Hundreds of Libyan protesters called on Friday for the ouster of the internationally-recognised prime minister and his government said one security force member was killed when some protesters tried to storm his office.
At least three ministers resigned in sympathy with the protesters, who want Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah to quit.
The demonstrators gathered in Martyrs’ Square in Tripoli, chanting slogans such as “The nation wants to topple the government” and “We want elections.”
They later marched to the main government building in the city center. “We won’t leave until he leaves,” one protester said.
The demonstrators carried pictures of Dbeibah, national security adviser Ibrahim Dbeibah and Interior Minister Emad Tarbulsi with their faces crossed out in red.
State-oil firm NOC said in a statement that its operations at oil facilities are proceeding as normal, with oil and gas exports operating regularly. National oil output in the past 24 hours was at 1,376,415 barrels.
Dbeibah, who leads the divided country’s Government of National Unity, came to power through a UN-backed process in 2021. Planned elections failed to proceed that year because of disagreements among rival factions, and he has remained in power.
The government media platform said in a statement that one security member of its building protection force was killed, posting video footage showing the building’s fence destroyed with rocks on the ground.
“Security forces thwarted an attempted storming of the Prime Minister’s Office by a group embedded among the demonstrators,” it said in the statement.
Credit: REUTERS