Car bomb explodes outside Libyan parliament in Tobruk

A car bomb exploded Tuesday near a hotel where the Libyan parliament was in session in the eastern city of Tobruk, the parliament's spokesman said.

Farraj Hashem, a spokesman for the House of Representatives, announced that a car bomb exploded near the rear gate of the Dar Al-Salam Hotel in the city of Tobruk, where the temporary headquarters of the Libyan parliament is located, while the parliament was meeting on the ground floor.

"The impact of the blast was limited. The glass of the front of the hotel building and nearby buildings shattered," Xinhua quoted Hashem as saying. Witnesses confirmed some passersby were wounded.

Hashem stressed that parliament would not be cowed down by this action and would continue to work for the salvation of Libya from such terrorist acts.

No one has yet claimed responsibility but Islamists are suspected.

According to the interim constitutional declaration, the Libyan permanent headquarters of the parliament is in the city of Benghazi.

However, the parliament in August decided to hold its meetings in Tobruk as clashes and fighting between conflicting factions in Benghazi and Tripoli made it impossible to hold a parliamentary session.