Some protestors in Martyrs’ Square carried placards showing defaced images of CDA head Ali Tarhouni (photo: Tom Westcott)
Some 300 protestors gathered in Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli yesterday for the 20th consecutive Friday protest against a range of personalities and institutions, including UN Special Envoy Bernadino Leon, head of the Constitutional Drafting Assembly Ali Tarhouni, Khalifa Hafter, the House of Representatives and the Libyan National Army.
“The first thing is that we support the 17th February Revolution, and after that we are against the parliament in Tobruk because it has joined with the Emirates and Egypt and is bombing us,” protestor Ali Aboud told the Libya Herald.
“Now people are also making demands of Ali Tarhouni, asking for the draft constitution,” he said. “He should have completed the draft by 24th August but instead he has ignored the GNC and has joined with Tobruk.” Aboud claimed that the GNC had sent a letter to Tarhouni last week demanding to know about the progress of the draft constitution but so far this too had been ignored.
Another image sowing a defaced picture of UN Special Envoy Bernadino Leon (photo: Tom Westcott)
“We believe the constitution should be what saves and unites Libya, and helps rebuild the country,” another protestor said. He carried a hand-written placard echoing this sentiment.
A dislike for Leon and his continued efforts to bring together different powers in Libya to engage in dialogue were made very clear, with several images of and messages to him written on signs around the square.
Protesters with a Libya Dawn collection box (Photo: Tom Westcott)
During the protest collection boxes were carried around the edges of the protest. The Arabic written on one of these read “Charity to Support Fajr Libya.” Aboud explained that the money was for people from Benghazi and Kikla who had lost their homes or been forcibly displaced by ongoing fighting in the towns.
Defaced images of Tarhouni and Hifter were also carried by some protestors, whilst many other waved flags.
Various speakers took to a stage, which had been erected in front of the historic Red Castle with a specially section condoned off section for female protestors. Most focused on condemning the recent airstrikes on Western Libyan sites, including Zuwara, the Ras Jedir border crossing and Ghariyan.
By Libya Herald staff
