Mass strike paralyzes Libyan city of Benghazi

A mass strike brought the Libyan port city of Benghazi to a stand-still Sunday, as workers protested growing insecurity and demanded the resignation of parliament. 

Many Libyans blame infighting among parliamentarians for the disorder that has been growing since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011. Government forces have failed to improve security in the eastern port city of Benghazi where car bombs and killings of police and army officers — many of whom served in the previous regime — have become part of daily life.

Also Sunday, the government said it had reached a deal to reopen two rebel-controlled oil ports in the eastern part of the country. The Key terminals have been occupied for months by armed groups demanding greater autonomy and a larger share of the oil revenues. Closure of the terminals has cost the central government billions of dollars. 

A security official said activists taking part in the strike had blocked the road to Benghazi’s international airport Sunday, and had set tires ablaze on the road.

"The reason behind closing Benina aiport today is in solidarity with the citizens of Benina and Benghazi on their civil disobedience," said the airport General Manager Ibrahim Ferkash.

As a result of the closure, a Turkish Airlines plane was turned away, according to Libya's state media. International and domestic flights remained on hold, although talks between airport authorities and civil society institutions in Benghazi led to a planned resumption of international flights.

Oil companies, universities and schools also closed Sunday, heeding a call by political groups for a day of “civil disobedience” to demand better security, witnesses said.

The strikers are calling for Libya’s General National Congress (GNC) assembly to resign immediately. The GNC’s initial mandate expired on Feb. 7, however, Islamists led a motion to extend its mandate by another year. Parliament recently voted to hold early elections this spring, but protests against lawmakers continue.

Libya’s government has been paralyzed for months by a power struggle between Islamists in parliament trying to remove former Prime Minister Ali Zeidan — the country’s first democratically elected leader — and anti-Islamist political factions.

Western-backed Zeidan was ousted by parliament in a no-confidence vote on March 11 after struggling for 15 months to establish government control over militias in the eastern part of the country.

Residents of eastern Libya complain of a long history of discrimination by the government, and militias there are demanding greater autonomy.

Anti-Gaddafi rebel leader Ibrahim Jedran leads the eastern militias. His group has controlled key oil terminals in the east for months in defiance of the central government, a situation which has cut off Libya's biggest source of revenue.

In early March, Jedran attempted for the first time to export oil independently on a North Korean-flagged tanker at al-Sidra port. Though the oil tanker managed to make it to sea, U.S. Navy SEALS took control of the Morning Glory on March 16 in international waters near Cyprus.

Tripoli has held talks with Jedran, but his demand for a greater share of the oil revenues for the east is a sensitive topic for the government which believes sharing the revenues could lead to the region's secession.

Libya’s government said Sunday it had reached a deal with rebels controlling two oil ports, which account for around 200,000 barrels per day of crude exports. But a spokesman for Jedran’s militia holding the two remaining larger ports — Ras Lanuf and al-Sidra — said more talks are needed to reach a deal.

Reopening the two terminals would be a major breakthrough in the eight-month blockade of key ports by rebels that has cost the OPEC country billions of dollars in lost revenues.

Al Jazeera and wire services