Jamie Prentis.
Tunis, 6 July 2017:
Tawerghans have pressed Presidency Council (PC) deputy head Ahmed Maetig to push for their immediate return to their devastated town.
Tawerghan council leader Abdulrahman Shakshak has become increasingly strident in his protest that the PC is not providing compensation to the townspeople nor has it begun repairs to the infrastructure in and around Tawergha. Producing this money was a key part of the UNSMIL-brokered agreement that was made with the Misratans more than two years ago.
This was followed this June by a detailed deal worked out over the last two years, in which the PC pledged to get on with the work. Shashak has said that the town is littered with unexploded ordinance, many properties are seriously damaged and have been looted, schools and hospitals have to be repaired and GECOL needs to reconnect the power supply.
Maetig, who is from Misrata had been an apparently enthusiastic party to the June agreement. However there are still factions in his city who resolutely oppose the return of the Tawerghans. During the Revolution, Tawergha was a base for Qaddafi’s bloody assault on Misrata and Tawerghan irregulars have been accused of war crimes.
