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8 maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 19 AUGUST 2015 News Sirte falls to Islamic State Libya's internationally recognised government calls on Arab countries to launch air strikes against militants allied to Islamic State as Italian foreign minister warns that the North African country could turn into another Somalia JURGEN BALZAN FIGHTERS loyal to Islamic State (IS) have ferociously crushed a popular rebellion in the Libyan city of Sirte by citizens who took up arms to try to push back the militants. Witnesses said IS fighters were now calling on residents to pledge allegiance over loudspeakers from its main mosque and desecrating the bodies of their adversaries. This led to the internationally- recognised government based in eastern Libya calling on Arab na- tions to help in the fight against the Islamist militants. "The Libyan government, unable to ward off these terrorist groups because of the arms embargo, and out of its historic responsibility toward its people, calls on broth- erly Arab countries... to launch air strikes against specific targets of locations in Sirte in coordina- tion with our relevant agencies," the statement said. In response, the Arab League pledged military support but did not publicly agree to the request for air strikes. A statement issued after an Arab League meeting in Cairo said there was an urgent need for an "Arab strategy" to fight Islamic State in Libya, but did not mention specifics. The statement came as IS fight- ers seized control of a new neigh- bourhood in Sirte after shelling the area, killing a senior cleric and hanging the bodies of four rival fighters over bridges. Sources in former Libyan dicta- tor Muammar Gaddafi's home- town said that clashes broke out last week between IS and armed residents in the city's Number Three neighbourhood, before IS militants besieged it and began shelling it with heavy weaponry. By Monday, the neighbourhood was under the full control of ISIL, the sources said. Khalid Awad, a cleric, said that IS fighters killed some of their prisoners and hung the bodies from bridges, roundabouts and highways across the city. There were also reports that the group had beheaded 12 people and crucified them. Libya's national news agency said the beheadings took place in the Number Three neighbourhood. Reportedly IS militants also hung the bodies of four fighters over bridges for public display. International community condemns 'barbaric' acts In reaction to the events un- folding in Sirte, the governments of the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK issued a joint statement condemning the "bar- baric" acts carried out by IS in Sirte. The statement, released by the US State Department, said that the nations "are deeply concerned about reports that these fighters have shelled densely populated parts of the city and committed indiscriminate acts of violence to terrorise the Libyan population". The statement added: "There is no military solution to the politi- cal conflict in Libya." Another Somalia? Libya is currently entangled in a political conflict that is threat- ening to turn it into a failed state. Two rival governments – the in- ternationally recognised govern- ment which emerged from the 2014 elections șand the Tripoli- based self-declared Islamist gov- ernment – continue to fight for dominance, with each control- ling its own political institutions and military forces. Libya is in desperate need of a functioning government to assert control over its vast resources and armed factions, which united to overthrow Gaddafi in 2011 but have since refused to disarm and cede control to a central author- ity. To compound matters fur- ther, some 1,700 armed groups are now active in Libya – some of them secular, others Islam- ist, with loyalties further divided along regional, ethnic and tribal lines. Without a functioning central government, Libya has become a safe haven for foreign terrorist organisations as well as human- traffickers and the lack of border controls has made the country a popular route for shipping weap- ons to al Qaeda militants in sub- Saharan Africa as well as a travel corridor for Syria-bound foreign jihadists. Rival Libyan factions restarted peace talks aimed at creating a unity government earlier this month, with representatives of the rival Islamist government based in Tripoli, the General Na- tional Congress, joining the nego- tiations after boycotting the last round in July. A partial deal was reached in June, but the Congress rejected the agreement, calling it "unsatisfactory". This lack of progress has shed further doubts on the future of Libya with Italian Foreign Minis- ter Paolo Gentiloni warning that Europe would find itself "with another Somalia two steps from its coasts" if peace talks do not succeed in a few weeks. "Time is limited, particularly now that IS in Sirte has become alarming," Gentiloni said. Bangkok bomb 'suspect' identified THAILAND'S Prime Minister has said that authorities are hunting a "suspect" seen on CCTV footage near the scene of a bombing that claimed at least 20 lives in Bangkok and wounded scores more. "Today there is a suspect who ap- peared on CCTV but it's not clear... we are looking for this guy," Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said. Thailand's junta leader said the bombing was the "worst ever at- tack" on the kingdom and said that he believed Facebook messages ap- parently warning of an imminent danger to Bangkok ahead of the bomb came from an "anti-govern- ment group" based in Thailand's northeast – the heartland of the kingdom's anti-coup Red Shirt movement. The area is a stronghold of sup- port for the movement which backs the former prime minister, Thak- sin Shinawatra, who was ousted by the military in 2006. But Thai media later said the quote was not referring to the suspect. No group has claimed respon- sibility for the bombing of the Er- awan shrine, a major attraction for visitors from Asia and for Thai people. Dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, it is also popular among Thailand's Buddhist and Chinese tourists. Thai authorities have revised their figure for those killed to 20, revis- ing down an earlier toll of 21 dead. The office of Prawut Thavornsiri, a police spokesman, also provided a breakdown of some of the nation- alities of those killed. Among the dead are two Chinese, two Hong Kongers, two Malaysians, one Sin- gaporean, an Indonesian and five Thais. The rest have not yet been identified. In his first televised address since the blast, Chan-O-Cha promised that the government will expedite "all investigative efforts to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice". Although he did not provide de- tails on the suspects or how the investigation was going the Prime Minister told foreigners living in the country that the government would do its best to safeguard their security, property and interests. National Police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang said that the sus- pect, who was wearing a yellow shirt, was seen in a first CCTV image with a backpack at a popu- lar Hindu shrine where the bomb- ing happened. Authorities said he was without the bag in a later one, adding that he could be Thai or a foreigner, and that a manhunt was under way. "That man was carrying a back- pack and walked past the scene at the time of the incident. But we need to look at the scene before and after CCTV footage to see if there is a link," Somyot told a news conference. Police earlier said they had not ruled out any group, including el- ements opposed to the military government, for the bombing at the shrine on Monday evening, al- though officials said the attack did not match the tactics of Muslim fighters in the south. The rebels, whom Thai forces have been fighting for years, have rarely launched attacks outside their ethnic Malay heartland. In a separate development on Tuesday, police said a small explo- sive device appeared to have been thrown towards a pier from the Taksin bridge in the Thai capital. Security camera footage showed people on a walkway at the Sathorn pier being showered with water after the object fell into the Chao Phraya river. No link has been made to Monday's attack and no one was hurt. Moreover, an explosive device was thrown near Bangkok rail sta- tion but there have been no inju- ries, police said. "No one was killed or injured. Police are at the scene to investigate what kind of device it was," an officer at Yanawa police station said. Fighters loyal to the Tripoli based self-declared government are shelling IS positions in Sirte Officials said the suspect identified on CCTV could be a Thai national or a foreigner