Security concerns loom large ahead of Libya vote
TRIPOLI — Security concerns loom large in the minds of Libyans and
international observers in the run-up to the first democratic elections
after four decades of dictatorship under slain leader Moamer Kadhafi.
There
is no shortage of actors who have threatened to boycott or sabotage
Saturday's landmark vote, raising tensions particularly in the east of
the oil-rich country, cradle of the 2011 uprising that toppled Kadhafi's
regime.
Interim government spokesman Nasser al-Manaa has urged
"all Libyans to participate, protect and take pride in these elections
which are a step towards stability and development."
Security
services have warned that supporters of the former regime may seize the
opportunity to disrupt the vote to elect a national assembly, which will
be tasked with appointing a new government and a constituent authority.
The
weeks before the elections have been marred by fighting between
different communities, with bloody clashes in western hilltop towns
claiming more than 100 lives and fighting in Kufra in the south leaving
dozens dead.
And international organisations such as the United
Nations and the International Committee for the Red Cross have become,
along with diplomatic missions, a focal point of damaging but so far not
deadly attacks.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group has
warned that the electoral process in Libya is "imperilled by armed
protesters who... are threatening to disrupt the vote in the eastern
part of the country."
On Thursday, arsonists in the eastern city
of Ajdabiya set fire to a warehouse containing electoral material, a
move that some officials warned could lead to a delay of the vote in
that specific district.
And on July 1, armed men ransacked election offices in the city of Benghazi.
The
interim government, Manaa said, is still negotiating with separatist
groups in the east, which have been demonstrating and disrupting traffic
on a strategic highway linking the east and west.
Such factions
reflect a pro-federalism movement demanding a greater share of seats for
the east in the national assembly. Currently, there are 100 seats for
the west, 60 for the east and 40 for the south.
These are the
loudest voices calling for a boycott of the elections. Islamist groups
in the east also oppose the vote, saying the Muslim country needs no
constitution other than the Koran.
Libya's outgoing National
Transitional Council insisted on Thursday that Islamic law (sharia)
should be the "main" source of legislation and that this should not be
subject to a referendum.
Libya's interim rulers say that radical Islamists are a minority.
"There
are problems here and there but we don't think that they will affect
the elections," Salem Genan, deputy chairman of the NTC, has said. "We
are very optimistic."
But the authorities are taking no chances in
a country awash with weapons. The interior ministry has enlisted 45,000
members of the Supreme Security Committee to ensure the safety of
polling stations across 72 constituencies.
Army chief Yussef
al-Mangush has said "the army has mobilised 13,000 troops for the
nascent national army to support interior ministry forces to implement
election day security plans."
The army will take responsibility
for transporting ballot papers and there will be special patrols on
voting day to protect the coastline and safeguard Libyan airspace, he
said.
Security forces will also man checkpoints on the perimeters of every town.
Omar
al-Khadrawi, deputy interior ministry and head of the electoral
security committee, said that security forces are on "high alert" and
"an operations room has been set up in Tripoli."
Former rebels who
are still organised into brigades, some of which have been absorbed
into government forces, are expected to play a role in ensuring security
for the polls.
But they are also a source of potential problems.
Amnesty
International warned on Thursday that there is no real control over
these armed groups, which often clash with each other, and that they
risk derailing an already delicate transition process.
"It is
deeply depressing that after so many months, the authorities have failed
so comprehensively to break the stranglehold of the militias on Libyan
security," said the rights group's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
"Without
immediate action to stop abuses and lawlessness, there is a very real
danger Libya could end up reproducing and entrenching the same patterns
of violations we have seen over the past four decades," she warned.
One Amnesty concern is the fate of thousands of people detained by militias.
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