Seraj Essul and Elabed Elraqubi TRIPOLI/SEBHA — Western Libya could face water shortage because part of the Man-Made River from Sebha has been cut by tribesmen protesting the abduction of Anoud Senussi. She was seized by gunmen as she left a Tripoli prison Monday on her way to Sebha to rejoin her family. Salah Abu Khazam chairman of Gira local council told the Libya Herald that Margani tribesmen had cut the power to some of the pumps on the western branch of the MMR to the north of Sebha. Though he said that he had not visited the site, he believed that the power supply had been stopped, shortly after news of Anoud's kidnap. It is understood that the tribesmen avoided the main pumping station at Jabl Al-Hasauna, 210 km north of Gera, because it is well protected. Instead they struck at a smaller pumping area at Shuwair, which is reportedly guarded by Margani tribal members. The tribesmen restarted the flow a few hours later but have given the government 72 hours in which to find and recover Senussi's daughter from her kidnappers. Otherwise, they say they will cut the flow permanently. Tuesday evening it was understood that Water Resources Minister Alhadi Suleiman Hinshir had flown into Sebha for talks with tribal elders. He told Libya Herald that he could only say that negotiations were under way. The $25 billion MMR brings water from aquifers deep in the desert to the north of the country. The system was designed to have reservoirs storing up to 60 million cubic meters of water. It is unclear just how much water is currently stored in western Libya in these open reservoirs, which critics have long said lose 20 percent of their contents through evaporation. The temporary stoppage of the MMR was not the only action taken by angry Margani tribesmen. The north-south A7 highway was also briefly blocked. The road was reopened after the head of Ashweeres local council, Mohammed Salem, led a negotiating team to the protesters. — Libya Herald
