* Witnesses say militia started shooting
* Fighters were protesting for cash hand-outs
* Prime minister ‘not in building at time’
(Updates with new details, quotes)
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
TRIPOLI, May 8 (Reuters) – Several people were killed on
Tuesday when an armed militia protesting outside the Libyan
prime minister’s office in Tripoli started shooting,
highlighting the country’s volatility a month before it holds
its first election.
Witnesses and officials said the militia, from the town of
Yafran about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Tripoli, was at the
prime minister’s compound to demand cash from the government
when the protest turned violent.
Adel Osman, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said there
were dead and injured, but he did not know how many. A security
guard inside the building told a Reuters reporter he believed
four people were killed.
“It’s calmed down,” the guard said. “They came and they were
protesting … We told the women to leave the building (when the
clashes started). The men stayed.”
The guard said interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib was
at a meeting elsewhere when the shooting happened.
Earlier, Reuters reporters outside the compound, a short
distance from Tripoli city centre, heard sporadic bursts of
gunfire, including from large-calibre weapons.
Security forces cordoned off the area and ambulances could
be seen. After about 30 minutes the shooting died out and the
cordon was lifted. Journalists were allowed into the building
for a scheduled news conference.
The prime minister’s office is frequently the focus of
protests by disgruntled militias demanding cash or jobs in
recognition of the role they played in last year’s revolt to
oust Muammar Gaddafi.
Many of the militiamen are armed and occasionally their
protests turn violent. Tuesday’s clashes were the first time
fatalities had been reported from a protest at the compound.
Libya is due to hold its first free election next month to
choose an assembly to draft a constitution. People have started
to register to vote, a novelty in a country where Gaddafi banned
elections for 40 years.
There is a risk that the lack of security will jeopardise
the election. The government is struggling to assert its
authority over dozens of militias who refuse to disarm and take
orders only from their own commanders.
(Additional reporting by Ali Shuaib; Writing by Christian Lowe;
Editing by Janet Lawrence)
