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By Saber Ayyub.
Tripoli, 8 March 2016:
UN special envoy Martin Kobler has protested at the arrest of three members of the security . . .[restrict]committee set up by the Presidency Council yesterday at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport. The three, who were returning from Tunisia, were detained for a couple of hours before being released.
Named as colonels Omar Mohamed Douaiher, Abu Ghassem Amin Ali and Abdulhakim Muftah Warefelli, they were interrogated, their passports confiscated and told they would have to appear at the public prosecutor’s office today.
The 18-member Temporary Security Committee was set up in January by Serraj to ensure the national unity government can go to Tripoli and operate there. The head of the Tripoli government, Khalifa Ghwell, responded by ordering the arrest of any menbers who set foot in Tripoli or other areas controlled by Libya Dawn forces.
Until now that order has been ignored.
“The detention of the TSC members is against UN Security Council resolution (2259), and aims at preventing the Temporary Security Committee from performing its duties freely and safely,” Kobler warned, calling on all Libyan parties to cooperate with it.
“The Special Representative reminds all parties that the Temporary Security Committee is an official body that works under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement,” a statement from Kobler read.
The detention calls into question widespread reports that the head of the Rada (“deterrence”) forces, Abdul Raouf Kara, has decided to suport the unity government and ensure its safety in Tripoli.
He is based at Migita and his men control arrivals and departures there, reportedly detaining several each day. Alternatively, not all his forces are fully under his control. [/restrict]
