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Gunmen Storm Libya TV Station

Gunmen Storm Libya TV Station
folder_openLibya access_time7 years ago
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Local Editor

Gunmen stormed the headquarters of a Libyan television station late Wednesday, as the authorities in control of Tripoli demanded the departure of the newly-arrived prime minister designate in a blow to hopes for a peaceful power handover.

Gunmen Storm Libya TV Station

Armed men burst into the headquarters of satellite TV station al-Nabaa in central Tripoli, cut its transmissions and forced out its staff, according to two journalists from the channel.

The channel is close to the unrecognized authorities in control of Tripoli. One al-Nabaa journalist said the gunmen appeared to be supporters of the UN-backed unity government, whose head Fayez al-Sarraj arrived in the capital Wednesday to the fury of the rival authorities.

"A group of armed men stormed our offices and gathered the employees in one room," one staff member told AFP. Another colleague said broadcasting had been suspended, adding that no one had been hurt.

Sarraj, a businessman named prime minister-designate under a UN-brokered power-sharing deal in December, arrived by sea earlier Wednesday with a naval escort along with several members of his cabinet.

But in a sign of the formidable challenge facing his government, Tripoli's unrecognized authorities demanded that he leave the capital or "hand himself in."

Meanwhile, Tripoli's government declared a state of emergency ahead of Sarraj's anticipated arrival, and several main highways were blocked late Wednesday by armed groups who arrived aboard military vehicles, an AFP reporter said.

In parallel, Afriqiyah Airlines and Libyan Airlines announced on their Facebook pages that they had cancelled flights to Tripoli over "security concerns."

Libya has had two rival administrations since mid-2014 when a militia alliance overran the capital, setting up its own authority and forcing the internationally recognized parliament to flee to the country's remote east.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

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