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| Africa North |
| Cyrenaica tribal elders reaffirm support for Jedhran, promise to export oil |
| 2013-12-23 |
| [Libya Herald] Tribal chiefs and supporters of federalism have warned the government, Congress and the Libya Revolutionaries Operations Room (LROR) that they will not stand aside if force is used to end the closure of the eastern oil terminals. They also insisted that Cyrenaica would export oil independently of the NOC At a meeting in Benghazi yesterday, Cyrenaica tribal elders and federalism activists said that any action or threat of action against the region or those who were "protecting" its ports and oil fields would be considered an assault on the people of Cyrenaica as a whole. Last week, the Congress' Oil and Energy Committee said that it was giving the government a week to reopen the oil terminals, otherwise it would advise Congress to authorise the use of force. Members of the LROR also said that they would take unilateral action against Ibrahim Jedhran, head of the self-styled Political Bureau of Cyrenaica, and his forces if the terminals did not reopen. The Cyrenaica elders yesterday warned the LROR, primarily drawn from western Libya, that it should not meddle in the country's social fabric. Doing so, they said, could fuel moves for separatism. Echoing Jedhran's demands, the tribal elders demanded the establishment of an independent committee to look into allegations of corruption in oil sales. They also demand the Public Auditor draw up a report on Libyan funds invested aboard, frozen assets and past contracts awarded. |
| Posted by:Fred |