thepost.co.za
Tripoli - Libya plans to remove protesters who
have seized eastern ports vital for lucrative oil exports within the
next few days, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said on Sunday.
But he did not say whether force
would be used, telling Libya's al-Ahrar news channel that he did not
want the country to plunge into civil war.
Since the summer, a group of
heavily-armed demonstrators has occupied three eastern oil ports which
together accounted for 600 000 barrels per day of exports, in a bid to
force the Tripoli government to give it political autonomy.
“In the next days we're about to clear the ports of the protesters unless they leave them,” Zeidan said.
He added that tribal leaders were
still holding talks to try to end the standoff peacefully. When pressed
for details he replied: “I cannot discuss state affairs on television.”
Tribal chiefs have so far failed
to persuade the group's leader Ibrahim Jathran to end the siege of the
ports, which has contributed to a halving of oil production since
August, when the protests began, and put a huge strain on the budget.
The
government has warned it will be unable to pay public salaries if the
demonstrations continue. Several deadlines set by Zeidan have passed
without any action.
Authorities are struggling to rein
in militias and tribesmen who helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in a
Nato-backed uprising in 2011.
Zeidan accused the Muslim
Brotherhood and another Islamist group in the General National Congress
(GNC) assembly of trying to topple his cabinet by pursuing a
parliamentary non-confidence vote against him.
On Tuesday, former militiamen
briefly stormed the GNC building and fired shots in the air to try to
force a non-confidence vote against Zeidan.
Libya's transition to democracy
has been paralysed by infighting between the government and rival
factions inside the GNC, but even Zeidan's opponents agree there is no
one to replace him for now.
When asked whether he was worried
he might lose a confidence vote, Zeidan said: “I would be happy if the
vote went through. I don't cling to power.”
Zeidan
also said the security situation in the restive south had calmed after
days of fighting between rival militias in the main city of Sabha, which
the government has blamed on Gaddafi loyalists.
Libyan war planes attacked targets to regain control of an air base near Sabha, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
“There is no fighting any more,” Zeidan said. “The air base is under government control.” - Reuters
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق