Libya's parliament moved to a Tripoli hotel March 3, a day after protesters stormed the building, killing a guard and wounding six legislators. Protesters swept the parliament chamber while it was in session, firing live rounds, throwing bottles at lawmakers, and setting fire to furniture, while chanting "Resign, resign!" Elected after the 2011 uprising, the parliament has sparked popular anger by extending its mandate, which was meant to have expired on Feb. 7, until the end of December. For weeks, hundreds of protesters have held daily demonstrations demanding the parliament be dissolved. (Al Jazeera [6], March 3)
Meanwhile, new overtures by Defense Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to Tuareg protesters blockading the Sharara oil-field in Libya's southwest were rebuffed. Mahmoud al-Ansari, a member of the demonstrators' committee, told the Libya Herald that Thinni had offered protestors the same concessions as in previous negotiations and that these were yet to be enacted on the ground. Thinni had been pivotal in bringing an end to the last sit-in at Sharara at the beginning of January. Tuareg occupiers are demanding removal of the unelected local council in the district of Obari, which they say does not represent them. They are also demanding national identification numbers allowing them access to government services.
Libya's National Oil Corporation reports that oil production now stands at roughly 250,000 barrels a day. In 2012, oil production was as high as 1.5 million barrels a day. (Libya Herald [7], March 5)
Nearly all of Libya's major oil and gas installations have been repeatedly shut down by protesters [8] in recent months.
