Wednesday 19 January 2011

What's Libya Press's Game?

The website of Libya Press has some interesting material but I've no idea what to make of it. My attention was drawn when I heard of its criticism of the Libyan army as bloated and inefficient. But the site, usually described as close to Gaddafi's son Saif al-Islam, has other interesting reports. For example it quotes Mustafa al-Zayedi, 'a prominent figure in the Revolutionary Committees movement', as praising 'the Tunisian revolution'. Gaddafi himself, of course, said quite the opposite -- that Ben Ali was the best leader Tunisians ever had and they should have given him time to carry out his last-minute promises. The website also reports the release of a 26-year-old Libyan man, al-Rabi al-Mabrouk at-Mestari, who was arrested some days ago for calling on the Internet for protests in the eastern town of al-Baida. France 24 (Arabic) had a speaker who linked the article on the army to events in Tunisia and predicted that many army personnel would soon be laid off. At first sight, that would seem a strange way to prepare for possible unrest. But maybe Libya Press is just stirring up trouble in the hope that its sponsors might benefit. I'd appreciate any light anyone can throw on the subject.

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