The detention of Nouri Abu Sahmain by troops loyal to Khalifa Haftar, a retired Libyan general who spent years exiled in the United States, came shortly before rebels groups announced they had begun an assault on the government headquarters in Tripoli.
The troops loyal to Haftar said in a statement to Al Hadath, Al Arabiya News Channel’s sister channel, that six other members of parliament had been detained in the assault of the GNC.
Heavy smoke billowed from the parliament building, and a Reuters reporter said gunmen had closed the streets leading to legislature.
Another witness told the agency that gunmen had kidnapped two people from the congress.
Mohammed al-Hegazi, Haftar’s spokesman, told Libya's Al-Ahrar television station that Islamist lawmakers and officials were the targets of the operation at the GNC. Hegazi said Haftar blames the officials for allowing extremists forces to exert considerable influence in the country.
Lawmaker Omar Bushah told Reuters gunmen had stormed into the General National Congress, raiding lawmakers' offices and set the building on fire.
- Witnesses reported heavy fighting outside the parliament.
- The unrest in the city came after more than 70 people were killed on Friday in clashes between irregular army forces and Islamist militants in Benghazi, the main city in the volatile east.
(with Reuters)
Last Update: Sunday, 18 May 2014 KSA 20:44 - GMT 17:44
[alarabiya.net]
18/5/14
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Gunmen storm Libyan parliament, clashes in Tripoli...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - Heavily armed gunmen stormed Libya's parliament with anti-aircraft weapons on Sunday in an assault claimed by forces loyal to a renegade ex-general who has vowed to purge the country of Islamist militants.
In a confusing, chaotic attack, heavy smoke rose from the parliament building in Tripoli as gunmen clashed with guards. A Reuters reporter said the attackers raided and left, and other unknown gunmen later closed off nearby streets.
Another witness said attackers had kidnapped two people and heavy gunfire could be heard across other parts of Tripoli, where rival brigades of former rebels have often clashed since ending their 2011 war against Muammar Gaddafi.
Details of who carried out the parliament attack were unclear, but a spokesman for retired Libyan general Khalifa Haftar said his forces had carried out the assault as part of his campaign to rid Libya of Islamist militants.
"These are members of the Libyan National Army," Mohamed al-Hejazi, spokesman for the group said, using the name of the irregular forces loyal to Haftar.
Haftar, a former rebel in the war against Gaddafi, had already sent his fighters into Benghazi on Friday against Islamist militants based there, claiming Libya's government had failed to halt violence in the eastern city.
At least 40 people were killed in those clashes, which involved some air force helicopters.....................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/18/us-libya-violence-idUSBREA4G04A20140518?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
18/5/14
Cheney says Clinton 'bears responsibility' for Benghazi...
ReplyDeleteFormer Vice President Dick Cheney said on “Fox News Sunday” that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton “bears responsibility” for the State Department’s chaotic handling of the Benghazi terrorist attacks in Libya on Sept. 11, 2012.
“She was Secretary of State at the time that it happened -- she was one of the first in Washington to know about it,” Cheney said. “I think she clearly bears responsibility for whatever the State Department did or didn’t do with respect to that crisis.”................http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/18/cheney-says-clinton-to-bear-responsibility-for-benghazi-on-fox-news-sunday/
18/5/14
Blindati e sparatorie a Tripoli, fin dentro la sede del Parlamento: un edificio limitrofo dato alle fiamme, numerose autovetture danneggiate, i deputati e i dipendenti costretti a uscire in tutta fretta cercando di evitare carri armati e pick-up pieni di uomini armati ma in abiti civili......
ReplyDeleteOggi la situazione in Libia è degenerata nella capitale, spostando attenzione e combattimenti dalla Cirenaica - dove tra venerdì e sabato Bengasi è finita sotto i bombardamenti aerei delle truppe del generale in pensione Khalifa Haftar che ha scatenato un’offensiva «contro i terroristi» (80 morti e 140 feriti) - alle sedi istituzionali che da neanche quindici giorni hanno un nuovo premier.
Ahmed Miitig era stato nominato per porre fine al caos e all’anarchia ma da molti (anche tra la popolazione civile) è considerato troppo vicino ai fondamentalisti islamici. E comunque finora è stato incapace di limitare scorrerie e violenze di una miriade di gruppi fuori controllo ma tutti pesantemente armati.
Non è stato finora possibile capire se il violento attacco al Congresso nazionale generale (Cng) sia collegato all’offensiva capeggiata da Haftar nell’est della Libia. Ma il presidente dell’organismo, Nouri Abou Sahmein, lo stesso che ieri aveva gridato al tentato colpo di stato per i bombardamenti aerei su Bengasi, ha attribuito la gestione dell’operazione odierna proprio ad Haftar........................http://www.lastampa.it/2014/05/18/esteri/libia-nel-caos-a-bengasi-guerra-almeno-morti-negli-scontri-tra-il-generale-golpista-e-gli-islamisti-rCn5QkYRjDYJj33wCvdb0N/pagina.html
18/5/14