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26Dec13

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Libyan militiamen briefly block entrance to central bank

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Dozens of Libyan militiamen briefly blocked the entrance to the central bank on Thursday, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, witnesses and a central bank official said.

Libya is in turmoil, with Zeidan's government struggling to assert control of a country awash with arms from the 2011 uprising which ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

Armed men drove up to the central bank in trucks on the seafront in central Tripoli and stopped staff from entering the building, the witness said.

"Central bank staff were told to go home," he said. A central bank official, who declined to be named, said the protesters had demanded that Zeidan and his government resign.

The militiamen then also briefed blocked the entrance to Tripoli's nearby commercial port, a witness said. But cars were later driving into the harbor and business activity seemed normal, other witnesses said.

No more details were immediately available.

Dozens of the militias which helped topple Gaddafi have refused to disarm and have a range of political and financial demands.

Zeidan's government has sought to disarm them and integrate them into regular armed forces with financial incentives and state jobs. Army and police recruits, many still in training, are no match for battle-hardened militias, analysts say.

In October, a militia briefly seized Zeidan from his hotel room in central Tripoli and brought him to a government office before releasing him under public pressure.

The government is also grappling with seizures by armed groups of major oilfields and exports terminals, which have dried up oil revenues - Libya's main source of dollars to fund imports.

Oil exports have fallen to 110,000 barrels a day from more than 1 million bpd in July.

[Source: Reuters, Tripoli, 26Dec13]

Libya War

This document has been published on 31Dec13 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.