Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan stepped up the pressure on protesters blocking eastern ports yesterday, telling them he had weeks ago ordered troops to prepare to move there.

Zeidan has repeatedly warned he may use force to free up three key ports where protesters demanding more autonomy from Tripoli have cut off around 600,000 barrels per day of oil exports since summer.

“Weeks ago we ordered the minister of defence to give his instructions to the chief of staff to move towards the occupied ports in the east,” Zeidan said at a news conference. “Now the matter is in the hands of the army command.”

He gave no further details.

An army spokesman did not immediately respond to calls seeking details of any troop movements.

Armed protesters who defected from the state-run Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) in August seized Ras Lanuf, Es Sider and Zuetina ports, led by Ibrahim al-Jathran, a former rebel who fought against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya’s uprising.

Negotiations have gone nowhere with the eastern federalists who have set up their own self-styled Cyrenaica government.

Now the matter is in the hands of the army command

An attempt to load a tanker at Es Sider port ended abruptly when the navy opened fire, making clear how difficult it would be for Jathran to sell oil independently of Tripoli.

With Libya’s nascent army still in training, most analysts say it will also be difficult for Zeidan to send troops to free up the ports, where Jathran has dug in with his own militia. However, local eastern tribal leaders and officials say support is waning for Jathran within the federalist movement.

Even Jathran’s own tribe and leaders in its hometown speak angrily about getting exports flowing again as capital Tripoli warns it may no longer be able to pay public salaries because the blockade has slashed oil revenues.

Many had long sympathised with Jathran, who was jailed under Muammar Gaddafi and fought alongside rebels to help oust the autocratic leader in 2011.

However many are now questioning the credentials of Jathran, the self-appointed defender of the east, the cradle of the revolution. In his early 30s, he is considered young for a leader in a conservative society dominated by tribal elders.

In Benghazi, which is home to a a vibrant intellectual community largely sympathetic to the federalist cause, people see Jathran as a rural warlord exploiting chaos of post-revolt Libya to bully his way into politics.

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