Armed clashes at Libyan parliament

Tripoli, May 19 (IANS) Heavy fighting took place outside the Libyan parliament in Tripoli Sunday afternoon, BBC reported. Members of the parliament fled the building as heavily armed attackers tried to storm it.

According to some eyewitnesses, the gunmen were from the powerful Zintan Brigade of former rebel fighters.

However, a spokesman for a retired general, Khalifa Haftar, claimed his forces had carried out the assault.

Unidentified gunmen fired on congress building, and later, some of them dashed inside to expel the lawmakers, forcing a session to adjourn, Xinhua quoted an interior ministry official as saying, adding the Battalion 127 was in charge of guarding the parliament and fired back at the gunmen.

A planned new constitution remains unwritten and the country has had three prime ministers since March.