Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/275833
News THE Libyan parliament has yesterday afternoon voted out Ali Zeidan's government over its inability to control rebels in the eastern part of the country. The General National Assem- bly approved a no-confidence motion to oust Zeidan amid anger at his government's fail- ure to stop eastern rebels from independently exporting oil. Zeidan has been replaced by the country's defence minister. The vote on Tuesday came hours after an oil tanker carry- ing rebel oil escaped warships and left the country. MP Suleiman al-Zubi told the AFP news agency that Defence Minister Abdullah al-Thinni was named interim premier for the two weeks the assembly now has to agree on a permanent re- placement. "The Congress voted to with- draw its confidence in the prime minister by 124 votes," al-Zubi told AFP. Zeidan's government had been repeatedly criticised for its fail- ure to disarm militias which have carved out their own fiefdoms since the NATO-backed upris- ing that ended the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. The prime minister was him- self brief ly abducted by an armed group in the heart of the capital, Tripoli, last October. "The situation in the country has become unacceptable. Even those MPs who used to support the prime minister no longer have any alternative," MP Suad Gan- nur told AFP before the assembly vote. Earlier, a North Korean-f lagged tanker that loaded crude oil from a rebel-held terminal in eastern Libya escaped nav y warships de- ployed to intercept it and is now in international waters, rebels and a state oil company official said. The Morning Glory, which docked in al-Sidra port on Sat- urday and is reported to have taken on at least 234,000 barrels of crude, is the first vessel to have loaded oil from a rebel-held port since the revolt against the Tripo- li authorities erupted last July. "The tanker left and is now in international waters," Reu- ters quoted Mohammad Hitab, spokesman for the state-run al- Waha Oil Company operating the al-Sidra port, as saying. Rebels demanding a bigger share of oil revenue and political auton- omy in the east seized three ports last summer and partly control a fourth. The central government had threatened armed action, even an air strike, to prevent the tanker from getting away with its cargo of oil bought from the rebels' self- declared autonomous regional government without the authori- sation of the state-owned Libyan National Oil Corporation. Members of the General Na- tional Congress (GNC), Libya's highest political authority, said that bad weather prevented the nav y's small vessels from follow- ing the huge ship out into the Mediterranean. Abdelkader Houili, who sits on the GNC's energy committee, told Al-Nabaa television that the nav y's warships, which mainly consist of fast patrol boats, had been forced to sail close to the coast because of the weather. "The tanker then took advan- tage of the gap to head for the open sea," he said. The tanker's escape is a new humiliation for the Tripoli au- thorities who have been battling to assert control over much of the country since the NATO-backed 2011 revolt that ended the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi. In eastern Libya in particular, a myriad of former rebel fighters have carved out their own fief- doms. maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 12 MARCH 2014 Drafting of Villa Bonici development brief still unclear JAMES DEBONO IT is not clear whether the develop- ment brief for the Villa Bonici devel- opment in Sliema will be conducted by the developers or by the Malta Environment and Planning Author- ity. Last month the MEPA board turned down an application for resi- dential development in the Villa Bo- nici gardens because the local plan stipulates that a development brief should be presented before any de- velopment is approved. Normally it is MEPA that drafts development briefs before the pri- vate sector submits proposals based on the parameters set up by MEPA. But asked whether the brief will be prepared by the developer or by MEPA, a spokesperson for the au- thority replied that "discussions be- tween Mepa and the land owner are still underway" and "no decision has yet been taken". The proposed development con- sists of 188 apartments in four residential blocks ranging in height between two and 12 floors. The ap- plication attracted controversy for its radical redevelopment of the green space, a garden belonging to the stately Villa Bonici, and a unique house in the over-developed Sliema and Gzira area. But the future of this area could still be in the balance as discussions have already started with the owners to devise a new development brief. In fact before last month's refusal, developers had been asked by the Planning Directorate to withdraw the present application. But the owners have pressed on with the application, which is most likely going to be rejected as it is in breach of a local plan. The main reason given in the case officer's report for refusing the de- velopment was that no development brief, as stipulated by the North Harbour Local Plan, has been de- vised for this zone. That means the proposed development falls outside the parameters of acceptable devel- opment in the area. The development refused by MEPA included an eight-storey block would also have an adverse impact on the scheduled villa, due to the short dis- tance between the two buildings. Villa Bonici was built before 1872 as a country residence for Em- manuele Testaferrata Bonici Ghax- aq. Parts of Villa Bonici in Sliema were scheduled as a Grade 2 prop- erty in 2010. Its present owner, Alfred Gera de Petri, has insisted that Villa Bonici is his family's private property and that the villa's location in the mid- dle of urban development gave its owners rights to its monetary value. "Some people, in their unbridled en- thusiasm, seem to forget that own- ers do have rights and that these are also protected by the Constitution and the European Court," Gera de Petri had told the Times. The Sliema Residents Association had insisted that the area should be developed for community purposes. During the public meeting, ar- chitect Edwin Mintoff claimed that the applicant had remained in contact with the Directorate and is still awaiting its direction. During the public hearing, Sliema Coun- cillor Michael Briguglio who was accompanied by the Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop, said the council, which is a registered objector, does not object to a Development Brief as long as there is adequate public con- sultation. Libyan congress ousts Zeidan government Ali Zeidan The Villa Bonici development in Sliema