Key Libyan tribe asks Haftar to leave its territory

One of the most important tribes in eastern Libya where renegade Khalifa Haftar is based has asked him to leave its territory, tribal sources said.

The request came following a Saturday meeting of Al-Awaqeer tribe chieftains in Abyar, near Benghazi, the sources told Anadolu Agency.

The tribe, which has a strong presence in Benghazi, Abyar, Benina and Rajmah in eastern Libya, told Haftar it does not want its areas to be a launch pad for attacks on Benghazi, they added.

The sources said Haftar has not yet responded to the request.

The renegade general has recently declared war on Benghazi-based militias, some of which were absorbed into the regular army following the ouster and killing of late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

He says his campaign, dubbed "Operation Dignity," aims to purge Libya of extremists.

The government, for its part, has described Haftar's campaign as an attempted coup.

Recent clashes between Haftar's forces and armed militiamen have left scores dead in the flashpoint city.

Crisis defused as Miitig accepts court ruling

Libya's supreme court Monday ruled as unconstitutional the election of premier Ahmed Miitig in a chaotic parliamentary session, ending a month-long political crisis that saw two rival cabinets jostling for power.

Miitig said he would respect the ruling, hailing the decision as a "boost for the conservation of the rule of law" in Libya.

The standoff started when parliament in early May voted Miitig as new premier to replace Abdullah al-Thani. Thani however refused to recognise the parliamentary vote.

Constitutional law expert Abdelgader Gdoura told AFP the "Supreme Court's decision is final... Miitig's government is finished."

The GNC had also said it would comply with the decision, and confirmed that Thani would head the interim government.

"The congress complied with the judiciary's decision," Salah al-Makhzum, a vice president of the GNC, told a press conference shortly after the court ruling.

Miitig would have been Libya's fifth premier since the revolution that ousted Gaddafi.

The GNC was elected in July 2012, in Libya's first ever free polls, almost one year Gaddafi's ouster.