Libyan gov't warns of obstructing return of displaced Tawerghan refugees

TRIPOLI, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Libya's UN-backed government warned on Thursday that some parties in Libya are seeking to obstruct the return of the displaced Tawerghan people.

"The Presidential Council of the Government of National Accord calls on concerned parties to resort to reason and national spirit," the government said in a statement.

It said that everyone must unite to end the suffering of the displaced people and help them return.

"History will witness those who obstructed the return. Let the return of the people of Tawergha to their city become a new era of comprehensive national reconciliation," the statement added.

The return of Tawerghans, which was scheduled to start on Thursday, was halted after armed groups from Misurata District and forces allied with the government denied them entry into the town.

A military source told Xinhua that the government-allied forces, stationed in the nearby city of Sirte, barred 200 Tawerghan families from entering the town.

The highway leading from Sirte to Tawergha was also closed.

The forces allied with the government, known as Al-Bunyan Al-Marsus, are mostly composed of armed groups from Misurata and actually more loyal to their city than to the government.

"Armed groups from Misurata prevented Tawerghan refugees from Tripoli, who were then based in Bani Walid city, from going to their town, after closing the road between Bani Walid and Misurata with sand barriers," the source said.

A day earlier, the city of Misurata demanded for postponement of the return of the internally displaced people from Tawergha.

The city slammed the government's unilateral announcement of the return date as a move without fully implementing a previous UN-sponsored agreement, particularly in terms of "reconciliation, extradition, taking security measures and compensation for all parties."

During the 2011 uprising, some residents of Tawergha allied with the forces of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi against the rebels of the nearby city of Misurata.

After Gaddafi's regime was toppled, those residents, accused by Misurata of actively participating in the fighting against them, fled their homes to other cities in Libya. Since then, they have been internally displaced.

In August 2016, representatives of Tawergha and Misurata signed a UN-sponsored draft reconciliation agreement to allow the nearly 40,000 Tawerghan refugees to return home. Enditem