By Mathieu Galtier.
Tripoli, 4 July 2014:
A Frenchman and an Austrian accused of spying by General Hafter’s spokesman have arrived in Tripoli . . .[restrict]after being detained in Beida for 15 days
The unnamed Europeans, who had been working for the International Management Group (IMG) on an EU-funded project, were arrested on 20 June. Local MP Zaynap Targhi said that the men “ had high-quality equipment like cameras and GPS, so it raised concerns among security men in the city about their true agenda”.
This equipment was probably connected with the pair’s apparent search for a Beida office for the IMG, from which the organisation could offer assistance to the Constitutional Assembly which is working in the city to draft the new constitution. IMG has been running a €4.5-million mission on public administration and capacity building facility in Libya financed by the European Commission.
The sequence of events is unclear. Sources close to the European Union say that it appears that the men were originally imprisoned and questioned. According to Targhi, “Security discovered that they were part of an international programme after a two-day investigation, so they were released and they were held in a hotel until they could leave Beida”. They were well-treated during their arrest according to different sources.
The release of the pair, who were working for the IMG as subcontractors, came despite a claim on Thursday by Mohammed Hejazi, Khalifa Hafter’s spokesman that they were members of the UN and were “spies”. Hejazi made the accusation during a visit to Beida. This prompted a denial from UNSMIL. In a statement this morning, the organisation said it “ “categorically denies claims reported by some media that staff members were detained in the city of a Beida”.
Formed in 1994 in an initiative triggered by the UNHCR, IMG is an independent body that works with the likes of the EU as well as the UN.
Meanwhile Targhi insisted:”The whole story is just an unfortunate misunderstanding”.
Beida has a reputation as one of the safest city in Libya because of the absence of armed groups. Former Prime Minister, Ali Zeidan, chose it to make his comeback to Libya on 18 June. However Beida has recently seen some violence. A car bomb exploded in front of the headquarters of the Constitutional Assembly on 26 June.
The EU is reassessing security in Beida and might reduce its presence as a result of the incident, said the EU source.
“Security questions have been raised by the arrests. Will we send international experts to Beida as was planned? At this stage, it is hard to say”.
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