Libya military leader switches sides
The head of Libya #39;s highly trained special forces says he #39;s joined forces with retired general Khalifa Haftar. It #39;s a boost for the campaign of Hafter - who says men loyal to him are taking...
By: Al Jazeera English
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Libya military leader switches sides - Video
May 18, 2014: In this image made from video provided by the Libyan national army via AP Television, Tripoli joint security forces on vehicles with heavy artillery stand guard on the entrance road to the parliament area after troops of Gen. Khalifa Hifter targeted Islamist lawmakers and officials at the parliament in Tripoli, Libya.AP/Libyan national army
TRIPOLI, Libya Libya's Islamist-led parliament is pushing ahead with holding a vote of confidence Tuesday to approve a disputed new prime minister in a session held in undisclosed location Tuesday, defying demands by a renegade general that the legislature disband.
The vote could escalate one of Libya's worst crises since the ouster and death of dictator Miammar Qaddafi in 2011. Powerful militias allied to the general, Khalifa Hifter, stormed parliament earlier this week and unilaterally declared it suspended, part of a campaign that Hifter says is aimed at breaking the power of Islamic extremists in the country.
Parliament ignored his suspension declaration, but lawmakers will meet in a secret location for Tuesday's vote for fear of a repeat attack, one lawmaker said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the arrangements. The state news agency LANA reported that parliament would meet, but did not say where.
The standoff between Hifter and Islamist factions and militias allied to parliament is threatening to spiral into a battle for power, as militias rally to each side. Hifer's allied militias are positioned along the road to Tripoli's airport, south of the capital, while Islamist-led militias from Libya's third-largest city, Misrata, have mobilized and are positioned to move into the capital after a call by the parliament's head.
Hifter has said he is waging a war against terrorism and accuses Islamist politicians who dominate parliament of allowing extremists a free hand in the country. On Friday, Hifter's forces attacked camps of Islamic militias in the eastern city of Benghazi. His opponents accuse him of seeking to grab power for himself.
In Benghazi, the Al Qaeda-inspired militant group Ansar al-Shariah vowed in a statement to battle Hifter's forces, denouncing them as "advocates of sedition and corruption that we must confront and expel" because they are waging war against Islamic law.
"The choice of confrontation has become inevitable," it said.
The parliament session Tuesday is to give a vote of confidence in a new Cabinet under Ahmed Maiteg, an Islamist politician that lawmakers chose as the new prime minister in an earlier vote, the lawmaker and LANA reported. Parliament earlier this year voted to remove Western-backed prime minister Ali Zidan.
Opposition lawmaker rejected the vote choosing Maiteg for the post as illegal, saying it was improperly held. Opponents also demand the dissolution of parliament because its mandate ran out earlier this year. In a bid to resolve the current crisis, the interim government proposed that parliament find a new figure but it appears lawmakers had rejected the proposal.
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Libya's lawmakers to meet in secret amid standoff
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Jomana Karadsheh, CNN
updated 8:42 AM EDT, Mon May 5, 2014
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tripoli (CNN) -- After a chaotic day that saw Libya pick a new prime minister only for the vote be declared invalid hours later, the volatile North African country appears to have a new premier -- the fifth in more than two years.
The General National Congress, Libya's transitional parliament, seemed to have selected a new prime minister on Sunday, choosing businessman Ahmad Mitig during a lively legislative session that saw several rounds of voting.
But almost as soon as Mitig was sworn in, the deputy speaker declared the election invalid.
On Monday, the Congress confirmed Mitig as Libya's new prime minister after approving his appointment.
"Ahmad Mitig was appointed head of the transitional government, and asked to form his cabinet and present it to the GNC for a confidence vote within 15 days," said a decision signed by Congress Speaker Nuri Abu Sahmein.
"This decision is in effect from date of publication ... and anything that contradicts it is nullified and all those concerned must implement it."
The resolution was numbered as "No. 38" and dated May 4 but published Monday.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- The U.S. military has doubled the number of aircraft standing by in Italy if needed to evacuate Americans from the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli, Libya, CNN has learned.
A decision to evacuate as violence in the Libyan capital grows is "minute by minute, hour by hour," a defense official told CNN on Monday.
Fierce fighting swept across the city Sunday after armed men stormed the country's interim Parliament. Sporadic bursts of gunfire and blasts could still be heard on the outskirts of the capital Monday evening.
The violence appeared to be some of the worst since the 2011 revolution that ousted longtime leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Turmoil in Libya: Fighting sweeps across Tripoli following violence in Benghazi
In a move that could further inflame an already tense situation, the speaker of the interim parliament, Nuri Abu Sahmain, who is backed by Islamist forces, ordered troops known as the "Central Libya Shield Forces" to deploy to the capital Monday, the Libyan state news agency LANA reported.
The forces, mostly from the city of Misrata, east of Tripoli, are considered to be among the most powerful Islamist-affiliated militias. They have had long-running rivalries with the heavily armed Zintan militias when both groups were based in the capital.
Meanwhile, the Saudi ambassador to Libya announced that his country's embassy and consulate in Tripoli closed Monday because of the violence, and the staff has left Tripoli, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The sites will reopen when the situation stabilizes, Ambassador Mohammed Mahmoud Al-Ali said, according to the report.
Turkey took similar measures, shutting down its consulate in Benghazi, Turkey's semi-official Anadolu news agency reported.
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U.S. may evacuate embassy in Libya
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