Libyan protesters unhappy over government lineup

More than 100 Libyans demonstrated at the headquarters of the General National Congress yesterday angry over the lack of representation of a western town in a proposed new Cabniet line-up. The demonstrators entered the premises and aired their grievances to representatives of the legislative assembly, the first elected authority after four decades of dictatorship under slain leader Muammar Qadhafi, witnesses said. “More than 100 protesters from Zawiyah demonstrated at the General National Congress today because they don’t have representatives in the (proposed) Cabniet,” said Salah Hassan who holds a seat in the 200-member assembly. “The congress is still running and we are meeting today,” he added. GNC representatives discussed yesterday the government line-up presented by elected Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagur, which omitted members of the main liberal coalition. The assembly will vote on each individual minister. Separately, a team of US investigators visited Libya’s second city Benghazi yesterday to examine the site where Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed in an attack last month. “An American investigative committee visited the site where the US ambassador was killed,” a defense ministry official in Benghazi told AFP, confirming that the team included FBI agents. The road which leads to the front gate of the US mission in Benghazi was sealed off in the morning by defense ministry vehicles mounted with weapons, an AFP correspondent reported. “About 20 Americans dressed in civilian clothing came and we were asked to protect them until they leave Benghazi,” said a commander of the Libya Shield brigade, a former rebel unit under defense ministry command. “They arrived in the early morning and worked for three hours collecting evidence,” added the commander, who spoke on condition of anonymity. On Tuesday, Libyan authorities said they had approved an FBI visit to Benghazi to investigate the deadly Sept. 11 attack on the consulate. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton vowed on Wednesday to answer lingering questions about the assault in a bid to counter a barrage of Republican criticism in the lead-up to the Nov. 6 presidential election. “There are continuing questions about what exactly happened in Benghazi on that night three weeks ago and we will not rest until we answer those questions and until we track down the terrorists who killed our people,” Clinton said. “The men and women who serve this country as diplomats deserve no less than a full and accurate accounting, wherever that leads.”