By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 1 November 2015:
The Tripoli-based Libya Revolutionaries’ Operations Room (LROR) has threatened action against brigades from Misrata following the . . .[restrict]shooting down of a helicopter flying from Tripoli to Zawia last week, killing all on board including a number of Libya Dawn top brass.
Without actually mentioning the Misratans, it said in a statement issued yesterday that only the General National Congress (GNC) could approve truce agreements and that anyone who negotiated with the “Army of the Tribes” (the term Tripoli uses for the Wershefana and other militia operating west of the capital) without GNC approval was committing treason and therefore deserved severe punishment.
The Halbous, Mahjoub and other Misratan brigades signed truces with the Wershafana and other forces west of Tripoli during the summer and then pulled out of the area, much to the fury of the more hardline members of the Libya Dawn alliance. When, following the crash, the GNC and its chief of staff called for military action against the Wershefana who stood accused of downing the helicopter, both the Halbous and Mahjoub refused, saying they would stick to their truce.
In yesterday’s statement, the LROR angrily accused the Misratans of co-responsibility for the crash, along with the “Army of the Tribes”, because of the truce with them.
The Wershfana have denied any involvement in the incident – a denial that has been accepted by elders in Zawia.
The LROR statement is likely to deepen divisions within the Libya Dawn alliance even further.
The LROR was set up two years ago by GNC president Nuri Abu Sahmain ostensibly to protect the legislature and the capital, and was supposedly answerable directly to him. Former prime minister Ali Zeidan accused it of involvement in his kidnapping in October 2013. [/restrict]
