Libya Assembly Elects New Premier

Tripoli--Libya’s national assembly has elected a new prime minister a week after dismissing initially elected Mustafa Abu Shagur from the post, over failure to secure a cabinet.

Ali Zeidan, an independent candidate won the Sunday General National Congress (GNC) polls by 93 votes, a majority among those present, beating a candidate favoured by the Muslim Brotherhood-linked Justice and Construction party.

Zeidan, is now tasked to form a viable government following a directive by the national assembly president to propose a cabinet within the next two weeks.

His predecessor Mustafa Abu Shagur was dismissed as Prime minister after the GNC passed a no-confidence vote against him, after rejecting twice his proposal of an “emergency government” where his list of 10 ministers in the cabinet was termed to be incompetent and not being diverse enough.

Mr Zeidan, a former career diplomat who later turned critic of Muammar Gaddafi regime in the 1980s is seen as a liberal with strong personality. He served in the revolutionary National Transitional Council (NTC) as its Europe envoy, who played critical role in rallying for western support of the uprising against Col Gaddafi.

In a news conference held on Sunday Zeidan told reporters that he would focus on restoring security in Libya, a critical time when unrests have threatened stability especially in western part of the country that has witnessed renewed clashes in the past.

"The security file will be my top most priority because all the problems that Libya suffers from stems from security issues. The government will be an emergency government to solve the crises that the country is going through," said Mr Zeidan.

He hinted on basing his government on the Islamic “sharia” laws, views pushed by the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, though his major backing was by the leading liberal coalition, the National Forces Alliance.

"Islam is our belief system and the source for any jurisprudence and anything against sharia is refused," he said.

Libya, largely kept secular under dictatorial grip of Col Gaddafi, has witnessed contests between Islamist and more secular factions since end of the uprising in October last year, with rebel groups that fought alongside each other, fighting over territorial control mainly in western part of the country.

Abuja, Nigeria

Gun Attacks on Mosque in Northern Nigeria Leaves Dozens Dead

At least 21 people have been killed when gunmen opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Kaduna State in northern Nigeria, local officials have said.

The pre-dawn Sunday raid on the Dogon Dawa village in Kaduna state is said to be conducted by a gang disguised in police uniform who opened fire at Muslim worshippers inside and outside the building, as they readied for morning prayers.

No claims for responsibility have been made so far, though the military and residents say that it was carried out by a armed robbers engaged in a running feud with a local vigilante group. The group is claimed to have been expelled by the community militia last week and Sunday’s assault is said to be in reprisal.

State police have confirmed the incident but did not give a death toll, though the national disaster response agency gave a figure.

"We have 21 killed. Several others have been taken to the hospital with injuries," said Musa Illela of the National Emergency Management Agency in Kaduna.

Military spokesman Colonel Sani Usman told AFP that Sunday's shooting was "a clear case of armed robbery," and described it as a "revenge" attack linked to the rivalry between the thieves and the vigilantes.

A local resident said that thieves regulary target the Dogon Dawa area which lies not far from a main road used by traders plying the between the north and south of Nigeria.

The mosque attacks had raised speculations that they were conducted by radical Islamist sect Boko Haram which has usually targeted security forces and Christian churches, with few attacks on Muslim clerics and mosques said not to be following their brand of Islam.

A series of weeks of bombings on Christian services in Kaduna state in June claimed by the sect, sparked reprisal violence by Christian mobs who killed dozens of their Muslims neighbours, attracting a spate of rival killings by mobs of the two religions in the state.

Violent robberies along Nigeria’s major roadways have created a climate of fear, with minimal arrests or prosecution being made of perpetrators who often set up roadblocks and commit senseless killings of victims.