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Ras Lanuf and Sidra terminals handed over by Jadhran to Thinni
[Libya Herald] Ras Lanuf and Sidra oil terminals were formally handed back to the Libyan government this evening in a ceremony in Ras Lanuf attended by both Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thinni and Ibrahim Jadhran, the man who 11 months ago seized and closed them.The front man for Jadhran's Cyrenaica federalists, Ali Al-Hassi, announced yesterday that the two ports would handed back today. When functioning normally, the two terminals are able to process half a million barrels of oil exports a day. At this evening's handover after Maghreb prayers, Jadhran said it would have happened earlier but for the behaviour of the General National Congress which he called "illegitimate" — a reference to the belief that it had illegally by continuing in office beyond February. "We are handing them over as a goodwill gesture after the election of the House of Representatives which will hopefully lead the country into better circumstances," he stated. For his part, the Prime Minister, at the head of a ministerial delegation, said that he was delighted that Ras Lanuf and Sidra were now back in official hands "without using force". This was "the end of the oil crisis", he declared. He left Ras Lanuf immediately after the handover. Speaking to the Libya Herald afterwards, Ibrahim Jadhran said that the main aim in handing back the two terminals today was "to finish the crisis and to help the newly elected parliament to succeed. We expect the new parliament to serve the Libyan nation, free from any ideologies. The former Congress was the reason for the crisis because of it has been dominated by Islamists who never think about the interest of the Libyan people". Cabinet secretary Ahmed Lamin put a slightly different slant on it. "What happened today was the final phase of the agreement signed between the government and the Petroleum Facilities Guards last April. Every side fulfilled their commitments." He added: "The Prime Minister has instructed the head of the Petroleum Facilities Guard, Ali Al-Ahrash, to make a new plan to protect the oil ports in order to prevent such things to happen in future." Posted by: Fred 2014-07-03 |
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