MISRATA, Libya, Oct 5 (Reuters) - For Misrata shopkeeper Akram Abdesalam
Sider, there is only one way Libya's leaders should deal with the former
Muammar Gaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid - attack it.
The rivalry between the two towns is long standing and they backed opposing
sides in last year's war.
But the divide has grown deeper since the death last week of Misrata rebel
fighter Omran Shaban after two months in detention in Bani Walid. He was
released in critical condition and flown to Paris but died soon after.
Shabban was the man who caught Gaddafi hiding in a drain pipe in the former
dictator's hometown of Sirte last October. Gaddafi was lynched by a crowd in
a grisly climax to the uprising that ended his long rule.
Misrata has been tense ever since.
"If we leave Bani Walid as it is, they will become more powerful, they will
kidnap more people, torture them," Sider, 25, said standing at the counter
of his grocery shop, a picture of his friend Shaban hanging behind him.
"There are forces gathering outside of Bani Walid, they should attack it."
Hailing Shaban as a "brave hero", the national congress has ordered the
defence and interior ministries to find those who abducted him. Leaders in
Bani Walid have until Friday to hand them over and negotiations with elders
are currently under way.
But in a move to put pressure on Bani Walid, militias operating alongside
the Defence Ministry have deployed around parts of the town, stoking the
possibility of new fighting.
CHALLENGE TO NEW RULERS
The tensions underline the challenge Libya's new rulers face in reconciling
groups with long-running grievances and embracing those who chose not to
back the revolt - whether out of fear, or because they supported Gaddafi, or
because they benefitted in some way from his rule.
With the police and courts weak and guns readily available, Libyans have
settled their own scores since the revolution and clashes have broken out
between former rebels and clans that backed Gaddafi or stayed on the
sidelines.
While Misrata spent weeks under siege by Gaddafi's forces during last year's
fighting, Bani Walid, perched on a hilltop some 140 kms (90 miles) away, was
one of the last towns to surrender to the rebellion.
A town of around 70,000 people, it remains isolated from the rest of Libya
and former rebels say are lingering pockets of support for the old regime.
"It is not between Misrata and Bani Walid, this is a Libyan problem. There
are some people there who are against the new government, they still support
Gaddafi," Ramadan Ali Zarmoh of the Misrata military council said.
"It is up to the leaders, the congress to decide what happens next. Maybe a
solution can still be negotiated."
"WHERE IS GADDAFI BURIED?"
Thousands attended funeral prayers for Shabban last week in a football
stadium after his body was flown home. In Misrata city centre, a giant black
flag flies at half mast. Residents have put his picture up on walls and car
windows.
Many believe his treatment was a revenge attack after he shot to fame when
he was seen in pictures grabbing Gaddafi.
Outside Shaban's family home, tents have been set up for the hundreds of
visitors who have come to pay their respects.
Sitting in one of the tents, his father Giuma Abdallah Mohammed Shaban says
the family received many calls when he was in detention, some offering his
release on certain conditions.
"We would get calls, messages. One message said: 'If you want Omran back,
tell us where Gaddafi is buried'", he said, referring to the dictator's
burial in a secret location.
Shaban was kidnapped by armed men on July 12 close to Bani Walid while
returning to Misrata after he had been on government business in western
Libya to calm clashes there. His relatives said he had been shot and
tortured while in their hands.
After some 60 days in detention, the 21-year old was freed after mediation
efforts by congress leader Mohammed Magarief.
"He was almost dying when he went to France," his father said. "Doctors said
he had been unconscious for a few days."
Asked how he thought justice could be done, the 53-year old said: "I trust
the government will do something, negotiate. Myself, I would let them go.
Our Prophet says you have to be kind to others."
Others in Misrata are not as forgiving, fed up of what they say is Bani
Walid's continued defiance of the new authorities and a string of
kidnappings.
In January, Bani Walid, where Gaddafi's now captured son Saif al-Islam
staged a last stand before fleeing into the Sahara, grabbed headlines when
fighters threw Tripoli's men out of the city, installing its own local
council.
In July, Misrata fighters threatened to attack the town after two
journalists from their town were detained. They were eventually released
after mediation by the authorities.
Misratans say there are more prisoners there.
"Every single revolutionary here is angry, they want to advance on Bani
Walid, they are fed up," one rebel fighter said.
"Libya was declared liberated last year. Not all of it is, there are still
armed gangs causing trouble."
The renewed tensions between Misrata and Bani Walid come at a difficult time
for Libyan leaders, trying to impose order on armed groups after the killing
of the U.S. ambassador in an assault on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on
Sept. 11.
In a country where a new law banning the glorification of Gaddafi was passed
by the now dissolved transitional council and then scrapped by the supreme
court, they must strike the right balance and not risk alienating part of
the country.
Few forget that last year's uprising began in eastern Libya, a region
favoured under the monarchy and sidelined by Gaddafi after his 1969 coup,
leaving resentment to fester.
While rivals tell stories of Gaddafi's speeches still playing on car stereos
there, many Bani Walid residents say they are being unfairly painted with
the "pro-Gaddafi" brush, pointing that they too suffer from attacks from
local groups.
"The mood is quiet now but some are afraid of the attack by Misrata," one
resident there said. Another resident said negotiations were ongoing but
fuel supplies had been cut off.
Since early this week, hundreds of men have deployed tens of kms outside
Bani Walid, awaiting the deadline.
The forces, who militia fighters said were from Misrata and other towns, are
operating together in a coalition known as Libya Shield, affiliated to the
Defence Ministry.
Clashes broke out on Tuesday between former rebel fighters and a local group
in which three people were wounded in the nearby area of Mardun. One Bani
Walid resident was killed.
"Those inside Bani Walid who are pro-Gaddafi should be caught and handed
over to a court," Khaled Ahmed Atwil, a member of Misrata's Kanoon brigade,
which sent fighters to the area.
"People are controlling their anger right now. I would prefer a political
solution, dialogue, but if they refuse, at the end of the day something
needs to be done." (Additional reporting by Ali Shuaib; Editing by Angus
MacSwan)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Fri Oct 05 2012 - 17:17:52 EDT
