the arrival of the House of Representatives. While the council is formed from a number of local tribal elders and experts including former electoral commission head Nuri Elabbar it has also included Muslim Brotherhood members of Benghazi Municipal Council. The Municipal Council’s leader Tariq Awad Al-Urfi was among them.
The Revolutionary Shura Council said it was not fighting for the House of Representatives or any other national council but for faith alone. It concluded its statement saying it wished to fight to protect the people of Benghazi and restore stability under the rule of Sharia law.
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