TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Libya’s parliament ousted Western-backed prime minister Ali Zidan in a Tuesday vote, removing the first democratically chosen leader who had struggled for 15 months to stem the country’s spiraling descent into chaos, with divisive political power struggles and rampant militias out of the control of the weak central government.
The government has been paralyzed for months by the power struggle between Islamists in parliament trying to remove Zidan and anti-Islamist political factions — each side backed by rival militias. Zidan’s removal came as another fault line in the country was rumbling — between the central government and the restive eastern half of the country, where many are demanding greater autonomy, with each side again backed by their own militias.
