Anti-Macron protests in western Libya
French President Emmanuel Macron during his speech from Les Mureaux, October 2, 2020. REUTERS / Ludovic Marin / Pool
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Several demonstrations took place Sunday, October 25 in western Libya to protest against Emmanuel Macron's words defending the publication of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
The opportunity for the authorities in Tripoli, close to Turkey, to renew their distrust of France, accused of supporting the rival authority in the east and more particularly Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
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Actions to denounce the
defense of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by Emmanuel Macron
took place on Sunday, October 25 in western Libya.
They were organized by the Mufti of Tripoli.
But in Tripoli, the demonstration gathered only a few dozen people.
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On the Place des Martyrs, the main gathering place of Tripoli, they were only a small fifty, according to local journalists, to meet while holding up portraits of French President Emmanuel Macron, crossed out with a red line.
Their main slogan was: "
Everything except the prophet
" to denounce the cartoons of Muhammad.
If the event did not take on more scale, it is because Sunday is a working day in Libya and that Tripolitans have more important concerns for their daily life, such as obtaining electricity, according to residents. contacted by phone.
In the neighboring commune of Zahra, southwest of Tripoli, anti-French sentiment was greater.
The inhabitants of the Wershefana tribe, for example, rolled on French flags placed on the roundabouts of the city.
It is the Mufti of Tripoli, Sadik el-Ghariani, known for his very conservative positions and his proximity to Turkey, who is at the origin of these actions.
His television channel,
Al-Tanasuh
, relayed all day long the calls to demonstrate against the speech of Emmanuel Macron considered racist by the religious leader.
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Read also:
Caricatures of Muhammad: a boycott of French products begins in the Arab world
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