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Hafter orders unconditional release of militants’ families
[Libya Herald] Armed forces commander-in-chief Khalifa Hafter has ordered the immediate and unconditional release of all women and families detained during the liberation of the west of Benghazi except for those facing criminal charges.The move follows the local and international outrage at the footage showing the summary execution of prisoners and the parading of the decomposing corpses of faceless myrmidons exhumed from shallow graves in Ganfouda’s long-besieged 12 Buildings. Today the Libyan National Army (LNA) found the bodies of seven of its own soldiers in the complex. It is unclear if they had been captured and executed or killed in the fighting. The LNA has said that those troops guilty of war crimes will be tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! . This was echoed by Wanis Boukhamada, commander of the Saiqa Special Forces ...Libya's elite army unit, insofar as they have one, formed from a mixture of paratroopers and commandos. The group emerged from a militia with the same name in 2010. It now numbers a few thousand and reports to the Ministry of Defence. It deployed in Benghazi in an attempt to control the carnage. As a result, it has been attacked and several of its officers murdered. The force is popular in Benghazi for its stance against Ansar al-Sharia group... . A key suspect is Mahmoud Warfali who resembles a gunman seen executing a total of four men in two separate filmed murders. Warfali is a colonel in Saiqa. It is unclear if he has yet been detained and questioned. There are reports that another significant member of the Special Forces was photographed alongside one of the disinterred murderous Moslems. Benghazi House of Representatives member Jalal al-Shweidi has demanded that Hafter and army chief of staff Abdelrazak Nazhuri come to the parliament to explain how the crimes had been permitted and what they were doing about them. The furore over the videos has dampened the celebrations in Benghazi at the final defeat of the Ganfouda murderous Moslems. But there were still a small but enthusiastic crowd to greet the reopening of the Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... road through Ganfouda which has been closed for three years by the fighting. Military engineers spent two days checking the route for IEDs and unwent kaboom!ordnance. The reopening means that travellers wanting to head down to Ajdabiya will no longer have to take a 12 mile detour to the south-west of the city. Troops continue to search for faceless myrmidons who escaped the 12 Buildings siege. One alleged escapee was found yesterday hiding under tin sheeting on a farm and another was caught nearby in Gwarsha. Both were taken to Granda prison. Posted by: Fred 2017-03-24 |
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