Mohamed al-Magariaf addresses the UN General Assembly in
New York in September last year. (Photo by John Moore/Getty
Images)
The head of Libya's parliament has survived an
assassination attempt unharmed at his home in the remote desert
interior of the country, his spokesman says.
Mohamed al-Magariaf's residence in Sabha, 800km south of the
capital Tripoli, came under gunfire on Thursday evening
(local time).
"(He) was unharmed and escaped the attack but three of his
guards were injured," spokesman Rasmy Burwein said.
Magariaf was in Sabha for meetings with local officials and
community leaders after Tripoli declared the region a closed
military zone to try to curb rampant lawlessness.
Sabha and the rest of the Saharan south has been plagued by
tribal violence since the start of the armed uprising in 2011
that ousted and killed veteran dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
Tribal power is much stronger in the south than on the
Mediterranean coast. Porous borders with neighbouring states
and the easy availability of arms have turned the south into
a security headache for a weak central government.
It is still struggling to curb a myriad of armed militias
that emerged powerful from the anti-Gaddafi insurgency.
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