Clashes rock Tripoli as Bashagha forced from capital – Reuters.com

Clashes rock Tripoli as Bashagha forced from capital – Reuters.com

TRIPOLI, May 17 (Reuters) - Clashes erupted in Libya's capital on Tuesday as the parliament-appointed prime minister, Fathi Bashagha, tried to take over government there but was forced back by a rival administration that refuses to cede power.

Bashagha entered Tripoli overnight after two months of stalemate between Libya's rival administrations, but withdrew hours later as fighting rocked the capital, his office said.

The crisis risks plunging Libya back into prolonged fighting after two years of comparative peace, or returning it to partition between the eastern-backed government of Bashagha and a Tripoli administration under Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah.