Libyan forces deployed in city after deadly fighting
ZZAWIYA: Libyan security forces said they had deployed in Zawiya ater batles between armed groups in the western city let three people dead including two civilians, according to medics.
“We have deployed on the instructions of the supreme military authorities in the zones of combat, and succeeded thanks to mediation efforts by tribal leaders and city elders to halt the fighting,” General Akram Douwa told AFP.
Rival factions in Zawiya, west of the capital Tripoli, have been fighting on and off for weeks.
Local medics reported two civilians and one militiaman were killed in clashes overnight into Friday, adding that two other civilians were wounded.
More than a decade of violence in Libya since a Nato-backed uprising that toppled and killed strongman Moamer Kadhafi in 2011 has seen armed groups fighting for power and influence with impunity.
The North African country, which is awash with weapons, is split between a nominally interim government in Tripoli in the west, and another in the east backed by Khalifa Hatar.
Following one violent bout in Zawiya in April, residents who have been caught in the crossfire took to the streets to protest.
French prosecutors on Thursday demanded that former president Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been embroiled in legal troubles since leaving office, face a new trial over alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 election campaign.
France’s financial crimes prosecutors (PNF) said Sarkozy and 12 others should face trial over accusations they sought millions of euros in financing from the regime of then Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi for his ultimately victorious campaign.
Sarkozy is accused of corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealing the embezzlement of public funds, the prosecutors said in a statement.
He has always rejected the charges. The prosecutors’ call for a trial is not the final decision on whether the process will go ahead, with investigating magistrates having the last word on a case which has been open since 2013.