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Libya militia offer oil policies, P.M. says gov't still in charge
Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni speaks to reporters in Abu Dhabi, September 10, 2014. PHOTO BY REUTERS/ Stringer
By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum
17/10/2014
CAIRO/BENGHAZI Libya (Reuters) - Armed groups in control of Libya's capital announced their own oil sector policies this week, drawing a rebuttal from Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni who said oil revenues continued to go to the elected government.
Operation Dawn, an umbrella of militia from the western city of Misrata, seized Tripoli in August, forcing Thinni's government to withdraw to the east.
The militia have since formed their own rival parliament and government.
In an interview with local news agency Press Solidarity, their appointed oil minister, Mashallah al-Zawi, said the oil ministry was working to resolve oilfield protests and discussing early retirement schemes to bring in make room for fresh recruits.
Thinni responded from Bayda, a town east of Benghazi, where his government has relocated.
He said oil revenues for the OPEC member state continued to enter a Libyan bank which transferred them to the central bank.
"They are under the control of the state of Libya and the government approved by the Libyan parliament," he said, referring to the elected House of Representatives which has moved to Tobruk in eastern Libya.
Libya's de facto oil minister is the chairman of National Oil Corp, Mustafa Sanallah.
Thanni spoke to a new channel his government set up on Thursday in Bayda after the previous state TV channel was taken over by the new Tripoli rulers.
Oil exports three years after the fall of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi are running at about 800,000 barrels per day, down from about 1.4 million previously.
Militia often seize oilfields or export terminals to pressure officials into political or financial demands. A blockade of the country's biggest oil ports lasted a year.
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