UN condemns protesters' attack on parliament in eastern Libya

Fire inside the Libyan parliament building in TobrukCAiro, Jul 2The attack of demonstrators in Libyan Tobruk on the parliament building is unacceptable, said Stephanie Williams, special adviser to the UN Secretary General for Libya. Massive protests against deteriorating living conditions began on Friday in a number of large Libyan cities. Demonstrators attacked the headquarters of the House of Representatives (Parliament) of Libya in Tobruk and set fire to a number of offices. The demonstration also took place outside the legislature in the Libyan capital Tripoli. «The right of the people to demonstrate peacefully must be respected and protected, but riots and vandalism, such as the attack on the parliament building in Tobruk, are absolutely unacceptable,» Williams wrote on Twitter. She urged the Libyan leadership interact with the protesters responsibly and with restraint. In turn, the Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity, Abdulhamid Dbeiba, supported the protesters and said that elections were the only way out of the situation. At the same time, he said that «the same people who interfered with the adoption of the budget and closed the oil fields» are hindering the elections.The head of the Libyan national unity government addressed the protestersThe Libyan National Oil Corporation (National Oil Corporation, NOC) said on Friday that it was forced to impose a force majeure regime in the oil ports of Es Sidra and Ras Lanuf due to the inability to fulfill its obligations. The head of the corporation, Mustafa Sanalla warned that as a result of a sharp reduction in oil and gas production in recent months, the country is expected to worsen the fuel crisis — already now three power plants in Zuweitin and Benghazi were left without natural gas supplies. According to him, the suspension of production at a number of oil facilities caused losses in the amount of more than 16 billion dinars (3.34 billion dollars), the average daily level of oil production decreased by 865,000 barrels and does not exceed 409,000 barrels. large deposits of Sharara and El-Fil. Force majeure was declared in the oil port of Zuweitina, as well as in all fields and production facilities associated with this port. According to a number of Libyan media, protesters entered the NOC facilities and demanded that Dbeiba transfer power to the newly elected head of parliament sitting in eastern Libya new Cabinet Fathi Bashage. In March, ministers from the government formed by Bashaga were sworn in before parliament in the city of Tobruk. The current head of the Government of National Unity, Dbeiba, said earlier that he would not transfer power until the presidential elections, which threatens the country with another dual power. -content/uploads/2022/07/0f1540decba58113f037edcc5fe11657.jpg» />Polyansky: due to the West, the situation in Libya may get out of control