Tobruk parliament 'halts dialogue with Tripoli'

Cairo, March 8 (IANS/AKI) The Tobruk-based parliament in eastern Libya on Tuesday opted to suspend dialogue with the United Nations backed unity government of Fayez al-Seraj and the 2015 accord that created it, news site Al-Wasat reported.

The move came after clashes between rival armed groups in recent days in Libya's oil crescent that were condemned by the US, France and Britain.

The Benghazi Defence Brigades, a militia group, captured the ports of Es Sider and Ras Lanuf in an offensive that began on March 3. The ports had been under the control of eastern-based military commander Khalifa Haftar, who is allied to the administration in Tobruk.

Over five years after the ousting of late Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, the country remains regionally split with rival governments and a myriad of rival armed groups which they are unable to control.

--IANS/AKI

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