Hassan bin Sophia, spokesperson for the Zliten council, said the prisoners asked for a doctor and when the gates were opened then attacked the guards and fled. However, 19 have already been recaptured with two of them wounded by shots from the guards.
Local officials were contacting families of the inmates to encourage them to surrender.This is the
second prison break this month with 54 escaping from a prison in Tripoli earlier in February.
Today, February 17th is the third anniversary of the start of the revolution against Gadhafi as protests began in the city of Benghazi against his four-decade long rule. There have been demonstrations against the government for extending its mandate that ran out on February 7th to December of this year. Libyans are critical of the government for its inability to solve security and economic problems.
The General National Council now agreed to hold elections earlier to elect a new transitional government.
In
another development, Maj. General Khalifa Hifter, a senior military officer, called for a military coup to solve the security situation. However, no one came. Apparently even the army realizes it does not have the strength to overpower Libyan militias. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said:
"The army is in its headquarters, and Khalifa Hifter has no authority, No military units have moved to touch any institutions.”
General Hifter is often regarded as the
CIA's man in LIbya. He lived in the U.S. in exile for decades just a few miles from CIA headquarters in Virginia. I have appended a video discussing Hifter just after he had moved back to Benghazi Libya just two months or so after the rebellion against Gadhafi began.
