In a press conference in Tripoli, Libya’s Prime Minister Dr Ali Zidan said “we are forced to hold this press conference because of the practices that the public must be aware of and warned about.” According to the Prime Minister, the practices or rather ‘serious’ developments inside Libya he was talking about are related to an armed group that belongs to the Oil Facilities Guards who for over three weeks have decided to blockade oil exports. The press conference was held jointly with the Minister of Defence, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Oil Ministry. Despite threats of using military force to take control of the oil terminals, Dr Zidan sounded weak and compromising. During the press conference he did not even name the leader of the group and insisted that he got the approval from the President of the National Congress, the members of the Energy Committee and from the Minister of Oil to deal with the matter. Dr Zidan said “the armed group and its leader decided to close the oil terminals of Ras Lanuf, Es Sider, Zuitina and Harigha and prevented tankers from unloading and loading.” He added, “the head of the armed group ordered the Director of Sirte Oil Company not to load tankers contracted with NOC and instead he would bring other tankers to be unloaded. “This means this person and his armed group want to sell oil for their own profit,” the Libyan PM said. To face up to this situation, Dr Zidan said his government had decided to take measures including using force to prevent tankers from entering Libyan territories. “The government will deal with this matter with the utmost seriousness and firmness. Any ship approaching these ports would be bombed from the air or the sea without warning,” he said. The Prime Minister also talked about his readiness to change any law that contradicts with Islam and that any law contradicting Islamic Sharia should not be implemented.
Posted on: Sun, 08 Sep 2013 15:47:03 +0000
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