Tribal leaders and
militia commanders in oil-rich eastern Libya have declared their
intention to seek semi-autonomy, raising fears that the country might
disintegrate following the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC), the interim central
government based in the capital Tripoli, has repeatedly voiced its
opposition to the creation of a partly autonomous eastern region,
warning it could eventually lead to the break-up of the North African
nation.
Thousands of representatives of major tribal leaders, militia
commanders and politicians made the declaration on Tuesday in a ceremony
held in the eastern city of Benghazi.
They vowed to end decades of marginalisation under Gaddafi and named a
council to run the affairs of the newly created region, extending from
the central coastal city of Sirte to the Egyptian border in the east.
Al Jazeera’s Nicole Johnston, reporting from the capital Tripoli, said the announcement was only the beginning of a process.
“It is certainly significant, but we need to put it into context:
first of all, they have announced the formation of a new regional
council, and this will actually take a couple weeks to form," she said.
"At this stage, they say they would like independence, but they have
not declared independence. At this stage they haven’t even declared a
degree of semi autonomy.
Waheed Burshan, a senior representative of the NTC, told Al Jazeera
that the tribal leaders were looking for political power, but the
ordinary people of the east wanted a unified Libya.
“Well obviously, all Libyans have the right to express their opinion.
But the fact is, for Libyans to consider such a split in the country
and its governance, I think it is clearly not advisable. The Libyan
people will not stand for it," he said.
"[For] majority of people looking for a unified Libya, the thought of
having separate autonomous region it’s definitely not acceptable. I
think people will react swiftly on this type of decisions. I think
people are discussing the idea of demonstrating for several days to make
sure such a thing does not happen."
The gathering appointed Ahmed al-Zubair, Libya's longest serving
political prisoner under Gaddafi, as leader of its governing council.
Al-Zubair, who is also a member of the NTC, pledged to protect the
rights of the region but also said his council recognises NTC to run
Libya's international affairs.
Al Jazeera’s Hoda Abdel Hamid, who recently returned from eastern Libya, said the move will intensify the rivalries.
“People were saying, that according to the 1951 constitution which is
now valid in Libya, there are two capitals: Tripoli as a political
capital, and Benghazi as the economic capital. They want that status
back.
"They also say we are so far away from Tripoli, a 12 hour drive
really- and everything is centralised in Tripoli. For any kind of
administrative papers, they have to go all the way and back."
The gathering of the leaders also rejected an election law which
allocated 60 seats for the eastern region out of 200-member assembly set
to be elected in June.
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