Libyan Oil Workers Continue Strike

Nearly 80 workers at the Waha Oil company in Libya have been protesting for seven consecutive weeks as the oil and finance ministry overturned their deal with the national oil company to eliminate the venture’s management.

The workers were demonstrating outside the ministry’s office on Wednesday, blaming their managers of colluding with Qaddafi. The employees refused to return to the war-torn oil fields as long as the current management remains in office.

"We are calling for the return to production as soon as possible," said Ahmed al-Mahmoudi, a protester.

"We are very cautious to rebuild our country in a new way and we don't want to see the same names and figures that used to exist in the reign of Muammar Qaddafi, even for an interim period. Because it is disrespectful to the blood of the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives,” he said.

On Tuesday the decision to replace the chairman and deputy of the company was overturned.

Waha, which produces a quarter of the country’s crude output, has had to deal with production problems because of the ongoing war in Libya.

Workers say that two of its fields, Dahra and Samah, are in good shape and that production would soon resume, resulting in a harvest of 180,000 barrels a day.

Speaker:

Ahmed al-Mahmoudi – oil worker and protester