Libyan Army restores order at gas complex

MILAN/TRIPOLI: Libya said yesterday the army had restored order at an energy complex near Tripoli after weekend clashes between militia guards, but that gas exports to Italy would remain suspended and oil production cut back for several days.
Libyan officials said the national army and militias aligned with it had arrived at the Mellitah oil and gas complex, some 100 km west of Tripoli, on Sunday night. The locally deployed militias had ceased fighting but gas exports had been suspended yesterday for a third day.
“We have full control, it is safe, it is just a matter of assessing the situation to identify the one entity that will take charge of the security,” said Abdulfattah Shagan, chairman of the Mellitah oil and gas venture between Libya’s National Oil Corporation and Italy’s Eni. “I think the army will be in charge,” he said adding that the fighting has done only minor damage to facilities.
Armed clashes erupted on Saturday after an argument between former rebel fighters from nearby Zuwara and others from Zintan over who should guard Mellitah, security officials said. Deputy Oil Minister Omar Shakmak said one person was killed and several injured.
The disruption at the Mellitah complex is the latest to hit the energy sector in Libya, where protests have shut down oil-export terminals in recent months, and comes after January’s hostage-taking at an Algerian gas plant.
Thousands of former rebels who fought to overthrow former leader Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 have been employed in a protection force to look after Libyan oil and gas installations. Rivalries between militia and clan groups have posed a broader problem for Tripoli as it struggles to assert central control.