By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 16 August 2016:
Bani Walid has refused to accept a consignment of medical aid sent by Qatar, according a municipal council official. The much-needed supplies were supposed to be used to help the displaced in the town.
There are several thousand refugees currently in Bani Walid, most of them from Sirte but also from Tawergha and the south. They say they feel relatively safe in Bani Walid.
All three places have a history of antipathy to Misrata and were supporters of the former Qaddafi regime.
No reason has been given for the rejection of the aid which was sent by the Qatar Development Fund via the Qatar Red Crescent to the Shaikh Tahir Charitable Association for distribution in both Misrata and Bani Walid. However, the combination of Qatar’s support for Islamists in Libya and for Misrata, and resentment of Misrata, to where the aid was flown, is thought to be responsible.
For the past three months, both the hospitals in Bani Walid and Misrata have warned that they were running out of medical supplies and, in the case of the Bani Walid hospital, that it would have to close.
