Libyan Assembly Ousts PM over Escaped Tanker
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Libya's General National Congress passed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and designated the defense minister as acting prime minister.
Parliamentarians voted to oust Zeidan as anger grew with the government's failure to stop eastern rebels from independently exporting oil.
The no-confidence motion was approved by 124 of the 194 members of the parliament, four more than the majority required, MPs said.
The vote on Tuesday came hours after an oil tanker carrying rebel oil escaped warships and left the country.
MP Suleiman al-Zubi told AFP that Defense Minister Abdullah al-Thinni was named interim premier for the two weeks the assembly now has to agree on a permanent replacement.
Parliament will support Thinni and not obstruct his work, its head Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain told the assembly during a session broadcast by state television after the caretaker prime minister took his oath.
Libya's top prosecutor has placed a travel ban on Zeidan because of his suspected involvement in the embezzlement of public funds, according to a document published on his office's Facebook page.
Previous attempts to bring down Zeidan had failed to win the required majority of 120 of the assembly's 194 members.
Zeidan's government had been repeatedly criticised for its failure to disarm militias which have carved out their own fiefdoms since the NATO-backed uprising that ended the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
The prime minister was himself briefly abducted by an armed group in the heart of the capital, Tripoli, last October.
