hi desert fox read this in arabia.comLibya: 130 black Africans reported killed
Libyans angered by Nigerian drug trafficking, prostitution and distilling of alcohol, reports said
October 07, 2000, 05:46 AM
TRIPOLI (AFP English)
- More than 130 black African migrant workers in Libya have been killed in growing racial attacks by Libyan Arabs in recent weeks, Nigerian deportees told AFP Friday. Dozens of individual accounts and eyewitness statements painted a grim picture of attacks around the country by Libyan youths against black Africans from countries including Chad, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria and Sudan.
A plane carrying some 450 mainly Nigerian deportees was flown into Lagos in the early hours of Friday morning, bringing to more than 3,600 the number sent back here since late Wednesday.
In total, some 10,000 Nigerians are expected to arrive back here over coming days following the violence which appears to have erupted in late August.
In recent years, Libya'sleader Moamer Gaddafi, has sought to win African support and has eased immigration rules, which has caused the black African migrant worker population to swell to around one million amid a population of six million Libyan Arabs.
With the economy under strain, Libyan Arab resentment against the migrant workers appears now to have erupted, Nigerians deported back here told AFP.
"From the figures we have, 137 black Africans, mostly Nigerians, have been killed since September," said Emeka Nwankwo, a 26-year-old welder who had lived in Tripoli for two years.
They were killed by "youths who do not want black Africans in their country," he said.
Some deportees put the numbers of those killed much higher but all spoke of at least many dozens dying.
The Ghanaian delegation was told that Libyans, angered by Nigerian drug trafficking, prostitution and distilling of alcohol, had attacked Nigerians in the "Vietnam" area of Tripoli.
Libyans took offence at a protest demonstration by the Nigerian community and began to attack Africans indiscriminately, the journalist said.
© 2000 AFP
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[This message has been edited by rvikz (edited October 17, 2000).]