Tripoli demonstrations start off peaceful in Martyr Square – end up with Molotov cocktails and fatality at Cabinet Office
Tripoli's demonstrations yesterday evening started off peacefully at Martyr Square but ended up riotous, destructive and fatal at the Cabinet Office.
Large crowds, in the thousands, gathered at Tripoli's main central square calling for the downfall of the Tripoli based Abd Alhamid Aldabaiba government. But there were also calls for all the political entities to resign and hold elections.
The catalyst
The catalyst for the demonstrations started at the beginning of the week with the death of the Stability Support Apparatus (SSA) militia leader, Abdelghani Ghnewa Al-Kikly, clashes between his SSA militia and Aldabaiba-aligned forces (the 444th and 111th Brigades) and clashes with the Sug Il Juma-based Special Deterrence Force (SDF / RADA). This is the same SDF / RADA militia that controls the controversial Mitiga prison accused by the international community of grave human rights abuses.
The SSA is also the militia that was in charge of the Abusleem Zoo in which mass graves are suspected to exist.
The fatal and destructive demonstrations at the Cabinet Office
After exercising their new post-2011 February revolution to demonstrate and call for the downfall of a government and its Prime Minister, most of the demonstrators returned to their lives and homes.
However, a small hardcore group of demonstrators decided to head to the Cabinet Office in Sika Road. There, they became violent, attempting to storm the Cabinet Office. They destroyed the metal perimeter fencing (as clearly shown by video footage posted by the government), threw projectiles at security personnel and the building and set fire to rubbish, tyres etc, closing off the road to traffic.
There were copycat road closures and fires to rubbish and tyres in other roads and street in Tripoli in the same evening.
The death of a police officer, use of Molotov cocktails
The Tripoli government reported that at the Cabinet Office demonstrations a police officer ''was wounded by unknown gunmen and died of his wounds''. The government Media Office released video footage of the violent attempt to storm the Cabinet Office.
It reported that ''the security services thwarted an attempt to storm by a group infiltrated among the demonstrators, targeting the Prime Minister's building by setting fire using Molotov cocktails and iron tools, and the attempt was immediately repelled without causing damage.
The Government affirms that the Prime Minister's building is not just an administrative facility, but rather the centre of the executive decision of the State, and contains sovereign documents and documents that affect the interests of the Libyan people, and targeting them is a direct infringement on state institutions and capabilities.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Security Directorate warned against approaching the seam sites, after receiving confirmed information about attempts to penetrate them and provoke violence that may target demonstrators with the aim of fuelling and destabilizing.
The Government commends the Ministry of Interior for their high professionalism in securing the demonstration in Martyrs' Square and ensuring the safety of its participants''.
The crisis united Aldabaiba's enemies – The knives were out
Aldabaiba's enemies were united by the crisis in their opposition to him. They took full advantage of the crisis caused by the militia clashes and its subsequent fallout.
But it must be noted that many of the demonstrators were not out in support of democracy, accountability or the formation of a strong, militia-free state. On the contrary. The demonstrations are driven by the militias that Aldabaiba's security forces clashed with such as the SSA and SDF / RADA, as well as militias that support them and had gathered from Tajura, Zawia etc.
It is also very possible that Hafter had his hidden involvement in this destabilisation of Tripoli. Both he and House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker, Ageela Saleh, want to discard the Tripoli government and install a more friendly ''unified government''.
That is not to say that there were no genuine, neutral demonstrators in opposition to Aldabaiba and his regime. But the drivers of the demonstrations are much more sinister than appears.
Ministerial resignations
Several Ministerial and Under-secretarial resignations were announced yesterday as the political crisis built up. The Ministers of Economy, Local Government, Housing and Construction Minister, the suspended Acting Minister of Health, and the Minister of Water Resources, all announced their resignations.
The expected resignations were for Ministers who hailed from Sug Juma. They came under immense pressure from their tribal areas and localities to resign.
Is Libya's problem Aldabaiba or systematic?
Ostensibly, the demonstrators want Aldabaiba and his government to resign because of the militia clashes which caused collateral damage, terrified the public and caused a still undeclared number of injuries and deaths. But what or who is to replace Aldabaiba and his government?
Western Libya rejects HoR Speaker Saleh's flawed and self-serving election laws that guarantee his and Hafter's continued existence in power if they lose the elections. The impotent UNSMIL has failed to get both sides to agree to new election laws. The militias still exist. The state – the system – is still weak. People sometimes want change for the sake of change – but change produces uncertainty and an even bigger mandate vacuum and could lead to even more instability.
Tripoli government affirms right to peaceful demonstration post Feb 2011
Commenting on the demonstrations, the Tripoli government said ''We affirm that the right to peaceful demonstration is one of the gains of the February revolution, and it has remained available in the western regions of Libya (implying that citizens cannot demonstrate in eastern Libya against Hafter), and is freely expressed within the legal frameworks and respect for state institutions.
We warn against deviating from the peaceful nature of the demonstration, as it may result in tensions on the ground that negatively affect the efforts of calm and threaten the return of war.
Ending all bodies that have been in power for more than a decade
We reiterate our vision that achieving lasting stability in Libya passes through ending all the bodies that have been in power for more than a decade, and have contributed to prolonging the political division and disrupting state-building.
Putting an end to militias
Ending armed groups and aligning themselves fully with the regular police and security services is a broad popular demand that constitutes the cornerstone of building a state of law and institutions''.
At the time of posting (4.30 pm Tripoli time), Tripoli was calm and the Aldabaiba government was still standing.
.
Tripoli based Libyan government accepts ICC's jurisdiction on alleged crimes in its territory from 2011 to the end of 2027
ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan Libya report to UN Security Council
Aldabaiba meets UK ambassador, says recent security operation came within efforts to enforce law and end an irregular presence
General Authority for Search and Identification of Missing Persons says received reports of possible mass graves in Abusleem Zoo
Presidency Council decrees unconditional ceasefire, freezes all Aldabaiba Tripoli government's recent military/security decrees
444th Brigade and Military Intelligence head Mahmoud Hamza's narrative of the SDF / RADA Tripoli clash
Images of Abdelghani Ghnewa's funeral in Kikla appear as his SSA militia mourn him
Gunfire at demonstrations calling for Aldabaiba's downfall, nervous ceasefire holding as calm returns to Tripoli
The time of parallel security services is over, there is no place in Libya except for regular institutions of the army and police: Aldabaiba
Tripoli PM Aldabaiba appoints Mustafa Al-Wahishi as the new head of the Internal Security Agency
Tripoli PM Aldabaiba decrees reorganisation of some security units following Ghnewa Kikly's reported killing
Ceasefire announced after heavy overnight fighting in Tripoli
Calm returns after overnight Tripoli clashes as major militia leader reportedly killed
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
18 hours ago
- Telegraph
Labour spends £35k on pub beer mats to boast about minimum wage rise
Labour spent more than £35,000 of taxpayer cash on beer mats in pubs advertising the increase to the national minimum wage, a minister has admitted. The Government sent out promotional material to pubs across the country to tell workers that the minimum wage and national living wage were going up. Justin Madders, the employment minister, rationalised the £35,580 expense as he said the beer mats offered a 'unique opportunity to engage audiences in a social, high-dwell environment where financial conversations naturally occur'. The red and pale blue beer mats were government-branded and said: 'Millions got a pay rise.' 'National minimum and living wages went up on 1st April', it added, and displayed a barcode for customers to scan for details on how to 'make sure you're getting paid correctly'. The employment minister responded to a written question by Richard Holden, the shadow paymaster general, about the cost of the drink mats. He said: 'The cost to advertise in pubs using beer mats was £35,580, which was approved at official level.' He confirmed that the advertising push was approved by the Cabinet Office, and came out of the 2025 National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage campaign budget of £650,000. He added: 'The 2024 campaign saw an increase in reach to eligible workers. However, recognition remained low, reinforcing the need for bolder, more engaging formats for the 2025 campaign, which expected to deliver an estimated 3.2 million impressions. 'It offered a unique opportunity to engage audiences in a social, high-dwell environment where financial conversations naturally occur. 'This setting encourages discussion and word-of-mouth sharing about rate changes and offers an effective nudge for audiences to 'check their pay'.' 'We will be ruthless' Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have both pledged a war on waste in Whitehall, with the Government having taken such moves as freezing government credit cards and abolishing NHS England. The Prime Minister said in October: 'We will also be ruthless in clamping down on government waste, just as we will be ruthless on clamping down on tax avoidance ', emphasising the intention to show so the British people that 'every penny counts'. He added: 'Every single person in this country had to do that during the cost-of-living crisis and government must be no different.' The national living wage for those aged 21 and over rose from £11.44 per hour to £12.21 per hour, an increase of 6.7 per cent. The national minimum wage for those between 18 and 20 went up from £8.60 to £10 per hour, a 16.3 per cent boost. The Government has also begun to name and shame firms that do not pay their workers the appropriate wages, demanding they pay back what they owe and in some instances a further financial penalty.
Metro
a day ago
- Metro
Why I'm scared by a report about Britain's 'minority white' future
A new study has predicted that 'white British' people are set to become a minority in Britain in the next 40 years. Cue the hysteria. I'm not surprised, it feels like this was exactly the intention behind this report. Conducted by Matt Goodwin of Buckingham University, who is also a regular voice on the right-wing TV channel GB News channel, the research claims that the proportion of white Brits will decline from 73% (where it currently stands) to 57% by 2050. It is then thought that white British people will become a minority by 2063 and that by the end of the century they will only constitute a third of the overall population. Referencing his study's findings, Goodwin said that those in favour of 'maintaining the way of life of the traditional majority population' will need their concerns 'recognised, respected and addressed.' Let's be real about what we're looking at here. This is not an impartial, apolitical study of demographic change. Goodwin's definition is so absurdly broad that figures such as King Charles and Winston Churchill wouldn't be considered 'White British' in this instance. Firstly, Goodwin makes frankly insulting and arbitrary decisions about what exactly is considered 'White British'. He defines this as those without at least one immigrant parent – creating a strange conclusion in which some people seem defined only by their 'foreign' side, creating a two-tiered system in which only those untainted by immigrant blood are considered genuinely 'White British' or native. By his definition, as a Muslim with one English parent and one Libyan, I'm not as British as a white non-Muslim, despite being born and raised here. This only reinforces what I have known my entire life – or at least, since I started looking visibly foreign by first wearing the hijab at 15: That I am always defined by my foreignness and never my Englishness. Goodwin's definition is so absurdly broad that figures such as King Charles and Winston Churchill wouldn't be considered 'White British' in this instance. But it is not white people with an American mother or a Greek father who are accused of diluting the native British population when it comes to studies like these. It's people like me whose brown, Muslim lineage renders me a foreigner, despite me being ethnically just as English as I am Libyan. Why else would Goodwin focus on his headline-grabbing statistic that 1 in 5 Britons will apparently be Muslim by the end of the century. In fact, Goodwin's main report on 'religious projections' doesn't even mention any other faiths, simply categorising the UK population along the lines of Muslim or non-Muslim. This sounds chillingly like 'us versus them', 'good guy versus bad guy' or 'native versus foreigner' – all of which fuel hysteria about a Muslim takeover and label Islam and Britishness as mutual exclusives. In fact, just this week we have seen Reform – a party that many predict could soon find its way in Number 10 – raising the issue of a Burka ban. For many, being British is about more than a passport. It looks, sounds and acts a certain way – and that is not Muslim. Studies like the one released this week embolden those holding Islamophobic views, giving them a statistical basis for their bigotry. Research conducted by someone with such incendiary views should be taken with far more suspicion than we have seen with these findings – but I suppose that doesn't matter when there are some catchy fear-mongering soundbites on offer. While the survey has predictably been used as evidence for lowering immigration levels, beneath the odd (frankly racist) categorisation of British identity, it also paints a picture of the birth rates of different communities in the UK and how that will impact future demographics. Given that Britain's birth rate is at an all-time low, we have seen pronatalist policies slowly creep into the mainstream as politicians panic about what the future will look like if nobody can afford to have babies. But what this survey seems to reinforce is that calls to raise the birth rate aren't simply about providing the nation with the next generation of workers and taxpayers. It is, for many, ensuring that the future face of the west remains white and that the so-called native population reproduces quickly enough to balance out other communities like my own, who traditionally tend to have larger families. Last year a peer in the House of Lords made a speech in which he warned about radical Muslims taking over Britain 'through the power of the womb'. More Trending Every year when the name Muhammad inevitably tops the list of most popular baby names, we see another wave of media-manufactured moral panic that Britain overrun by Muslims unless the white British population has more babies. Reports like these don't just legitimise conspiracy theories like this, they help manufacture them, and attempt to make people like me feel more othered, more unsafe. Who knows what this hypothetical Britain will look like in decades time? But if the children and grandchildren of people like me aren't considered part of the future British population, but a hostile outside force, then things are only going to get worse for all of us. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Donald Trump and Elon Musk might make peace – but it will never last MORE: What does Eid Mubarak mean and how should you reply to the greeting? MORE: Universal digital 'BritCards' on an app could soon be used to prove who you are
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Holocaust survivor burned in Boulder speaks after antisemitic attack
The one thing that remained constant: their family stayed together. It's a message that resonates with her nearly 90 years later and why she was marching in Boulder on Sunday. She was part of a small group bringing attention to the Jewish hostages held by Hamas to bring them home when she was attacked. A man threw Molotov cocktails at the group, injuring 12 people. Steinmetz, 88, told NBC News earlier this week that she and other members of the group Run for Their Lives were peacefully demonstrating when they were attacked. "We're Americans. We are better than this," she told the news outlet. They should be "kind and decent human beings." Steinmetz spent much of her life trying not to talk about what her family endured. Her father's message to her was always to move to forward. In 1998, she sat down to share her story with the University of Southern California's Shoah project, which documents the lives of Holocaust survivors. In an interview stretching almost three hours, Steinmetz talked about her family's escape, the relatives who died in the war, and the lessons they learned. She was 61 when she did the Shoah interview, one of thousands of 52,000 stories recorded over eight years. "Family is what's most important," Steinmetz said. She was too young to remember much from her family leaving Italy in 1938 when Benito Mussolini stripped Jewish people of their citizenship at the direction of Adolf Hitler. What she remembers, she said in the interview, was an atmosphere of trauma. Boulder attack: Firebombing suspect Mohamed Soliman charged with 118 criminal counts Her father, who had run a hotel on the northern Italian coast after leaving Hungary, visited embassies and wrote letters to various countries to try to move his family as Hitler's power grew. Each time, their move was temporary. Each time, they brought only what they could carry. But each time, they stayed together. "Things were not important, people are important. What you have in your brain and in your heart that is the only thing that's important," she said. "And that's totally transportable." In the past few years, Steinmetz has told her family's story at Holocaust remembrance events and classrooms, libraries and churches. She wants people to understand history to understand that Jewish people are being targeted again. "Hitler basically took (my father's) life, his dream away.... The rest of life was chasing, running, trying to make a living," she said. The family eventually settled in in Sosua where the Dominican Republic Resettlement Association (DORSA) had established a refugee camp for Jewish people. Life was difficult there, she said, as her family and had to learn to build houses, farm the rocky terrain, and raise their families. Steinmetz and her sister, three years older, were soon sent to a Catholic school, where only the head nun knew they were Jewish. A nun used to let her change the clothes of the Baby Jesus figurine at the church, and for a few minutes each day, she felt like she had a doll. She remembers sleeping next to her sister, and crying inconsolably. "I never cried again. Years and years and years later, when something happened, my mother and father died, I had a hard time crying. And to this day, I have a hard time crying," she said. "It is just something I don't do." The family didn't speak of these moves for years, she would say. "They couldn't help where they were living, it was the only thing they could do to stay alive." The family settled in Boston in 1945, and soon learned much of their family in Europe had died, some in the war, others after. The family would move several times again as her father found different jobs, and she and her sister began going to Jewish summer camps. It was there, she said, that she "fell into the Zionist spirit. I loved the feeling that there would be a state of Israel." She finally felt like she had a community, she said. "These were my people,"she said. "This group was very tight. I was very welcome there. It was a really important part of my life." Her life, she said, was shaped by the war. "It was an experience that affected everything we did," she said, lessons she and her husband, who died in 2010, passed to their three daughters. In all the years of moving from place to place, she remembers they never went to sleep without saying a prayer for their family in Europe, to "bless Aunt Virgie, Emra and Oscar and Pearl... our grandparents." When she met some of this family again in the mid 1950s, "I knew them. They had been part of my everyday life ... they were part of my vocabulary." At the end of telling her story, of two hours and 54 minutes of mostly emotionless factual testimony, the interviewer for the Shoah project asks if there is anythingshe hopes people could take away from her story. "We need a broader picture of all of humanity," she said. "We need to educate ourselves and always need to be on top of what is going on in the world and be alert and be responsive to it." And it's why she continues to tell their story, to warn about antisemitism - even as hate against Jews soars to historic levels. Just last year, Steinmetz showed up to a Boulder City Council meeting in support of her local Jewish community. A woman sat down next to Steinmetz, she recounted in a video interview in June 2024. The woman had a Palestinian flag and a sign that read, "from the river to the sea," a phrase that can be used to promote antisemitism. Steimetz turned to her and said: "Do you realize that that means you want to kill me? You want me destroyed?'" The woman just turned away. "Jews in Boulder and maybe Denver and probably in cities all around the world, are afraid of wearing their Jewish stars," Steinmetz said. People are taking down their mezuzahs so that no one will know that it's a Jewish house, she said. But in the following breath, Steinmetz rejected the notion that silence is ever an option. "It is up to each of us to say something, to say something and do something. 'You can say no; I'm a human being just like that other person. We are all humans.'"
