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Protests Flare over Living Conditions in Eastern Libya

Benghazi has been seeing protests as demonstrators pack streets demanding change. Residents of the eastern Libyan city, which is home to renegade general Khalifa Haftar and his self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA), are furious over alleged corruption, financial turmoil and repeated power outages. They have brandished weapons and set fire to government buildings. The power outages are blamed on the LNA’s blockade of most of the country’s oil supply as part of Haftar’s ongoing effort to unseat the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA). Politicians in the East last week entered negotiations with the GNA over a treaty that could put an end to years of fighting, although the LNA has so far refused to adhere to calls for a truce.