TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya: Gunmen in Libya shot dead a Swiss national working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), fired a grenade at the prime minister’s office and tried to kill a renegade general in a series of attacks yesterday.
Anarchy is spreading in the North African oil-producing country where turmoil and political infighting have reigned since the 2011 uprising that ousted Muammar Gaddafi. A plethora of armed militias operate at will beyond state authority.
In the east outside Benghazi, ex-general Khalifa Haftar survived an assassination attempt. In Sirte, gunmen killed a Swiss ICRC official. And in the capital Tripoli, gunmen fired a rocket propelled grenade at the office of Prime Minister Ahmed Maiteeq.
“The Swiss head of a sub-delegation of the ICRC was shot dead by unknown gunmen while he was leaving a meeting in Sirte with another two ICRC members,” said Salah Uddin, spokesman for the ICRC in Libya.
Nobody was hurt when the grenade hit the kitchen on the same floor as Maiteeq’s office, an aide said. Maiteeq was elected by parliament last month in a chaotic vote that many lawmakers disputed. Outgoing Premier Abdullah
Al Thinni has refused to hand over power, saying he wants to wait for a legal ruling on whether Maiteeq’s election was legitimate. REUTERS
