Since 11 May, Benghazi has been rocked by a series of explosions on a nearly
daily basis, Kamal Abdallah investigates
Sunday,26 May, 2013
Mostly targeting police stations, the bomb attacks testify to the
unprecedented breakdown in security in Libya's second largest city since the
outbreak of the Libyan Revolution in February 2011. US Security Forces have
announced that US forces are poised to intervene in Libya to pursue those
responsible for the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi last September
and to assist in the evacuation of American subjects should the state of
security in Libya deteriorate further.
On Friday, a bomb struck a school in the Salmani district of Benghazi,
causing material damage to the structure and contents. According to
authorities in the Security Room in Benghazi, an explosive device had been
planted in the school and its intended victims were soldiers of the national
army who had been stationed in the school to protect it.
On the evening of the same day, five more bombs went off in succession. One
struck a church on Al-Aqib Street in downtown Benghazi. The second bomb
targeted the parking lot of a bank in the Sidi Hussein area of the city, the
third targeted the new city centre building located in the same district as
the bank, the fourth a police patrol on Dubai Street downtown, and the fifth
a military roadblock in central Benghazi. On Saturday, a security official
announced that one soldier had been slightly wounded.
There had been several previous assaults and bombing attacks against
security forces and Western diplomatic missions in Benghazi during recent
months, betraying the inability of Libya's new security authorities to
create security forces effective and powerful enough to restore and
safeguard security in that far flung country.
The deadliest bombing so far was that which struck Al-Galaa Hospital, the
largest hospital in Benghazi, on 12 May. Dozens of people were killed and
wounded, mostly children. A security source in Benghazi told Al-Ahram Weekly
that preliminary investigations indicated that the explosion in front of the
hospital was caused by a fisherman who had been transporting tank mines and
anti-tank mines in an inappropriate manner in his private vehicle.
Apparently, one of the passengers in the truck had tampered with a mine,
causing it to detonate just as the truck was passing in front of the
hospital. Contrary to the initial impression, it appears that this act was
not deliberate, the source said.
On Saturday, CNN reported that US forces have drawn up several plans, one
involving military action against the perpetrators of the assault against
the US consulate in Benghazi in September last year. According to US
military sources, which spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, the
operation would seek to apprehend those guilty of the assault and would
involve a combination of measures which would include landing a ground force
in Libya. The source was cited as saying that work on the plans had begun in
the immediate aftermath of the attack on the consulate which killed four
Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, and that there have
been mounting pressures on the White House to act in view of the conflicting
results of the inquiries into that assault. CNN also reported that US
Special Forces were now present in parts of North Africa with the purpose of
gathering intelligence preparatory to executing the operation, should orders
be issued to carry it out. It added that the possibility remained that the
operation would be called off if joint Libyan-US efforts succeeded in
apprehending the perpetrators.
This was not the first time reports of this nature had been leaked by the US
authorities. Not long before this, CNN cited unnamed US security sources as
saying that a marines infantry force that had been stationed in southern
Spain had moved towards Sardinia in order to be closer to Libyan territory
in the event that it was called in to assist the US diplomatic team in Libya
in evacuating US subjects should the need arise.
Against the mounting lawlessness and acts of intimidation on the part of the
armed militias in Libya, the current Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan has
cautioned on numerous occasions that he would not find it difficult to
obtain the consent of the General National Congress (GNC), the highest
governing authority in Libya, to bring in "those who would be capable of
restoring security in Libya." He made repeated mention to Chapter 7 of the
UN Charter, which authorises international intervention in order to
safeguard or restore international peace and security, in this context. UN
Security Council resolution 1973 on Libya, which invokes Chapter 7 and which
sanctioned the international military intervention during the Libyan
revolution, is still in effect.
Libyan Interior Minister Ashour Showeil is under immense pressure due to the
widespread security breakdown in the country. Lieutenant Magdi Al-Urfi,
official spokesman for the Interior Ministry, has revealed that the minister
no longer wishes to continue in his post and that he had tendered his
resignation to Prime Minister Zeidan over a week ago, although Zeidan has
not responded yet. The Interior Minister might have to leave his post in any
case due to the Political Isolation Law that was approved by the GNC on 5
May. The law, which is due to go into effect in the first week of June would
eliminate at least three other ministers in the Ali Zeidan cabinet, which
would obstruct the wheels of government for some time and further aggravate
the crisis in Libya.
Pressures are mounting daily on the Zeidan government due to the
deteriorating security situation and the lack of a clear vision on how to
handle this issue, which threatens the process of democratic transformation
that had begun following the overthrow of the regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Last month, armed protesters had laid siege to the ministries of foreign
affairs and justice, and they had assaulted several officials as they
pressed their demands for the resignation of the Zeidan government which,
they claim, has failed to achieve tangible progress in all areas and which
they charged contained officials who had colluded with the Gaddafi regime.
The US, France, Britain, the UN, the EU have appealed to all Libyan
political forces to engage in dialogue in order to bring the country back
from the brink of the internal strife that is looming due to the spread of
armed militias and tribal conflicts, especially in Western Libya where the
situation is growing more complicated and intractable. Nevertheless,
tensions are mounting between the political blocs in the GNC due to disputes
regarding the appropriate measures to counter the militias and other deeply
worrying ills.
Meanwhile, in an attempt to halt the security deterioration in Benghazi, the
GNC issued a decree to create a new security agency to protect the city that
has seen so many bombings. In addition, Libyan commando forces have been
deployed in the city to hunt down those responsible for the attacks against
the police stations. On Thursday, these forces combed the city marketplace
where there has been a rising trade in illicit arms, ammunition and alcohol.
The forces cleared out the black market traders and set up several
checkpoints on the roads leading to the marketplace.
In spite of such efforts on the part of the GNC and the current government,
little progress has made towards the restoration of security. This failure
is due, in part, to the multiplicity of official security agencies and
tensions between them, especially as regards the nature of some of the
elements that are said to be in the employ of the ministries of defence and
interior. However, the failure is also due to the inability of the various
political forces and entities in the country to formulate a common vision on
how to contend with the problems that are plaguing the country. Certainly
one of the factors that has been obstructing the government's efforts to
restore security and persuade militiamen to lay down their guns is the fact
that some of Libya's political forces have militias of their own.
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Received on Sun May 26 2013 - 17:39:13 EDT
