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An editor at the state-owned Lana network said the attackerslocked the other workers inside one office, torched thesurroundings and fled with the six hostages in a jeep to anundisclosed location. They later released five people, but keptJoumaa al-Usta, the wealthy owner, captiveOne of the anchors at the Alassema station where the attack tookplace, Mohammed al-Sharkassi, told another news network that he hadalso been accosted outside his workplace by “individuals whoidentified themselves as former rebels.” He told Libya al-Ahrartelevision that he would be freed if he left Tripoli immediately.He added that the rebels were angered by the channel’s editorialpolicies, giving no further details.Libya al-Ahrar says the attack occurred in the afternoon. Theassailants stormed the channel, entering through the windows. TheLana network added that the gunmen smashed equipment. Securityforces arrived at the scene promptly after the attack.The precise origin of the perpetrators is unknown, although aLana editor views the attack as a response to Alassema’s persistentcriticism of the rebels’ and as revenge for the channel’s coverageof the attack on the National General Congress earlier in the week,when a siege lasted for hours. The lawmakers were at work on a billto prevent officials from the Gaddafi era from holding politicalposts in future.The Alassema station has ties to Libya’s National Forces Coalition,who bested the Muslim Brotherhood in the legislative elections inJuly of last year. The liberal coalition’s head, Mahmoud Jibril –the country’s western-inclined ex-prime minister, masterminded the2011 coup that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.Since Gaddafi’s overthrow, media has flourished. But during thebloody revolution that lasted from February to October, pittingGaddafi loyalists against rebels and NATO forces, tens of thousandslost their lives and the economy of the oil-rich country was dealta huge blow.
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