Libya faces chaos as top court rejects elected assembly
Thu Nov 6, 2014 8:13pm GMT
* Ruling seen as widening divisions in Libya
* Comes a day after gunmen stormed oilfield
* Libya seen on brink of full-blown civil war (Adds reaction of rival
Tripoli-based parliament)
TRIPOLI, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Libya's Supreme Court declared the
internationally recognised parliament on Thursday as unconstitutional, in a
ruling likely to fuel further chaos in the north African oil producing
nation.
The decision, which was rejected by the assembly, came a day after gunmen
stormed Libya's biggest oilfield and shut down production at the facility in
the country's remote south.
Libya is in chaos as two rival governments and parliaments are struggling
for control of the country's vast energy reserves three years after the
overthrow of veteran ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Dozens of armed groups have also
joined the fray.
Western powers and Libya's neighbours fear the OPEC member nation is heading
for a full-blown civil war, with former rebels who helped oust Gaddafi now
using their guns to carve out their own fiefdom.
Libya is split into a western part controlled by fighters calling themselves
Operation Dawn, who seized the capital in August, and a rump state in the
east where the internationally recognised parliament and government are now
based.
In a televised ruling likely to deepen these divisions and hamper the United
Nations' mediation efforts, the Supreme Court invalidated the election of
the House of Representatives, which has fled to the eastern city of Tobruk.
The court said a committee that prepared the election law had violated
Libya's provisional constitution.
The June election produced an assembly with a strong showing of liberals and
federalists, annoying Islamists with links to Operation Dawn, which seized
Tripoli two months later.
The Supreme Court is based in Tripoli, where Dawn has reinstated the
previous parliament, the General National Congress (GNC), where Islamists
had been stronger.
The fighters, who come mainly from the western city of Misrata, have taken
control of state bodies, calling into question the court's ability to make
independent rulings.
Hundreds of people were seen celebrating the court verdict in Tripoli and
GNC head Nouri Abusahmain said it provided a chance for a national dialogue
to end Libya's crisis.
"We the General National Congress call for dialogue," he said in a televised
speech. "A dialogue serves national reconciliation, stability and
development."
Responding to the ruling, the House of Representatives in Tobruk declared it
did not recognise the court.
"The ruling was made under the threat of guns," the assembly's spokesman
Farraj Hashem told a news conference.
There was no immediate response from Western and Arab powers which have
recognised only the Tobruk-based assembly and have publicly boycotted a
rival prime minister, Omar al-Hassi, installed by Tripoli's rulers.
The United Nations said in a statement it was studying the ruling, adding
there was an "urgent need for all parties to forge consensus on political
arrangements".
GUNMEN STORM OILFIELD
The decision came after gunmen stormed Libya's El Sharara oilfield on
Tuesday and Wednesday, shutting down the country's biggest production
facility in a blow to government efforts to keep the oil industry isolated
from the spreading chaos.
It was not clear what happened exactly but rival tribes have fought over the
area near the field twice in the past twelve months to press authorities to
meet their financial and political demands.
Officials said on Thursday the gunmen had left the field. Oil company
vehicles riddled with bullet holes could be seen on social media. A Libyan
official said authorities hoped to restart production very soon but they
needed to resolve local conflicts first.
The closure will lower Libyan oil production, last reported at around
800,000 bpd, by at least 200,000 bpd, worsening a budget crisis as oil
revenues have been well below target due to repeated strikes across the
country.
Some Libyan websites said the gunmen were linked to the Misrata-led
alliance, but that could not be confirmed. Both sides -- the Tripoli rulers
and the government in the east -- have an interest in keeping the oil
flowing as their supporters are on the state payroll.
Authorities had managed to boost output in the past three months after it
had slumped to 100,000 bpd due to protests.
Conditions in the poverty-stricken south of Libya have worsened since the
seizure of Tripoli, which has hampered the work of government ministries and
deprived the south of food, consumer goods and money from the central bank.
The fluid situation in the capital and the south has been exacerbated by a
separate conflict in the main eastern city Benghazi between pro-government
forces and Islamists.
More than 230 people have been killed since the army started an offensive
there three weeks ago. (Reporting by Ulf Laessing, Mustafa Hashem Omar
Fahmy, Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli; Editing by Gareth Jones)