LIBYA: A bomb attack severely damages a courthouse in the city of Benghazi, wounding several guards

Record ID: 357492

  • Title: LIBYA: A bomb attack severely damages a courthouse in the city of Benghazi, wounding several guards
  • Date: 28th April 2012
  • Summary: BENGHAZI, LIBYA (APRIL 27, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE BOMBED COURTHOUSE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GUARD WHO WAS LIGHTLY WOUNDED IN HIS LEG BY SHRAPNEL AND GLASS, ASHOUR SALIM AL-FARSI, SAYING: "I was on duty and awake until around 3:30 in the morning, and the explosion happened at 4:10, and we didn't know what was going on, but we went out to see all
  • Embargoed: 13th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Libya, Libya
  • Country: Libya
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CWK0BNC37DLPOPM7TJ7K035Q
  • Story Text: A bomb exploded at a courthouse in the Libyan city of Benghazi on Friday (April 27), wounding four people and damaging nearby buildings in a new challenge to the government's struggle to restore order.
    A security official said three plastic explosive devices were planted near a courthouse wall. The blasts shattered windows of a nearby hospital, wounding one person inside.
    The explosion left gaping holes on the side of the courthouse in the centre of Benghazi and shattered the windows of the building as well as a nearby office block.
    Security guard Ashour al-Farsi said the blast was set off in the early hours of the morning.
    "I was on duty and awake until around 3:30 in the morning, and the explosion happened at 4:10, and we didn't know what was going on, but we went out to see all the people had come out with their weapons. We have said time and again during a time when we had some stability that we were exposed and needed better security and police," he said, adding that two other security guards were also hurt.
    "We didn't see anything. We just heard gunfire immediately after the explosion. When we went outside we saw armed locals, and we didn't know who was with us and who was against us. The bombs were set off by a timer," he continued to say.
    Residents of Benghazi, the cradle of Libya's revolution, have voiced frustration about being all but forgotten by the new leadership in Tripoli since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in August.
    In late January, protesters stormed the local headquarters of the ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), smashing its windows with stones and metal bars. On April 10, a home-made bomb was thrown at a convoy carrying the head of the United Nations mission to Libya but no one was hurt.
    Political activist and lawyer, Salwa Bouqeeqis, said people need to stand together against attempts to undermine the authorities.
    "I'm upset with what has happened, and there are many question marks over this. Who has an interest from these blasts? We heard that there was a bomb attack outside a court in Derna before. We are against terrorism, against extremism. We want a civil state that upholds the rule of law," she said.
    "There are many threats. There is terrorism and extremism with some groups who don't want the revolution to succeed. We don't want to always blame the Fifth Column (Gaddafi loyalists) for this. We don't always have to look for them as a scapegoat. We really need to stand together, hand in hand. We want a state built on institutions. This is our aspiration and what our martyrs died for," she added.
    Hampered by the lack of an effective national army or internal security force, the NTC is grappling to disband dozens of powerful militias that effectively control various parts of the country.
    Militia chiefs have resisted attempts to integrate their personnel into the official military and police police forces.
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