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| Africa North |
| Fighting flares in Tripoli ahead of UN envoy's visit |
| 2014-08-17 |
| [ARABNEWS] Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... erupted on Saturday between rival militias in Libya's capital, hours after the new UN special envoy said he planned to visit 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... as early as next week to try to broker a cease-fire. Gunfire and shelling with Grad rockets ...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km.... and artillery guns could be heard from the early morning near the airport and several residential parts of Tripoli. Spanish diplomat Bernardino Leon, who is due to start his job officially on Sept. 1, aims to end fighting between brigades from Misrata and fighters allied to the western town of Zintan, whose rivalries erupted a month ago into the worst festivities since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Qadaffy ...a proud Arab institution for 42 years, now among the dear departed, though not the dearest... The battles, which involve brigades of former rebels who once fought Qadaffy together, have forced the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... and Western governments to evacuate their diplomats, fearing Libya is sliding into civil war. Most of the fighting has raged over the international airport in Tripoli, which fighters from Zintan have controlled since sweeping into the capital during the 2011 war. Libya's fragile government still has no national army and often put former rebels on the state payroll as semi-official security forces as a way to co-opt them into the new state. But the heavily armed rival brigades are allied with competing political factions and are often more loyal to their region, city or local commanders than to the central government. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Apparently fighting over who'll be the honor guard. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-08-17 08:55 |