20111214
Islam Times
Libyan protesters in Benghazi, cradle of the uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, called yesterday for the man they helped bring to power in place of the slain dictator to quit over slow reforms.

Hundreds of men and women chanted slogans against Mustafa Abdel Jalil in the eastern city’s Shajara Square, complaining of a lack of transparency and his willingness to forgive former Gaddafi fighters.

The square, whose name means “Tree” in Arabic, was the place where the first anti-Gaddafi rally was held on February 15, jump-starting the revolution that eventually overthrew the 42-year old regime.

“The NTC (National Transitional Council) must quit. Jalil must go out! The people want another revolution!” chanted the crowds as they waved Libya’s new flag.

The angry demonstrators accused the NTC, the former rebel grouping that now runs Libya after Gaddafi’s downfall and subsequent killing on October 20, of not being transparent about its activities.

“Abdel Jalil has lot of questions to answer. The regime has not changed. It is the same which oppresses and marginalises cities,” Tahini al-Sharif, a lawyer from Benghazi.

She said the protesters were also furious over Abdel Jalil’s remarks that the Council was ready to forgive Gaddafi’s fighters.
“Abdel Jalil is asking us to forgive Gaddafi fighters. Would he say the same thing if his son was killed or wounded in the revolution?” asked Sharif.

On Saturday, the NTC held the first post-Gaddafi conference on national reconciliation in which Abdel Jalil said the new Libyan rulers can forgive the fighters of the slain dictator who fought the rebels during the uprising against him.
“In Libya we are able to absorb all. Libya is for all,” Abdel Jalil told the conference.

“Despite what the army of the oppressor did to our cities and our villages, our brothers who fought against the rebels as the army of Gaddafi, we are ready to forgive them,” he said.
“We are able to forgive and tolerate,” he added.
Yesterday Abdel Jalil called on Libyans to be patient.

“I want to reassure Libyans that a lot will be done. Be patient,” he said in a brief statement to reporters in Tripoli.

He pledged the NTC would be more transparent in its activities. “The NTC will start its own website on which the list of its members and the activities of the NTC will be made public,” he said.

Calling for “restraint and preservation of public property”, Abdel Jalil said the NTC is investing in priorities such as integration of former rebels in the society.

He said that “if these objectives are achieved in the next 100 days, it will be a great achievement for the Libyans and the government.”

Abdel Jalil also said a budget will be allocated to each local city and regional council depending on its population and the extent of damage caused in the conflict against Gaddafi.

But angry Benghazi protesters were in no mood to listen to him.
“In the early days of the revolution he said nobody will be forgiven. Now he wants to forgive them (Gaddafi fighters). Is this justice?” said Mustafa Ali.

Ali further accused NTC of including members who participated in the anti-Gaddafi uprising in the final stage.

“Some who joined the revolution in the last two months are now members of NTC or of the government. Is this justice?” he added.

Yesterday’s protest comes a day after a senior official with New York-based Human Rights Watch too raised concerns over the NTC’s lack of transparency.

“One concern we have today is about the NTC and the lack of transparency.” Fred Abrahams of HRW told a conference on human rights in Tripoli on Sunday.

“We don’t know when they are meeting, what they are discussing and some of the new laws are not available to the public,” he said.

“I don’t think it is (done) on purpose. They are not trying to hide anything. It’s a problem of organisation, but that is an explanation not a justification,” Abrahams added.