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By Libya Herald reporters.
Benghazi, 7 August 2017:
Eastern tribal leaders have warned that relatives of those who have been killed, abused and kidnapped must play a key role in the reconciliation process.
Describing such victims as “martyrs”, the 108 sheikhs and tribal elders meeting in Benghazi’s Tibesti hotel last night appeared to be referring to those who had died in the fight for control of the city against Benghazi Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council and its terrorist allies from the so-called Islamic State and Ansar Al-Sharia.
The gathering was reported to have underlined its support for the Libyan National Army (LNA) and the young people behind it, who had brought “dignity, heroism and honour to the fight against terrorism”.
The meeting, which was attended by Benghazi mayor Abdelrahman Elabbar, also looked at the task of rebuilding the city, large areas of which have been devastated in three years of fighting.
However, the key concern of the evening was summed up in a statement which insisted “there is no right for anyone to engage in any reconciliation without reference to the parents of the martyrs who have suffered the bitterness of the loss of their loved ones who have been killed, abused and kidnapped …. They must be a key party in any reconciliation projects from its inception until its completion. These parents will be the guardians of the blood of their children”.
