Libyan officials back at work after militia siege

TRIPOLI, Libya –  Officials at two Libyan government ministries returned to work Sunday after nearly two weeks of protests by militia fighters, who blocked the entrances to the buildings.

Militias, many comprised of former rebels who fought in Libya's eight-month civil war that toppled Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, have mushroomed in size and power in the last two years. The government has so far failed to bring the well-armed groups under state control, though efforts have been made to encourage enrollment in the country's still weak police and army.

The militias blocked access to the ministries in an attempt to push parliament to pass a contentious law that would prevent members of Gadhafi's regime from serving in senior government posts. Libyan lawmakers approved the measure over the weekend, with guns still drawn on the streets.

The militias remained outside the ministries for several more days to demand that the law be applied quickly. The groups had a list of several ministers they wanted removed, including Libya's prime minister. He has angered militias by calling on them to join the government's security forces, vowing to take a hard stance against armed groups that do not fall into line.

Employees could be seen going to work again at the ministries after militias ended their siege on Saturday. An official at the Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press that the situation had returned to normal Sunday, with the country's foreign minister and his deputy meeting with other top diplomats on their first day back at work.

On Friday, scores of militiamen descended on an anti-Islamist rally in the nation's capital, kicking and beating protesters who had taken to the streets after a call for demonstrations against the unruly militias.

Rallies also took place in the eastern cities of Benghazi and Tobruk. Hundreds of activists denounced the armed groups and what they described as political maneuverings by the nation's Muslim Brotherhood in relation to the new law.

A day later in Benghazi, the country's second largest city, a police station was bombed, according to a security official there. No injuries were reported.

All officials spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

The Interior Ministry said it has 400 "highly trained" policemen to beef up security in Benghazi, and that around 2,000 police cadets are graduating in the coming days to help secure the city.

Benghazi was the site of an attack last September on the U.S. consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

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Head of Libyan Islamic extremist militia shot

Published April 14, 2013

Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya –  A security official says the leader of an Islamic extremist militia in Libya suspected of involvement in an attack in Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador has been shot.

Sufyan bin Qumu, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, was shot Sunday in the area of al-Thruwn in the eastern city of Darna, a stronghold of Islamic extremists.

The security official says he was taken to a nearby hospital and is in the intensive care unit. He spoke anonymously in line with regulations.

Residents of eastern Libya, where the September attack against the U.S. consulate took place, have been standing up to Ansar al-Shariah. Protesters stormed the group's compound in Benghazi days after the attack.

No suspects have been named in the attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

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Nearly 50 inmates escape Libyan prison, 1 killed

Published March 26, 2013

Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya –  A Libyan security official says nearly 50 inmates have fled a prison in an oasis city in the country's southern desert, and authorities shot one dead during the escape.

The security official said the inmates broke out of the prison in Sabha early Tuesday. He said prison guards fired warning shots to stop them, which resulted in the death of one. Two others were injured.

The official said nine inmates were arrested while authorities continue the search for 36 others. The official said the prisoners were rioting against what they said were bad prison conditions, setting fire to their cells, and breaking up doors. He said they jumped over the prison wall. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

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Former rebels besiege Libyan premier's office

Published March 24, 2013

Associated Press

TRIPOLI, Libya –  About 200 former rebel fighters in Libya have besieged the prime minister's office, demanding that he resign.

The militia members, who did not threaten violence, want Prime Minister Ali Zidan to step down in accordance with a political isolation law banning members of the former regime from political life.

He served as an ambassador under Moammar Gadhafi, who was ousted in an eight-month civil war.

The law is controversial because it bans anyone who worked with Gadhafi from 1969 until he was killed in 2011.

The prime minister's convoy was seen moving around the capital, Tripoli, last week with more security guards than usual — after an influx of militias from around the country.

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Libyan mufti criticizes UN document on women

TRIPOLI, Libya –  Libya's supreme religious cleric is calling on Muslim nations to reject a United Nations document on women's rights, saying that it counters Islamic law.

Mufti al-Sadiq al-Ghiryani issued a fatwa, or religious edict, against the document set to be signed by nations at the 57th session of the Commission on the Status of Women this month.

While Islamic jurisprudence prefers witnesses for a divorce, the mufti says the U.N. document insists on judicial interference.

The edict issued Monday criticizes the document's references to inheritance and its equating of men and women. Al-Ghiryani says this puts full burden on women to share equally in terms of domestic spending.

The mufti also condemns the document's wording on sexual freedoms and the rights of children born out of wedlock.

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Egyptian Christian dies in Libyan detention

CAIRO –  An Egyptian Foreign Ministry official says a man suspected of trying to spread Christianity in Libya has died in prison there.

The diplomat says Ezzat Atallah, who suffered from diabetes and heart ailments, likely died of natural causes. He spoke anonymously Sunday in line with regulations.

Atallah was among five Evangelical Christian Egyptians detained in Libya for allegedly proselytizing in the predominantly Muslim nation.

Last week, Egypt's Foreign Ministry intervened to win release from Libya of 55 Egyptians who were also suspected of proselytizing. Thirty-five of them were deported for illegally entering the country, while 20 were cleared to stay in Libya.

Also, four foreigners under investigation for alleged espionage and proselytizing remain in a Libyan prison. They are a Swedish-American, a South Korean, a South African and an Egyptian.

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