Deadly Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza as Doha talks raise hopes for ceasefire    Egypt accelerates coastal protection projects amid rising climate threats    Egypt's PM calls Israeli war on Gaza 'most dangerous crisis' at BRICS summit    Egypt's FinMin urges BRICS to support debt sustainability    Egypt's gold prices up on July 6th    Venezuela vows to uphold sovereignty on 214th independence anniversary    ADIB Egypt publishes second sustainability report for 2024    Egypt, Saudi FMs discuss Gaza truce, Iran-Israel tensions    Over 215,000 projects funded under Mashrouak, exceeding EGP 33bn in May: Minister    Egypt, Norway hold informal talks ahead of global plastic treaty negotiations    Greco-Roman tombs with hieroglyphic inscriptions discovered in Aswan    UN conference cites Egypt's 'NWFE' programme as model for development finance    Global tour for Korean 'K-Comics' launches in Cairo with 'Hellbound' exhibition    China's factory output expands in June '25    Philip Morris Misr announces new price list effective 1 July    Egypt teams up with private sector to boost university rankings    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Egypt condemns deadly terrorist attack in Niger    Egypt's FM, China's Wang discuss Iran-Israel escalation    Egypt's EHA, Schneider Electric sign MoU on sustainable infrastructure    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Grand Egyptian Museum opening delayed to Q4    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's EDA joins high-level Africa-Europe medicines regulatory talks    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    Egypt's Democratic Generation Party Evaluates 84 Candidates Ahead of Parliamentary Vote    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Libya's eastern parliament meets after rare protests erupt
Published in Ahram Online on 11 - 09 - 2020

Libya's east-based parliament convened an emergency meeting Friday to address the eruption of rare protests over dire living conditions across the country's east, rallies that mirror similar recent protests in the west of the divided nation.
Hundreds of young Libyans flooded the streets of Benghazi and other eastern cities late on Thursday, setting piles of tires ablaze, witnesses said, a spontaneous outburst of anger over the area's crippling electricity shortages. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
The demonstrations followed similar protests over power cuts and corruption that have roiled the capital, Tripoli, and other parts of western Libya in recent weeks. Unlike the rallies in the west, however, the protests in Benghazi and elsewhere in the east did not appear centrally organized and were not violently dispersed.
War-torn Libya is split east to west between two administrations, each backed by an array of militias and foreign powers. Military commander Khalifa Hifter rules the east and south, while a U.N.-supported government based in Tripoli controls the west.
In its emergency session Friday, the eastern House of Representatives sought to deflect blame for the deterioration of public services, accusing the Tripoli-based Central Bank and government of ``plundering'' the country and neglecting the east. In an effort to placate frustrated citizens, it promised to investigate ``suspected corruption'' and expedite municipal elections.
Yet on both sides of the country, analysts say, internal splits have deepened amid a pause in fighting. Political factions are seeking to co-opt popular fury over the country's litany of grievances: cash shortages, electricity and water cuts, collapsing infrastructure, rife corruption and a devastating coronavirus outbreak.
``Power brokers are trying to utilize the protests for their own gains and purposes,'' said Mohamed Eljarh, co-founder of Libya Outlook, a consultancy based in eastern Libya.
In the west, the U.N.-supported government's powerful interior minister, Fathi Bashaga, openly backed the protests against his internal rival, Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj _ and was briefly dismissed from his post.
In the east, Hifter has faced a series of embarrassing military defeats, with his forces retreating from most of the territories they seized during their failed 14-month campaign to capture Tripoli. This week, Hifter was sidelined from the U.N.-brokered Libyan political talks that took place in Switzerland and Morocco, and is now trying to strengthen his hand against the east-based House of Representatives and its prominent speaker, Aguila Saleh, said Eljarh.
Saleh sent representatives to the talks and has positioned himself as a major Libyan power broker on the world stage, most recently by proposing a cease-fire and a political initiative.
Although Hifter and his forces are known to quash even the mildest dissent, late Thursday, the witnesses in Benghazi said police watched without reacting and even encouraged the protests. Eastern Libya's interim government and the country's drastic lack of public services was the focus of outrage _ not Hifter.
Libya's Tripoli-based National Oil Corporation issued a response on Friday to eastern authorities' allegations that it has failed to provide fuel shipments to the east, where blackouts can exceed 12 hours a day.
The corporation promised it was ``making every effort'' to deliver fuel to ``all parts of Libya and its power plants,'' attributing the blackouts and fuel shortages to a months-long blockade of the country's oil fields imposed by Hifter-allied eastern tribes. Talks to reopen the pipelines have repeatedly broken down. The embargo has cut Libya's oil production to a trickle, forcing refineries to shut and draining the budget for fuel imports, the corporation said.
An oil tanker carrying 39 million liters of fuel docked in Benghazi's port on Friday afternoon to resupply power stations, east Libya's Electricity Authority announced. But without electricity, the vessel would take another full day to unload.
The outbreak of unrest comes after delegates from rival camps, under heavy international pressure, came to a preliminary political agreement in the Swiss city of Montreux, which aims to guide Libya toward elections and demilitarize the contested city of Sirte, controlled by Hifter. Citing the talks in Montreux, as well as political negotiations that continued Friday in Bouznouki, Morocco, the U.S. Embassy in Libya said the ``productive consultations`` reflect ``the deep desire of most Libyans to bring the conflict to an end.''
Before the latest cease-fire took hold and staved off a major escalation, both the Turkish-backed Tripoli government and Hifter's forces, supported by the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, were facing off over Sirte, a gateway to Africa's largest oil reserves.


Clic here to read the story from its source.