Thousands of Libyans march against Islamists


Jerusalem Post


09/21/2012 21:40




"Rescue Benghazi day" demonstration calls on gov't to disband armed groups; smaller counter-protest held denouncing US.


BENGHAZI - Thousands of Libyans marched in Benghazi
on Friday in support of democracy and against the Islamist militias that
Washington blames for an attack on the US consulate last week that killed four Americans including the ambassador.The
"Rescue Benghazi day" demonstration called for the government to
disband armed groups that have refused to give up their weapons since
the NATO-backed revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi last year.Marchers
headed for a main square where a much smaller counter demonstration of
hundreds of supporters of hardline Islamist group Ansar al-Sharia were
waiting."It's obvious that this protest is against the militias.
All of them should join the army or security forces as individuals, not
as groups," medical student Ahmed Sanallah, 27, said. "Without that
there will be no prosperity and no success for the new Libya."


The late afternoon demonstration had a cheerful atmosphere as families marched with small children on their shoulders.

Fighter
jets and helicopters roared overhead in a show of official support for
the demonstration, which has been enthusiastically promoted by the
city's authorities."Those military battalions that want to impose
their ideology on the people of Libya will be confronted," Saleh
Gaouda, a member of new ruling national congress, said."This city wants to go back to stability and participate in building the state."

In
a sign of the cheerful atmosphere, one car had a giant cardboard model
of Benghazi's landmark lighthouse strapped to the roof. As the sun set
and the crowd began to disperse, someone shot fireworks into the air.Defend Benghazi

Although
the main demands of the marchers did not mention the attack on the US
consulate, it seems to have provided a strong impetus for the
authorities to rally support behind the country's weak government.US
ambassador Christopher Stevens was well liked in Libya, and many people
who were angered by an anti-Islamic film made in the United States
consider the attack on the embassy to have been excessive. Some placards
in English, intended for international news cameras, read: "We demand
justice for Stevens" and "Libya lost a friend"."I am out today to
defend Benghazi. Killing the ambassador is a completely separate
thing," 26-year-old Amjad Mohammed Hassan, a network engineer, said. "I
don't give a damn about the killing of the ambassador because the
Americans offended the Prophet. I am just here for Benghazi."Benghazi,
1,000 km (600 miles) from Tripoli across largely empty desert, is
controlled by various armed groups, including some comprised of
Islamists who openly proclaim their hostility to democratic government
and the West.Some of these have been identified by local people
as being among those who were at the consulate protest last week. US
officials have described the violence as a "terrorist attack".One group linked to the attack is Ansar al-Sharia, which has denied involvement in the violence.

Abu
Al-Qaa, a demonstrator at the Ansar al-Sharia counter demonstration,
said Stevens "was preparing for the entry of American troops into
Libya"."The will of the Prophet was to expel infidels from Muslim
lands so that Muslims prevail. Terrorizing your enemy is one of Islam's
tenets."He said he had fought against American troops in Iraq
where he was arrested and sent back to Gaddafi's Libya and jailed for
three years.One banner at that demonstration read: "Day to rescue Benghazi or day to rescue America?"

In
southern Libya, at least six people were killed and 12 injured in
clashes between security forces and a local group, a security official
and a resident said on Friday.Security forces were sent to the
town of Brak, 700 km (400 miles) south of Tripoli, on Wednesday to stop a
group broadcasting songs about Gaddafi on the radio, the official said.
The security forces, made up of former rebel fighters, came under
attack upon arrival.