By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli 24 August 2016:
The mayor and officials from the far west Tripoli suburb of Janzour have had talks in Zintan with its mayor and officials in a bid to normalise relations between the two communities.
The return to Janzour of those who left because of the political crisis and who are now living in Zintan was one of the issues addressed. The closure of the coast road between Tripoli and Zawia and other issues of contention between the two were also discussed.
Janzour’s relations with the neighbouring Wirshefana are also believed to have been a major point of discussion. Zintan and its Wirshefani allies are the main element in the pro-Libyan National Army (LNA) and pro-House of Representatives (HoR) bloc west of Tripoli. In addition, a significant proportion of Janzour residents are Wirshefanis although they are hardly represented on the municipal council which previously supported the former Libya Dawn alliance, opposed to the Wirshefana, Zintan, the LNA and the HoR.
Any bid by those in control of Janzour to reach an accommodation with the Wirshefana will be eased by improved relations with Zintan.
Meanwhile, in a follow-up to last Saturday’s mediation efforts in the Wirshefana town of Zahra to secure the reopening of the coastal road between Zawia and Tripoli, mayors from a number of Jebel Nafusa and west coast towns were in Zawia yesterday to continue to try and find a solution to the issue.