Libya's parliament has ordered a special force be sent within one week to "liberate" all rebel-held ports in the volatile east, officials said on Monday, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenues. The conflict over oil wealth is increasing fears that Libya may slide deeper into chaos or even splinter as the fragile government fails to rein in dozens of militias that helped oust Muammar Qadhafi in 2011 but now defy state authority.
The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the Opec member country, said they had dispatched forces to central Libya to deal with any government attack. The two sides seem to be heading for confrontation after a North Korean-flagged tanker finished loading crude worth $30 million at rebel-held Es Sider port despite a government threat to bomb the ship.
Libyan naval forces have surrounded the tanker outside Es Sider port, a navy spokesman said. A rebel spokesman denied this. Even without any major military action, the escalation kills any hope of restoring oil exports soon. A wave of protests at oilfields and ports has reduced output to a trickle, undermining state authority as oil is the main revenue source supporting the budget and basic food imports. The head of parliament, who has quasi-presidential powers, ordered the formation of a force made up of regular soldiers and allied militias to take back the ports, which previously handled a total of more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day.
The operation will start within one week, parliament head Nuri Ali Abu Sahmain said in a decree published by spokesman Omar Hmeidan. "The force will be set up to liberate the ports and end the blockage," Hmeidan told Reuters. Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who said on Saturday the Morning Glory tanker would be bombed if it tried to export oil, is now in a much stronger position with the parliament throwing its weight behind military action. Libya has been trying to rebuild its army since Qadhafi's overthrow, but analysts say it is not yet a match for battle-hardened militias that fought in the eight-month uprising that toppled him.