A bomb exploded yesterday in an eastern Libyan town where a UN special envoy was due to meet Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni, but there were no casualties, officials said.
One government official said at least one car bomb went off in front of the security headquarters in the eastern city of Shahat.
At least one car bomb went off in front of the security headquarters in the city of Shahat
Al-Thinni and UN envoy Bernadino Leon were due to meet in a different building, and a security official said the blast had been near the venue of the meeting of other government officials.
Libya is in turmoil as two governments and parliaments allied to armed groups who helped toppled Muammar Gaddafi three years ago vie for power and control of the country’s oil wealth.
Al-Thinni, the country’s internationally recognised premier, has worked out of Bayda near Shahat since former anti-Gaddafi rebels led from the city of Misurata seized the capital Tripoli and installed a rival government and parliament. In the main eastern city of Benghazi 300 people have been killed in three weeks of clashes. The recent turmoil has also lowered Libya’s oil exports to below 500,000 barrels per day, based on previous published figures.
Libyan state security guards started a protest at the 120,000 barrel per day Hariga oil port in the east, halting all oil exports from the terminal, a Libyan oil official said late on Saturday.
In Benghazi, five pro-government soldiers were killed and 28 wounded on Saturday while fighting Islamists, medics said.
The protesters at Hariga were part of a state security oil force that has gone on strike over pay several times this year.
“There is a sit-in from security guards who say they have not been paid,” said the official, who asked not to be named. “We are trying to solve the issue.”
A tanker had been waiting for three days to lift oil from Hariga, located in Tobruk, but the guards did not allow it to do so, the official said. The port was only open for fuel imports and the exports of re-finery products, which are marginal, he added.
The closure will lower Libya’s output to around 500,000 bpd or even less, based on previous published figures. The state National Oil Corp (NOC) has not given a production update for a month.
Libya’s oil industry had already been struggling with the closure of the southerly El Sharara oilfield, which used to pump at least 200,000 bpd, because of attacks by gunmen.
A senior oil worker at the field, who asked not to be named, said authorities hoped to restart the field within three to four days if the security situation allowed it.
But an officer in the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG) at the oilfield said gunmen had attacked El Sharara again on Friday.
“There was fighting yesterday between PFG (forces) of the field and invaders, resulting in one wounded PFG member and three killed invaders,” he said.
But he said the PFG members had then withdrawn, leaving the remote field to the gunmen.
Some Libyan websites have said the attackers are supporters of the group that seized the capital in August.
The senior oil worker said the El Sharara closure would not affect the Zawiya refinery connected to the field as tanks there had stocks for 17 days. NOC could get fresh supplies from the southwesterly El Feel field or via the Es Sider oil port, he added.