Gunmen Storm Libya Parliament as Violence Grips Oil Producer
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| Troops loyal to General Khalifa Haftar stormed Libya's legislature. Haftar says he will not retreat until "we reach our goals." (Screen capture from YouTube video) |
A Libyan military police chief said he disbanded parliament after a militia group he backs stormed it yesterday, spreading violence in the energy-rich nation to its capital and sending world oil prices higher.
In a televised speech late yesterday preceded by clashes, Mukhtar Fernana said parliament will be replaced by a 60-member group. Nuri Abu Sahmain, the head of the General National Congress, denied that it had been suspended and said yesterday he was running it from a “safe place,” the state-run Libyan News Agency reported.
Fernana said he won’t allow Libya to become a safe-haven for extremists or a “home for terrorists.” The assault, he said, was not a coup and reflects the “freedom that Libyans wanted and fought for.”...
“Tripoli is unable to solidify its control, not only in the east, but also within Tripoli itself, as opposing forces on multiple levels scramble for power and prestige,” Theodore Karasik, director of research at the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis in Dubai, said by telephone. “This is Iraq in the making.”
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