CAIRO // Islamist-allied militias in control of the Libyan capital on Tuesday rejected the United Nations’ call for a ceasefire in the battered nation, insisting instead that their rivals be disarmed.
The announcement by the Libya Dawn umbrella group followed the first round of UN-brokered talks between Libya’s rival legislators, held on Monday. The talks are an attempt to bridge the gap between warring groups that have left Libya torn between two rival governments and parliaments.
Libya Dawn, which controls Tripoli and which is affiliated with the militia from the western city of Misrata, said on its Facebook page on Tuesday that the only way to end the fighting is to disarm its rivals and arrest their leaders.
The statement is a setback for the UN-mediated talks and reflects deep polarisation in Libya, which has been plunged into its worst turmoil since the 2011 Nato-backed uprising that toppled longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The 2011 revolt gave rise to a patchwork of heavily armed and increasingly unruly militias. The current crisis is rooted in the successive Libyan governments’ dependence on those militias, originally anti-Qaddafi rebel forces, in restoring order in the absence of a strong national army or police.
The recent Islamist takeover of Tripoli followed weeks of fighting that forced nearly a quarter million Libyans to flee their homes and prompted an exodus of diplomats and foreigners from the city. Once in control of the capital, the militias revived the country’s outgoing parliament, dominated by Islamist legislators.
Meanwhile, Libya’s elected – and internationally recognised parliament – based in the eastern city of Tobruk wields little influence beyond that city’s boundaries.
Earlier, the Tobruk-based parliament denounced the Libya Dawn, saying the assault on Tripoli is an act of terrorism and passing a resolution to disarm militias controlling the capital.
* Associated Press
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Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
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Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
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- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
