Gunmen close Libya oil terminals ahead of vote

LIBYA: Armed federalists have forced two oil terminals to shut down in eastern Libya in protest over not being granted more seats in this weekend's first elections since Moamer Kadhafi was overthrown.

The move on Thursday to shut down pumping and loading at the port in Ras Lanuf came as people seeking autonomy in Libya's oil-rich east threatened to boycott or even sabotage Saturday's election for a General National Congress.

Ibrahim al-Jadhran, a protest leader, said demonstrators had also blocked the port of Al-Sidra, 35 kilometres (20 miles) west of Ras Lanuf, and were heading eastward to the oil terminal of Brega.

Earlier, on Thursday, suspected arson ravaged a depot containing electoral material in the eastern city of Ajdabiya, destroying ballot papers, lists of candidates, political parties and voters, and other items.

And on Sunday, armed men ransacked election offices in the eastern city of Benghazi, cradle of the revolution that ousted Kadhafi last year and a bastion of the federalist movement that wants greater autonomy from Tripoli. The weeks before the election have been marred by fighting between different communities, with bloody clashes in western hilltop towns claiming more than 100 lives and fighting in Kufra in the south leaving dozens dead.

"The harbour is closed... The pumping and loading of oil has been stopped... The group that came were federalists," Tumi Shakari, a supervisor at a major oil terminal in Ras Lanuf, said on Thursday.

"A group of 15 people came around 9:30 pm (1930 GMT) and in a very peaceful and amicable manner asked us to shut down operations," the supervisor added.

"This group has certain demands that they want to see fulfilled and they have asked us to stop our work for 48 hours," he continued, adding that workers had complied to avoid an escalation. On Friday morning, Milad Mohamed Ali, superintendent of the Al-Haruj terminal, just west of Ras Lanuf, said "the situation remains the same since last night." "The government must do something about this. This is their way of seeking attention for their demands," he added. AFP