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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Saudi Arabia shuts embassy in Libya | Saudi Arabia shuts embassy in Libya |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Tripoli on Monday over "security" concerns in Libya, its ambassador said. | Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Tripoli on Monday over "security" concerns in Libya, its ambassador said. |
| "All the diplomatic staff has left due to the security situation," Mohammed Mahmoud al-Ali said in a statement. | "All the diplomatic staff has left due to the security situation," Mohammed Mahmoud al-Ali said in a statement. |
| The government insists it remains in control despite a series of clashes at the weekend, including the parliament building being overrun by militiamen. | The government insists it remains in control despite a series of clashes at the weekend, including the parliament building being overrun by militiamen. |
| Libya's leaders have struggled to bring stability to the country since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011. | Libya's leaders have struggled to bring stability to the country since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted in 2011. |
| The statement from Saudi Arabia said its embassy would reopen "when the situation stabilises in the Libyan capital". | |
| Algeria also closed its embassy and consulate in Tripoli on Friday, saying its diplomats faced a "real and imminent threat". | |
| Chaotic assault | |
| Earlier on Monday, the AP news agency reported that Libya's army chief had ordered the deployment of Islamist militias in the capital. | |
| The move came after a rogue former army general sent his paramilitary force into Tripoli on Sunday to attack the parliament building. | |
| Khalifa Haftar, who quit as head of Col Gaddafi's army and took charge of rebel forces during the 2011 uprising, now heads a group called the "Libyan National Army". | |
| A spokesman for the group said it launched the chaotic assault on the parliament to rid Libya of Islamist politicians, who it says have allowed extremists to take control of the country. | |
| Mr Haftar's forces launched an air and ground operation against Islamist militias in the coastal city of Benghazi on Friday, saying they wanted to "flush the terrorists out". | |
| Some government troops and aircraft were said to have taken part in the operation, but acting Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni condemned it as illegal and "a coup against the revolution". | |
| The rebel groups that fought to remove Col Gaddafi from power in 2011 have become de-facto powerbrokers in the vacuum of Libya's political chaos, correspondents say. | |
| The planned new constitution remains unwritten and the country has had three prime ministers since March. | |
| Meanwhile, the violence took its toll on oil prices on Monday with Brent crude rising above $110 a barrel. | |
| A month-long blockade of Libya's major western oilfields was supposed to have ended last week after the government said it had reached a deal with rebels who had taken control of pipelines. | |
| But several remain closed and Libya's output has fallen to about 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd earlier last week, far below the 1.4 million produced last year. |