Libyan PM ousted after oil tanker escapes port

Libya's General National Congress removed the prime minister from office on Tuesday after a tanker laden with crude oil from a rebel-held terminal broke through a naval blockade and escaped to sea, underscoring the weakness of the central government.

A no-confidence motion was approved by 124 of the 194 members of Congress, four more than the majority required, legislators said.

Libyan gunboats later chased the tanker along the country's eastern Mediterranean coast and opened fire, damaging it, a military spokesman said.

Italian naval ships were helping move the tanker to a Libyan government-controlled port, he said. But Italy denied having any vessels in the area at the time, and the reported firing incident could not be confirmed.

Western powers fear the vast North African state could break apart, with the government struggling to rein in armed militias and tribesmen who helped oust former ruler Muammar Gadhafi in 2011 and want to grab power and oil revenues.

Ousted prime minister Ali Zeidan left the country hours after he was removed from office, despite a ban on travel.

On Wednesday, officials in Tripoli could not confirm the departure of Zeidan, Libya's first democratically chosen leader, who had struggled for 15 months to stem the country's spiraling descent into chaos.

In nearby Malta, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told state-owned television that Zeidan had made a brief stopover on the Mediterranean island late on Tuesday, before traveling on.

Soon after the lawmakers voted, Libya's general prosecutor banned Zeidan from travel pending an investigation into corruption

Zeidan, a liberal weakened for months by infighting with Islamists, will be temporarily replaced by Defense Minister Abdallah al-Thinni, who was sworn in by Congress on Tuesday evening.

Deputies said they had decided to mount a no-confidence vote after the tanker managed to sail away from Es Sider port, one of three major export terminals the government has lost to rebels.

"The government has been weakened for a time, and we need a new personality," said al-Sharif al-Wafi, an independent lawmaker. A new prime minister will be elected by deputies within two weeks, he said.

Zeidan told Reuters late on Monday that navy forces had halted the tanker and were escorting it to a government-controlled port in western Libya.

But rebel leader Ibrahim Jathran mocked Zeidan by going on television hours later while standing on a ship, insisting his forces still controlled the 37,000-ton tanker.

Reuters-AP-AFP