By Jamie Prentis.

Tunis, 21 January 2018:

A group of Libyan diplomats, political activists and media specialists have condemned the Italian decision to send more troops to Misrata.

They denounced any presence of Italian troops on Libyan soil and said Italy’s government had exploited Libya’s “institutional chaos” and the UN’s lack of authority over the country.

In a particularly charged excerpt the 77-strong group said “the Libyan people would not accept the colonization entering from the window after being expelled from the door.”

The House of Representatives Defence Committee had also rebuked the decision by the Italian parliament. Italy’s embassy in Tripoli has insisted that there is inaccurate information circulating around the media and it said nothing had changed.

 

The full statement read:

The signatories of this statement recall the sacrifices of our fathers and ancestors in liberating our precious homeland Libya from the Italian fascist colonization, and we are grateful for those who lost their lives fighting against Italian colonization as well as the victims of fascist Italy’s crimes, especially those who died in concentration camps, prisons and exile.

We strongly denounce all Italian military presence on Libyan soil, regardless of its justifications.

The Italian government has exploited the state of institutional chaos and the weakness of the authority imposed by the UN Security Council to send its forces to be based on part of Libyan territory.

This act violates the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national security of Libya, which is contrary to the rules of international law and the Charter of the United Nations and any silence or acquiescence by any Libyan authority on this violation is considered a great betrayal punishable by law.

The Libyan people would not accept the colonization entering from the window after being expelled from the door.

The signatories draw the attention of the UN Security Council that the Italian troops entered Libya with all its equipment and weapons, which are banned by the Council’s resolutions and without any exceptions from the sanctions committee which is in clear violation of the embargo. The Security Council must condemn and demand that Italy complies with the Council's resolutions and withdraw its troops from Libya.

The signatories call on the Libyan House of Representatives, as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, to meet in a full session quorum as soon as possible and demand that Italy withdraw its troops immediately from Libyan territory.

We warn that the Libyan people may deal with the Italian military presence directly to preserve the dignity and restore the sovereignty of their country.

We also warn the Italian authorities about the consequences of ignoring the opinions of the Libyan people on Italian interests in Libya and relations between the two countries in the future.

The signatories call upon the Libyan people to express their position on the illegal foreign military presence in Libya by all available peaceful means.

 

May Allah save Libya.

 

 

Signatories (77)

 

Muftah. A. Nasib Alhorer

Abdulghani Hassan Al Araybi

Layla Abusayf Yassin

Nasser Hassan Maegal

Mustafa M. Ali Kambaraki

Ebtisam Altahir Alqusbi

Almabruk Sultan

Mohamed Al Madani Al Azhari

Adel Mabruk Ajaj

Farida Mohamed Ezletni

Feras A Bosalum

Esam Saleh Al Tajouri

Ibrahim H. Elmajbri

Taher Al Taieb Al Sharif

Khaled Omran Al Mansuri

Abdulhadi M. Shamata

Nasrin Elmajdob Alearibi

Mohamed Ibrahim Alagi

Fouad Mohamed Sultan

Adil Ali Al Muqasbi

Ahmad E. Alobiedi

Abubakar Mohamed Armela

Abdullah Mohamed Al Rabu

Ali Mohamed Al Rag’i

Faraj Al Suwai’i Al Sahi

Marwan Ehtushani

Khalid Bozneen Elsakt

Mohamed Al Feyturi

Mohamed Abdulgasem

Fawzi  T. A. Abdulali

Ali M. Kshir

Suleiman Asshuhumi

Abdualslam Abdullah Nasia

Salama Ibrahim Al Ghwell

Ashraf M. El Burki

Ibrahim Omar Dabashi

Omran Ashur Zweit

Mohamed M. Bugnah

Ahmed Nuri Queri

Fawzi Mohamed Al Ghanay

Ibrahim Ramadan Blqasm

Khaled Musa Sakran

Yosef Khalifa Alaib

Abdulhamid Abdullah Hwaidi

Mohamed Ahmed Deara

Mohamed Mukhtar Al Ghanay

Abdulrahem Z. B. Janjan

Wael Hamda Barkah

Mohamed Ali Sakah

Amira Abdurrahman Jumuah

Issa Abdel Majeed Mansour

Tarik Abdussalam Elhuni

Salah Mohamed Mghell

Mohamed Alsa’ya Altef

Ali Hassan Mohamed Al Abani

Mahmoud Al Misrati

Mohamed Ali Hamza

Aref Ali Nayed

Khaled Abulgasem Khebrish

Labib M. Elramli

Ghayt Hamid Bushful

Abdul Salam R. Filfil

Mohamed Marei Alomari

Fayruz Mansour Albarju

Ahmad Hamad Miftah

Ali Hamuda Masoud

Farhat Omar Bengdara

Tariq Mohamed Al Kish

Ali Al Tahir Bin Salah

Farida Abulgassem Al Allaghi

Shokri Almabruok Shwia

Mohamed Allafi Abu Gnasha

Abdulbsit Ibrahim Almnfay

Fawsi Amar Allawlaqi

Abdalbaset Abdalssalam  Embarek

Sumayya Al Misrati

Ahmed Mohamed Ahmed Entir