Mediaboss Marketing

Libya's former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan in office before being ousted. Photo: Reuters

Tripoli, Libya: Libya's Congress handed a no-confidence vote to Prime Minister Ali Zeidan on Tuesday in a yet another jolt to the oil-rich nation's crumbling political stability.

Libya's elected General National Congress (GNC) voted to oust Mr Zeidan a day after the government's weak security forces failed to stop a North Korean-flagged oil tanker from departing Libya's eastern shore with an unauthorised US$36 million cargo of crude oil.

Less than three years after the fall of dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has been riven by increasingly violent political animosities as powerful militias, aligned with rival political factions, have struggled to exert control over key government offices, territory and - significantly - the country's vast oil resources.

Federalist fighters seeking autonomy for eastern Libya have laid siege to some of the country's key oil wells and ports, effectively paralysing exports for the past six months.

Advertisement

The weekend docking of the North Korean tanker marked the first independent sale of oil by a non-state body, threatening to escalate regional and tribal tensions into a full-fledged war.

Mr Zeidan threatened to use force if the ship tried to leave. But after a three-day stand-off between the eastern rebels and government-allied forces, the rebels said on Tuesday that the tanker had entered international waters.

"We don't care what the GNC does with Zeidan. They can do what they like," said Senussi El-Megrabi, a spokesman for rebel commander Ibrahim al-Jathran. "We have nothing to do with them."

The tanker, The Morning Glory, left Libya's Sidra port at 8am, Mr Megrabi said.

Continue reading here:
Libya's prime minister ousted after ship leaves rebel-held port with illegal oil