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Libyan army to take up positions in Tripoli

Arab World Materials 18 November 2013 16:09 (UTC +04:00)
Libyan army units have been ordered to take up positions across the capital Tripoli, state-run news agency LANA quoted the Defence Ministry as saying on Monday, three days after militiamen killed 47 protesters
Libyan army to take up positions in Tripoli

Libyan army units have been ordered to take up positions across the capital Tripoli, state-run news agency LANA quoted the Defence Ministry as saying on Monday, three days after militiamen killed 47 protesters, dpa reported.

Militiamen from the western city of Misrata on Friday opened fire at protesters who had marched to militia bases to demand that they leave Tripoli and allow police and the army to take over security in the capital.

A three-day general strike began on Sunday in Tripoli to protest the killings.

Many small shops re-opened on Monday but banks and public services remained closed.

Health officials yesterday raised the death toll to 47, the local Libya Herald newspaper reported. About 471 were injured.

The Misrata militias blamed for the killings reportedly withdrew from the city on Saturday night.

Meanwhile, LANA said that the deputy chief of the country's intelligence service, Moustafa Nouh, had been released by his kidnappers.

Nouh was seized by gunmen from the western town of Zintan in Tripoli airport on Sunday as he returned from a foreign trip.

Libya's post-revolution rulers have been struggling to restore security after the capture and killing in 2011 of longtime leader Moamer Gaddafi.

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