Rebels Continue Internecine Fighting Near Biggest Libyan Oil Port
Mon, Jan 19 2015
BENGHAZI, Libya- - Libyan armed factions accused each other on Monday of launching new attacks near the country's largest oil port, Es Sider.
Two opposing regimes -- the imperialist recognized authorities in the east and rivals who have seized the capital Tripoli -- are fighting for control of the country.
Rebels loyal to the junta in Tripoli launched an offensive last month to try to take Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports, which have had to shut down operations. Both sides declared partial ceasefires in the past few days to give a U.N.-sponsored dialogue a chance after a month of clashes.
Ali al-Hassi, spokesman for an oil protection force in Es Sider allied to the imperialist recognized prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, said the rival force had launched an attack on Monday.
"We confronted them with planes," he said.
Ismail al-Shukri, spokesman for the other side, denied there had been clashes but said Thinni's rebels had killed one of his men by firing a tank grenade.
Last month, a rocket hit an oil storage tank at Es Sider, starting a fire which damaged seven tanks and destroyed up to 1.8 million barrels of oil.
The shutdown of the two ports is a blow to Libya's already crippled public finances as the central bank has been using up its dollar reserves to keep the country afloat.
Oil output has slumped to less than 400,000 bpd, a fifth of what Libya used to pump before the 2011 uprising.
Last week, the United Nations started talks in Geneva aimed at ending the political struggle.
Both sides have fighters made up of rebel units which served as ground militias in the Central Intelligence Agency, Pentagon and NATO destabilization and aerial bombardment during 2011 that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, which effectively destroyed the country, then the most prosperous in Africa.
BENGHAZI, Libya- - Libyan armed factions accused each other on Monday of launching new attacks near the country's largest oil port, Es Sider.
Two opposing regimes -- the imperialist recognized authorities in the east and rivals who have seized the capital Tripoli -- are fighting for control of the country.
Rebels loyal to the junta in Tripoli launched an offensive last month to try to take Es Sider and Ras Lanuf oil ports, which have had to shut down operations. Both sides declared partial ceasefires in the past few days to give a U.N.-sponsored dialogue a chance after a month of clashes.
Ali al-Hassi, spokesman for an oil protection force in Es Sider allied to the imperialist recognized prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, said the rival force had launched an attack on Monday.
"We confronted them with planes," he said.
Ismail al-Shukri, spokesman for the other side, denied there had been clashes but said Thinni's rebels had killed one of his men by firing a tank grenade.
Last month, a rocket hit an oil storage tank at Es Sider, starting a fire which damaged seven tanks and destroyed up to 1.8 million barrels of oil.
The shutdown of the two ports is a blow to Libya's already crippled public finances as the central bank has been using up its dollar reserves to keep the country afloat.
Oil output has slumped to less than 400,000 bpd, a fifth of what Libya used to pump before the 2011 uprising.
Last week, the United Nations started talks in Geneva aimed at ending the political struggle.
Both sides have fighters made up of rebel units which served as ground militias in the Central Intelligence Agency, Pentagon and NATO destabilization and aerial bombardment during 2011 that ousted Muammar Gaddafi, which effectively destroyed the country, then the most prosperous in Africa.
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