Libya: shortage of drinking water following threats from an armed group demanding the release of Senoussi
Abdallah al-Senoussi, former Libyan intelligence chief under the Gaddafi regime, here in Tripoli in August 2011. Reuters
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Much of Libya has been deprived of drinking water since Saturday, August 14.
An armed group broke into the country's main supply center demanding the release of Abdallah al-Senoussi, Muammar Gaddafi's brother-in-law and senior official of the former regime.
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The authority of the great artificial river - Gaddafi's flagship project created 30 years ago to supply 70% of Libyan cities with drinking water pumped from groundwater - has shut off the water.
This committee says it is acting out of fear of the armed men who threatened to destroy the station's infrastructure.
At the expiration of 72 hours, the managing committee of this network control center decided to shut off the water for fear of “
sabotage
” and to “
guarantee the safety of its employees
”.
This committee called on the authorities to take their responsibilities.
Since Saturday, no official reaction has taken place.
Mediation is reportedly underway.
Last Thursday, armed men broke into the place, threatening to blow everything up if they did not succeed.
They demanded the release of Abdallah al-Senoussi, former cacique of the fallen regime.
He has been in prison in Tripoli since 2012, the date of his extradition from Mauritania where he had found refuge, after the fall of the regime.
The authorities sentenced him to death in 2015 during a trial denounced by the UN.
The Libyan executive, in power since March, is now accused of mismanagement.
While he was appointed to provide for the daily needs of Libyans, nothing is resolved.
Divisions persist and the elections appear increasingly hypothetical.
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Libya
Muammar Gaddafi
Water