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Jobs, study and training opportunities are the precondition of sustainable internal stability, Transitional National Council (TNC) leaders suggest. At least 13 young men were killed and many more wounded over the past week in clashes between militias from different localities and different tribal networks. The latest flare-up appears to have involved heavily armed groups from the coastal town of Zawiya, very close to Tripoli, and Warshefana militiamen. TNC chairman Jalil has been mediating between elders of both sides to bring the fighting to an end. He is reported to have said that the violence is fuelled by the absence of alternatives, first and foremost real jobs. Three quarters of disgruntled armed fighters are unemployed he said. Interim prime minister El-Keib is reported to have echoed this position, saying that it is would be unrealistic to attempt to disarm fighters until credible alternatives, mainly work and training, are available.
Although it will not be easy to eradicate a forty year tradition of passive dependence on the state for jobs and subsidies, many Libyans in business, public administration as well as in the TNC know that creating real jobs will depend on the new government's ability to promote the private sector and entrepreneurial activity. Dr. Ali Tarhouni, in charge of finance and oil at least until the interim cabinet is announced, is reported to have declared that he looks forward to a new Libya with a smaller government and an expanding free private sector. He has also conceded, however, that achieving this will be no easy task. People, he said, are expecting more and not less from the state. A tradition of corruption will slow the process further.
More about interim prime minister Abdurrahim El-Keib at Watching Libya October 31, 2011 . For Ali Tarhouni’s background see Watching Libya March 24, 2011.
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