BENGHAZI,
LIBYA - A Libyan force
ousted a week ago from key oil ports counter attacked on Sunday, taking back
control of Es Sider terminal and triggering clashes near Ras Lanuf port, a
spokesman for the force, Ali al-Hassi, and a port worker said.
Es Sider and
Ras Lanuf were among four ports seized by forces loyal to eastern commander
Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA) on Sept. 11-12 from a Petroleum
Facilities Guard (PFG) faction led by Ibrahim Jathran.
Control of the
ports remained unclear though with the LNA saying it repelled PFG forces at one
port. But the fighting came as the state-run National Oil Corporation prepared
to restart oil exports at the ports that have been closed for nearly two years
by clashes among rival armed factions.
A spokesman
for a guard force loyal to the LNA, Miftah Magariaf, said Jathran's PFG had
been repelled from Ras Lanuf with the help of LNA air strikes and that
LNA-aligned forces were preparing to recapture Es Sider.
An LNA
official said there was a fire at a tank in Es Sider.
The LNA's
seizure of the ports took place as the Muslim holiday of Eid was starting and
faced little resistance, with a senior tribal leader calling on Jathran's men
to switch allegiances.
After moving
into Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Zueitina and Brega, the LNA said it was handing over
control of the terminals to the National Oil Corporation (NOC) so that exports
could resume.
Jathran had
long blockaded the ports of Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina, and a recent deal
between him and the U.N.-backed government in Tripoli showed little sign of
progress.
On Thursday,
the NOC announced it was lifting "force majeure" contractual clauses
at the blockaded ports and that exports would restart immediately at Zueitina
and Ras Lanuf.
It said they
would start as soon as possible at Es Sider, and would continue at Brega, which
had remained open.
Conflict since
Libya's 2011 uprising has reduced its oil output to a fraction of the 1.6
million barrels per day the OPEC member once produced.
(Additional
reporting by Libby George; Writing by Aidan Lewis; editing by Patrick Markey)
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