UN Calls Storming of Libya's Tobruk Parliament 'Totally Unacceptable'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The UN chief’s special adviser on Libya criticized the storming of the Libyan parliament in Tobruk as unacceptable and called for calm after a wave of protests over continuing power struggle and worsening economic conditions swept across the country.

"The people's right to peacefully protest should be respected and protected but riots and acts of vandalism such as the storming of the House of Representatives headquarters late yesterday in Tobruk are totally unacceptable," Stephanie Williams said on social media on Saturday.

She added that calm should be maintained and that the Government of National Unity demonstrate responsible leadership. Its head, Interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, earlier praised the protesters and called for a snap general election.

Libya has been in turmoil since a NATO invasion helped topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. His death led to a decade-long rivalry between the UN-backed administration in Tripoli and the parliament in Tobruk. UN-brokered reconciliation process put a caretaker unity government in charge in 2021 but it failed to hold elections in December and the chaos continued.