Gunmen kill Libyan journalist in restive Benghazi

Gunmen shot dead a chief editor who was an outspoken critic of Islamists in Libya's volatile east today, a security official said.
The killing came as the country is deeply polarised, with a renegade general having launched an armed campaign against Islamists, who dominate the elected parliament and who yesterday approved a new prime minister rejected by their rivals.
The official said Moftah Abu Zeid, chief editor of the Brnieq newspaper, was attacked while driving his car down a main street in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the 2011 revolt that toppled and killed longtime ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The city has since seen near-daily attacks mainly targeting security forces.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters, said the assailants fled the scene.
Abu Zeid's newspaper last week carried a front page picture of Gen Khalifa Hifter, who is leading an offensive against Islamic militants in the city. The editor later said militiamen halted a shipment of the last issue on its way from Benghazi to the capital Tripoli.
Islamists have condemned the offensive launched earlier this month as a "coup," while several prominent government officials, diplomats and military units have rallied to Hifter's cause, hoping he can bring stability to the petroleum-rich North African country.

Hifter has said his campaign is aimed at imposing order and breaking the power of Islamists who lead the elected parliament, whom he accuses of opening the door to Islamic radicals.

Thousands of residents took to the streets in support of his campaign on Friday in different Libyan cities.
The escalating conflict between Hifter's forces and the Islamists is the biggest challenge yet to the country's weak central government, which has struggled to rein in heavily-armed former rebel brigades turned militias.
Yesterday, the country's embattled parliament approved an Islamist-backed government headed by Ahmed Maiteg despite a boycott by non-Islamists and the threats from Hifter.

Maiteg offered to include the interim prime minister, Abdullah al-Thani, in his new line-up and offered him the post of defense minister. Al-Thani's media office said in a message sent to reporters today that he declined the offer.