A false alarm was raised yesterday after a leading figure in the revolution called for the suspension of the Libyan parliament and rumours that a coup d’état was underway spread across the globe.

General Khalifa Haftar called for the formation of a presidential committee on TV in the morning, saying his forces were in Tripoli.

But as Libyan social media users downplayed the rumours, the government issued a statement saying Tripoli was calm and the government safe.

A Tweeter commented: “Conversation in our house: ‘Do you want to watch a movie tonight?’ ‘No, too busy following the not-coup’.” Another said: “Forgive our bad English, we confuse ‘coup’ with ‘cupid’”.

Libyans noted that the streets were quiet and there were no more protestors out than usual.

Libya Herald editor Michel Cousins called it a “TV coup”, saying there were probably one or two more checkpoints than usual, while around a hundred people were at the Martyr Square.

Although most would be happy with a new congress, they wanted it done in a legal manner. They wanted Parliament to vote itself out and call for new elections, he told Times of Malta.

Later in the day, Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan said the government was safe and security was under control, describing the rumours as “ridiculous”.

General Haftar, who does not have any military power, had issued a call on Al-Arabiya channel for the armed forces to “rescue the country”, for congress to be suspended and for the formation of a presidential committee to govern until new elections could be held. He described this as a new road map for Libya.

Zeidan told Reuters: “Libya is stable. The General National Congress is doing its work and so is the government.

“The army is in its headquarters, and Khalifa Haftar has no authority. No military units have moved to touch any institutions.”