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By Ahmed Elumami, Benghazi and Sami Zaptia, Tripoli.
7 August 2013:
Speaking to Libya Herald, Benghazi’s Joint Security Room (JSR) official spokesperson, Mohamed . . .[restrict]Hijazi repeated his criticism of the Ministry of Interior and its Minister.
Commenting on the latest car bomb to hit the city on Tuesday, Hijazi did not pass up the chance to dig into the Ministry of Interior. He highlighted the failure of the Ministry to prevent yet another bombing in the beleaguered city, saying that the Ministry of Interior “had no presence on the ground’’.
Further, he added that it was “only the Special Forces army personnel who were present’’, referring to them as the “true sons of the Martyr Abdelfatah Younis’’.
Going further, he revealed that as the official spokesperson for the JSR, he had “refused to meet the Interior Minister Mohamed Sheikh’’ during his recent visit to the city. Hijazi said that the reason for his refusal was because the Interior Minister was “incapable’’.
It is not clear if official spokesperson Hijazi was acting out of line and expressing a personal opinion, or whether he was reflecting the official view of the JSR.
However, since this is not the first time that he has publicly criticised the Interior Minister, without being reprimanded or relieved from his duties, it must be assumed that he reflects a wider and accepted line within the army and revolutionaries in Benghazi.
It must also be speculated whether this criticism is based on regional and tribal differences, because Interior Minister Mohamed Sheik is from Tripoli, or whether the Interior Minister is truly incompetent. The previous Interior Minister, generally credited with having done a good job, was from the east of Libya.
The criticism may also simply reflect the wider frustration by the inhabitants of Benghazi who feel, with quite a high degree of justification, that the Tripoli central government and its local Interior Minister, are not doing enough to save the poor city from the war of terror unleashed upon it.
Ironically, the commander of the “Saiqa” Special Forces, Wanis Bukhamada has been reported on local television as saying that his Special Forces, who Hijazi is praising, are not trained to deal with civilian situations.
He accepted the task given to him by his superiors, but warned that as a Special Forces army unit they are trained to fight and not to patrol or defend civilians or urban civilian targets.
What is clear from all this, is that there are serious divisions at the higher echelons of Libya’s security apparatus at the exact time that Libya needs them to get their act together.
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