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Libyans Turn on Islamists and Liberals After Killings Libyans Turn on Islamists and Liberals After Killings
(about 1 hour later)
TRIPOLI, Libya — Protesters on Saturday attacked the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood of Libya and the headquarters of a liberal coalition after demonstrations set off by killings in the eastern city of Benghazi turned violent, witnesses said. TRIPOLI, Libya — More than 1,000 detainees escaped from a prison near the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday, as protesters stormed the offices of political parties in Libya’s main cities.
Hundreds took to the streets overnight to denounce the killing of Abdelsalam al-Mosmary, a prominent political activist and Brotherhood critic, who was shot Friday after leaving a mosque. It was not immediately clear whether the jailbreak, at the Koyfiya prison, was part of the protests or whether inmates received outside help. Protesters angry over the assassination of an activist critical of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood massed across the country late Friday and Saturday.
Mr. Mosmary opposed the Brotherhood, whose Islamist political wing is the second-biggest party in the national congress. Two military officials were also killed in Benghazi on Friday. Those who escaped were either awaiting trial or had been convicted of serious charges, a security official at the prison said. He spoke on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to journalists.
Libya’s government is struggling to assert its authority over armed groups that helped topple the longtime ruler Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011, part of the wave of Arab Spring uprisings that also felled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. There also was confusion over the number of prisoners who broke out, with reports ranging as high as 1,200.
Protesters in Benghazi set fire to two buildings, one belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood and another to its political wing, the Justice and Construction Party, witnesses said. Benghazi’s security situation is among the most precarious in postrevolution Libya. Last year, the United States ambassador and three other Americans were killed in an attack there.
In Tripoli, a crowd stormed the party’s headquarters before moving on to ransack the headquarters of the liberal National Forces Alliance, the country’s biggest political coalition, founded by the wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril. Meanwhile on Saturday, hundreds gathered in the capital, Tripoli, after dawn prayers, to denounce the killing of the activist, Abdelsalam al-Mosmary. They burned tires in the street and demanded the dissolution of Islamist parties.
There has been rising opposition to the influence of the Brotherhood, which has links to several government ministers. It has struggled to convince Libyans wary of foreign interference that it has no financial or administrative ties to its namesake in neighboring Egypt, whose Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, was overthrown by the military on July 3. The two episodes highlighted Libya’s precarious security situation and the challenges the country faces as it tries to restore security nearly than two years after the ouster and killing of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi.
Tensions were also high between secularists and the ruling Islamists in Tunisia, where the funeral of a slain secular politician took place on Saturday. In Tripoli, protesters appeared to be inspired by events in neighboring Egypt, where millions took to the streets on Friday to answer a call from the army chief, who said he wanted a mandate to stop “potential terrorism” by supporters of Egypt’s ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, who is allied with the Brotherhood.
Many of the Libyan protesters accused the Brotherhood of being behind the killings in Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 revolution, a charge the Brotherhood rejected. “We don’t want the Brotherhood, we want the army and the police,” Libyan protesters chanted, repeating a slogan also used in Egypt. Libya’s nascent security forces are struggling to control the country’s militias, most of which have roots in the rebel groups that overthrew Colonel Qaddafi in 2011.
“We have strongly condemned the assassination of Mosmary, and all the Libyan people should hear this and not openly blame us,” said Abdulrahman al-Dibani, a member of the Justice and Construction Party in the congress. Mr. Mosmary, who had publicly criticized the Brotherhood, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Benghazi.
Reached by phone, Bashir el-Kubti, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya, declined to comment on the attacks on the movement’s offices. Some protesters stormed the headquarters of a Brotherhood-affiliated political party and another Islamist-allied party in Tripoli, destroying furniture. Witnesses said a Brotherhood office was also stormed in Benghazi.
Libyans are growing increasingly frustrated with the political squabbling and lawlessness that has followed the overthrow of Colonel Qaddafi. Protesters angry with the Libya’s weak central government also targeted the liberal National Forces Alliance, ransacking its headquarters. The party came on top in Libya’s first free parliamentary elections last year.
“The people were in the streets because they are fed up of all political parties and how the state has failed,” said Hisham Idris, who demonstrated in Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli. “Maybe the growing opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood is because they are trying to achieve their political ambitions using religion as a cover for their agenda.” Libyan security forces have been unable to impose their authority on the country. Militias, many made up of former rebels who fought in the civil war that toppled Colonel Qaddafi, have grown in strength, and some rival the security forces in their firepower and reach. The military also sometimes relies on militias for help securing the country.
The Tripoli protesters waved Libyan flags and shouted anti-Brotherhood slogans. A group of youths descended on the Justice and Construction Party offices, smashing windows, climbing on desks, grabbing documents and tossing them in the streets. On Saturday, a Libyan colonel was killed by unidentified assailants in Benghazi. Three other security members were killed a day earlier when gunmen opened fire.
Graffiti reading “Go shave your beards, hypocrites — Libya does not need you” was sprayed on the building.