By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 17 June 2015:
With the departure of Islamic State (IS) forces from Derna, the first cigarette stall has . . .[restrict]reappeared.
Like most hardline Islamists, IS considered smoking haram and on taking control of the town had destroyed all the cigarettes it could seize.
Those cigarette stalls which had not already been or burned down, it closed.
The Shoura Council of Mujahideen in Derna (SCMD), although viewed as sympathetic to Al-Qaeda and almost as equally Islamist as IS, apparently has no concerns about smoking.
Meanwhile traffic police have also reappeared and locals have been cleaning up the town, including the Ateeq (or Old) Mosque, scene of IS’ brutal executions, in preparation for Ramadan.
It is also reported that there a new headquarters for the local police, to replace the one destroyed by IS, is being sought and that in a meeting this week between SCHD leaders and local civil society organisations it was agreed that work should start of organising elections for a municipal council.
Derna is the only town in eastern Libya without a municipal council; IS was opposed to elections on ideological grounds.
So far, no Libyan National Army (LNA) forces have entered the town despite statements that they would do so. They are reported, however, to have taken Ras Hilal and Latroun to the west. IS forces pulled out from both places in the past two days.
According to one local Derna resident, the LNA is not welcome until it is entirely stable. “We do not want a repeat experience of Benghazi in Derna,” he said. Additionally, at the meeting between the SCMD and local activists, it was agreed that non-Derna forces should not enter the town at all.
There were concerns that IS would counter attack, he explained. It had not vanished, as seemed to be the case. It was hiding in almost impregnable caves in the mountains and was well equipped and supplied.
The area has been base for Islamists even before the 2011 revolution. [/restrict]
