Protesters in Libya attacked offices linked to the Muslim Brotherhood following the assassination July 26 of political activist Abdelsalam al-Mismari (also rendered Elmessmary). Al-Mismari, a vocal opponent of the Brotherhood, was shot dead as he left a mosque in Benghazi after Friday prayers. As the news broke, his supporters stormed offices of the Justice and Construction Party (JPC), the Brotherhood's Libyan political wing, in both Benghazi and Tripoli. Two members of the security forces were also shot in Benghazi that day, the latest in a wave of targeted killings in the city.
Attorney al-Mismari was a founder of the 17 February Coalition, which coordinated opposition forces in Benghazi in February 2011, at the onset of the uprising agains Moammar Qaddafi. The coalition created the National Transitional Council, which governed opposition-held areas of Libya until the election of the General National Congress in July 2012. But al-Mismari remained a dissident, opposing the Political Isolation Law passed earlier this year, which bars Qaddafi-era officials from holding public office. He was also outspoken against the growing influence of the JCP in the General National Congress, as he had been an opponent of Islamist forces in the National Transitional Council. He had long received death threats, and in May 2012 was attacked by unknown assailants on the street in Benghazi. (BBC News, July 27; HRW, July 26)
Libya's Zuetina Oil Company has resumed production of oil and gas but is holding back from exporting any hydrocarbons as its port remains occupied by protesters. Workers striking over wages and conditions halted production at the company's fields in June, and now a new action has been launched at the port facility by protesters who say they were promised jobs by the government that have not been forthcoming. (Libya Herald, July 24)
Libyan oil production has been interrupted repeatedly since the fall of Qaddafi by striking workers, unemployed youth, and political protesters.
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Terror blasts rock Benghazi
Explosions rocked the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on July 28, in what appeared to be attacks on judicial buildings, a security official said, sparking protests a day after more than 1,100 inmates escaped during a prison riot there. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Benghazi’s streets denouncing the latest violence, according to residents. (Reuters)