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Tripoli, 21 May:
A member of a Bani Walid delegation that travelled to negotiate with the NTC members in Tripoli on Sunday . . .[restrict]was injured during clashes with NTC security guards.
The NTC spokesman, Mohammed Al-Hareizi, has apologised for the incident saying that NTC had opened an investigation into what happened. He is reported to have confirmed that none of the delegation had been carrying weapons at the time. He also said that he had visited the injured man in Abu Salim hospital; his head had been fractured as a result of being hit by one of the security guard with the back of the gun.
Bani Walid has been a serious thorn in the side of the government since January when it was taken over by counter-revolutionary forces sympathetic to the Qaddafi era. Pro-NTC supporters, most notably the local council and the military council, were forced to flee to Misrata as a result. Since then, four members of Zliten military council were kidnapped by Bani Walid brigadesmen, as was the founder of the Bani Walid council, Mohammed Abu Kraa; he was seized in Tripoli at the beginning of the month.
Nine days ago, fighting broke out on the outskirts of the town between local fighters opposed to the NTC and government and Libya Shield troops said to have been ordered to reimpose government authority in the town.
Last week, a number of the people in Beni Walid staged a demonstration against the presence of the Libya Shield Brigade stationed around the town which they said was preparing to storm it. Protesters said they ready to fight if the troops entered it.
However, the protesters also said they planned to take part in the 19 June elections for National Conference and that they did not want to be set apart from the rest of the country; they fully supported the territorial integrity of the country. [/restrict]
