An accord was signed by the tribal chiefs of Cyrenaica on 18 April 1946. Libya was still under the administration of the British military. The future of the country was uncertain. As someone wrote, this is an accord “worth writing in ink made of gold.” It is simple, short and to the point. Exactly what Libya needs now if Libya had similar leaders with the vision, strength and foresight to work to achieve it. Worth noting… Omar Mukhtar Association was what we call today a CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION! Note: If you know of a good translation of the document, I would appreciate it greatly. The Accord “In the name of God the Merciful, the Compassionate Peace be upon the prophet Muhammad and his family and followers We, the chiefs of the Harabi tribes and the notables of the city of Derna, convening at the National Congress at the headquarters of Omar Mukhtar Association in Derna on Thursday 5 Jumada Ula 1365 Hijri, corresponding to 18 April 1946, have met to study the present situation and have decided the following: First: Approval of the National Charter which was made by the founding assembly in Benghazi with the approval of the Derna delegation on behalf of the eastern region of Libya. Second: Responding to the call of His Excellency Prince Muhammad Idriss Almahdi Sanussi, we pledge to stop every disagreement and every dispute of whatever nature between us. We will not permit the fuelling of any feuds, old or new, and will not permit the demands of old claims whether they are for revenge, blood money, land property or otherwise. This is [a reflection of] our desire to achieve solidarity and instill harmony and unify and direct efforts toward our country’s political cause only, so that the fate of the country is decided and a national government is established to organize its affairs and [achieve] stability. Third: Only then will claimants have the right to demand justice according to legitimate means and through the legitimate government of the country. Fourth: This pledge does not mean that we are asking claimants to relinquish their rights. We are merely asking them to stop their claims temporarily so that they can dedicate their time to seek the public right of the nation, whose great significance gives it precedence over the rights of individuals, families and tribes. Fifth: Anyone who violates this pledge shall be considered an obstacle to the efforts of the nation and a hindrance to the struggle which we pray will be crowned with complete success in achieving liberty and independence with God’s will. These decisions have been taken unanimously and we therefore sign this document with the following signatures: [Signatures]” (Photo: Original signatories) For the original Arabic and commentary please find a link in the first comments.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 21:25:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015