By Ajnadin Mustafa.
Tripoli, 18 March 2016:
In its first public pronouncement in many months, the Tripoli-based Libyan Revolutionaries’ Operations Room (LROR) has . . .[restrict]announced that it stands by the administration in Tripoli led by Khalifa Ghwell and will take military action against prime minister-designate Faiez Serraj if he arrives in the capital and tries to take over the reins of government. It said it had been preparing for such action and was not ready for it.
It has also demanded the resignation of the governor of the Central Bank of Libya as recognised by the Tripoli regime, Sadik Elkabir, blaming him for the current banking crisis and severe shortage of cash available in the capital.
The LROR further stated its support for “the mujahideen” in Benghazi – the blanket term used in Tripoli to describe those fighting against the Libyan National Army and Khalifa Hafter and currently being targeted in Hafter’s Operation Blood of the Martyrs. The term enables its users to avoid any reference to Ansar Al-Sharia, one of the main components in the Benghazi Revolutionaries Operation Room.
Despite claiming to be prepared for a fight in Tripoli, it is not clear how many supporters the LROR can call on. Set up and heavily funded by Nuri Abu Sahmain, the president of the General National Congress (GNC) in 2013, ostensibly to protect Tripoli but in reality to protect the GNC and himself, it is seen as much less powerful today. It remains primarily the creature of Abu Sahmain who likewise is adamantly opposed to Serraj and his planned national unity government.
The legality of its creation and funding are still contested by a number of former GBC members as well as by a number of lawyers. [/restrict]
