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Tripoli, 4 . . .[restrict]May 2013:
An attempt in Tripoli to kidnap a Tebu political activist in Murzuq failed thanks to the intervention of militiamen from Misrata.
Khaled Wahli, a Tebu activist who heads of the Aman Organisation Against Discrimination, tells how he had been having a coffee in the Galleria Aurora in Tripoli’s Algeria Square on Thursday evening and then took a taxi to Gurji where he was staying. He says that in Shara Ennasr, not far from the major roundabout at Suq Al-Thalat, a car with two men inside stopped the taxi demanding to know if he were Libyan and for documents to prove it.
After providing them he says they asked if he been involved with the Qaddafi regime, wanting to know why he had issues with the government. He denied this but was told to pay the taxi driver and go with them to their headquarters.
He refused, asking what he had done. There followed a scuffle in which the two men tried to force him into their vehicle. Almost instantly a crowd gathered wanting to know what was going on. Members of the security brigade based at the nearby former Girl’s Military Academy were then called in, who demanded the identities of the two militiamen. When they refused to tell, they, as well as Wahli, were taken to the academy for interrogation.
He was released half and hour later but does not known what happened to the two men, or who they really were. “They were wearing military uniforms”, he say, “but they drove in a civilian car.” One, he says told him he was from Misrata. So too, he adds, were the forces that released him.
He still does not know why he was arrested – whether it was because was a case of racial discrimination and or because he is a political activist. Nor does he know if he was deliberately followed from the café in Algeria Square.
From Kufra, Wahli is known for his political activism, speaking on TV and radio.
The Aman Organisation put out a statement today condemning the attempt to seize him, stating that it would continue to defend the rights of the oppressed all over Libya and not be silenced. It called on the government to protect human rights activists in Libya. [/restrict]
