Armed people stormed Misrata’s local council

Benghazi’s General Investigations Authority revealed that they managed to arrest eight militants loyal to the terrorist groups during their attempt to escape from Ganfouda’s 12 Buildings complex controlled recently by the Libyan army.

Security officials revealed that they managed to arrest four militants, as one of them was arrested in a farm at Tika area, while the others in farms in the western side of the country. They added that those people who have been arrested were referred to the Libyan authorities to take the legal measures against them.

In Misrata, dozens of armed people stormed the headquarters of the local council on late Sunday, as they dissolved the council and controlled the city’s radio. According to the sources, the armed people chanted against the chairperson of the council and its members accusing them of treason.

The council, on its hand, said, in a statement addressing Misrata’s people, that the council will resume its activities during the coming period to express its respect to the will of people who elected its members. It called the residents for the calls of chaos adopted by the extremists.

Misrata municipal council has also condemned both the criticism of the city in Tripoli’s Martyrs’ Square and the subsequent PC statement for equating freedom of speech with “hate speech” against Misrata. It too said it held the PC fully responsible for the deterioration of the situation in the county.

Separately, there have been public protests at what happened in the capital and at other perceived anti-Misrata moves there. A substantial group of Misratan revolutionaries and their supporters gathered at the Dafniya checkpoint west of the city, on the road to Tripoli, and forced its closure. In a statement broadcast on the grand mufti’s Tanasuh TV, they demanded the mobilization of Misratan “revolutionaries” against the “conspiracy” in Tripoli, which they claimed was being run by followers of Khalifa Hafter.

The statements by the Misratan lawmakers and the municipal council are seen as not only a response to growing local anger that the city is being vilified elsewhere in the country, but also a move to prevent the more hardline forces in the city from using it to gain support and power.

On Friday evening, local hardliners attacked the council offices demanding the resignation of the mayor and councillors. In its statement criticising the PC, Misrata council also condemned the attack, describing those involved as criminals driven by ideology and linked to “external parties seeking power”.

In a related development, PC deputy chairman Ahmed Maetig, from Misrata, has cut short his trip to the United States because of the fighting in the capital. PC head Faiez Serraj has also cancelled his visit to Italy on Monday. He had been intending to join a summit of Mediterranean countries to discuss limiting migration.

In Tripoli, Libyan official denied the false rumors circulated about the escape of Head of Libya’s Presidential Council Fayez Al Sarraj and the kidnap of his minister of defense, saying that they are working inside Libyan and perform their job.