@bnnNEWSLIVEWAR IN LIBYA
Massive munitions stockpiles unguarded in eastern Libyagoo.gl/fb/zniSF #libya
AJDABIYAH, Libya Nov 5 (Reuters) - Munitions stockpiles in eastern Libya remain for a large part unguarded, despite pledges by the interim government to secure the country's massive arsenal.
The abundance of arms free for the taking, in an area that has not seen combat since the summer, throws a major challenge to the country's National Transitional Council (NTC) as it struggles to bring order after the uprising that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.
At one massive bunker complex visited by Reuters at the weekend, thousands of rockets, mines, tank shells and even two Italian naval torpedoes lay in neat stacks ready for transport -- with not a guard in sight.
At another, larger ammo dump near Libya's second-largest city Benghazi, a single fighter stood guard over a tract of land dotted with bunkers stretching as far as the eye could see.
Under growing international pressure from countries that support it, the nascent government has publicly committed itself to securing weapon depots that fuelled eight months of combat and ended in Gaddafi's capture and killing last month.
With at least dozens of bunkers left completely unguarded, the resolve of Libya's rulers may now come into question at the very moment the faction-plagued NTC tries to build a new system of government, largely from scratch.
"It is a danger," NTC spokesman Jalal El-Galal said on Saturday. "But we are stretched and don't want to put people who are outside of our control in charge of securing sites. We are concerned, but not panicked."
Built on a desolate landscape near the town of Ajdabiyah, one site visited by Reuters had been bombed by NATO warplanes while still in the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces. Some 30 bunkers remained intact and brimming with crates of armaments, their doors wide open. Continued...
