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TRIPOLI Libya's Supreme Court declared the internationally recognized 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.

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 recognized 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 recognize the court. "The ruling was made under the threat of guns," the assembly's spokesman Farraj Hashem told a news conference.

First published November 6 2014, 3:15 PM

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Libya in Chaos: Top Court Rejects Elected Assembly

Libya will resume pumping crude soon at Sharara, its biggest oil field, after an attack that halted output, reducing the North African nations production by almost a third, an official said.

Sharara was shut as a precaution after gunmen stormed the on-site production compound, Mansur Abdallah, director of oil movement at the Zawiya refinery and oil port, said in a telephone interview. The armed group left after stealing the cars, and production should resume soon, he said.

The oil field is 720 kilometers (450 miles) south of Zawiya, and the two sites are connected by a pipeline. While it has a similar capacity to the Waha field in central Libya, Sharara is the nations largest producer, with an output of 290,000 barrels a day before the latest shutdown, Abdallah said.

Libya, which is trying to restore output after more than a year of political unrest and violence, produced 850,000 barrels a day last month, according to Bloomberg estimates. The country pumped 1.6 million barrels a day before the 2011 ouster of former leader Muammar Qaddafi.

Output has recovered after dropping to as little as 215,000 barrels a day in April. Warring factions pledged to keep oil flowing, and the state-run National Oil Corp. refrained from taking sides amid political disputes. The country is split between an Islamist-led administration that took control of Tripoli, the capital, a few months ago, and an internationally-recognized government in eastern Libya.

Brent crude rebounded from $82.35 a barrel to a high of $83.27 in about one hour of trading from 8:30 a.m. London time, after news that the Sharara field would soon resume output. The benchmark grade was trading at $82.23 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange at 1:42 p.m.

To contact the reporters on this story: Saleh Sarrar in Dubai at ssarar@bloomberg.net; Maher Chmaytelli in Dubai at mchmaytelli@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nayla Razzouk at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net Bruce Stanley, Dan Weeks

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Libya Plans for Biggest Oil Field to Resume Output Soon

TRIPOLI: Libya's supreme court on Thursday (Nov 6) invalidated the internationally recognised parliament, setting the stage for deepening political chaos in the violence-wracked North African nation. The ruling, which cannot be appealed, prompted celebratory gunfire in the capital Tripoli where Islamist-led militias have been in control since August, an AFP correspondent reported.

The Tripoli court also nullified a constitutional amendment that led to elections on June 25, thereby invalidating the polls and all decisions that resulted from them.

The internationally supported government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani is sheltering in the remote eastern town of Tobruk near the Egyptian border and has almost no control over Libya's three main cities.

The legislature's legal committee called an emergency meeting to review the court ruling. "Lawmakers will not recognise a verdict decided under the gun," Tobruk-based parliamentarian Issam al-Jehani wrote on Facebook. Libyan authorities have struggled to assert control across a country awash with weapons and powerful militias that ousted long-time autocratic leader Muammar Gaddafi in a 2011 revolt.

There was no immediate response to the ruling from the administration led by Thani, who was appointed prime minister in March by an interim parliament that has since been dissolved. He submitted his resignation in August, but the elected parliament asked him to form a new government.

The supreme court had been asked by an Islamist lawmaker to rule on the constitutionality of the legislature that approved Thani's government, one of two rival administrations in the oil-flush country.

RULING 'UNDER THE GUN'?

Abderrauf al-Manai, who with other Islamist lawmakers has boycotted the parliament's sessions in Tobruk, argued that the legislature was in breach of the constitution because it was sitting in neither Tripoli nor second city Benghazi.

He had also argued that the parliament had exceeded its authority in calling for foreign military intervention after the militia takeover of the capital. "I hope all parties will respect the decision of the court," Manai told television broadcaster Al-Nabaa.

Former rebels who fought Gaddafi have formed powerful militias and seized control of large parts of turmoil-gripped Libya over the past three years. Most lawmakers who are boycotting the internationally recognised parliament support Fajr Libya, an Islamist-led militia alliance that has formed a parallel government known for its Islamist sympathies. Libya's elected parliament is dominated by anti-Islamists.

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Libya chaos deepens as court nullifies parliament

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