By Ayman Amzein.
Benghazi, 2 November 2015:
One of the . . .[restrict]two passport offices in Benghazi which serve much of the east of the country, was closed down today after a fist-fight broke out.
Details are unclear but management at the passport centre at Al-Majuri appear to have called for armed protection after a mini riot broke out among applicants for the new e-passport.
Despite repeated efforts to fix its online application process, the main passport office in Tripoli is still grappling to get a dysfunctional system to work. This affects the whole of the country.
The task is reportedly made more difficult by hackers who appear to have taken advantage of a lack of firewire wall protection on the online application site, to set up a business selling places at the head of the queue which they have manipulated.
The Libya Herald has been told that frustration among Benghazi applicants was the greater today because the city is preparing to issue passports directly, without channelling the process through Tripoli.
However, it is reported that the internet link which would connect to the capital is not yet up and running. In addition there are problems with the passport printing machinery and one source said that there are also issues with the supply of blank passports. [/restrict]
