Leaders of an autonomy movement in Libya’s oil-rich east unilaterally declared a regional government yesterday, in a challenge to the weak central government as new violence erupted in the restive region.

The announcement is a symbolic blow to efforts by the Tripoli government to reopen eastern oil ports and fields blocked since summer by militias and tribes demanding a greater share of power and oil wealth.

It has no practical meaning but is sure to worsen ties between the east and Tripoli which has rejected the self-rule notion. Officials were not immediately available for comment.

Tripoli has rejected the self-rule notion

Lawlessness has blighted large areas of the Opec producer since the 2011 war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The government has been unable to rein in militia groups, armed tribes and radical Islamists.

This is especially true for eastern Libya, known as Cyrenaica, where tribes, activists and militias have been pushing for a federal system sharing power with the west and southern Fezzan.

Leaders of the movement met in the small town of Ajdabiya, close to the oil port of Brega, to launch an autonomous government, supporters said. They named themselves the Barqa, or Cyrenaica, government.

A pro-federalist television station showed more than 20 ministers taking the oath at a podium decorated with a Cyrenaica flag.

They were joined by tribal militia leader Ibrahim Jathran, former head of Libya’s Petroleum Protection Force in charge of guarding oil facilities.