TRIPOLI: Dozens of gunmen kept Libya’s foreign ministry under siege for a second day yesterday, as violence spread when police officers firing their guns in the air stormed the interior ministry demanding higher wages.
A correspondent and witnesses said that around 30 vehicles, some mounted with anti-aircraft guns, and unidentified armed men have encircled the foreign ministry in Tripoli since Sunday, demanding it sack officials from the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi.
Banners demanding the adoption of a law that would enforce the expulsion of Kadhafi-era officials were Monday plastered on the gate of the ministry building.
“The ministry is closed,” Aymen Mohamed Aboudeina, one of the protesters, said, adding that “talks will be initiated in the coming hours with the concerned ministries”.
He said the siege would be lifted when the protesters’ demands are met through a vote in the General National Congress — the highest political authority in Libya — on a bill calling for the expulsion of former regime employees.
Separately, a group of angry police officers entered the compound of the interior ministry on the airport road, firing their guns into air and demanding promotions and salary hikes, witnesses said.
“The situation has calmed down now. Officers just wanted to make their voices heard against injustices”, a security source said.
AFP
