SABRATHA, Libya, June 19 (Reuters) – The ruins of a
grandiose Roman theatre behind them, two foreigners taking
pictures in the Libyan coastal city of Sabratha make a rare
sight these days.

The ancient Roman city used to attract more than 20,000
foreign visitors annually before the 2011 war that ousted
Muammar Gaddafi. Now the temples and mosaics overlooking the
turquoise waters of the Mediterranean are usually deserted.

TRIPOLI, June 12 (Reuters) – Libya is struggling to keep its
oil output stable – let alone increase it – as protests cut
crude exports in the sector that supplies 95 percent of state
revenue.

In the past year, disgruntled Libyans have protested at
oilfields and export ports, clouding initial optimism over a
speedy return to output levels of nearly 1.6 million barrels per
day (bpd) following the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Police, army patrols and checkpoints will beef up security at Libya’s first home international soccer match in over two years on Friday after FIFA lifted a ban despite violence still plaguing the North African state.

Libya will play the Democratic Republic of Congo in a World Cup qualifier in the capital Tripoli after world soccer’s governing body gave the green light in April for home games following the 2011 war that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

TRIPOLI, June 3 (Reuters) – Police, army patrols and checkpoints will beef up security at Libya’s first home international soccer match in over two years on Friday after FIFA lifted a ban despite violence still plaguing the North African state.

Libya will play the Democratic Republic of Congo in a World Cup qualifier in the capital Tripoli after world soccer’s governing body gave the green light in April for home games following the 2011 war that ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – The head of Libya’s national assembly said he was stepping down on Tuesday following the passing of a law banning anyone who held a senior post in Muammar Gaddafi’s regime from government, regardless of their part in toppling the dictator.

In a televised speech to congress, Mohammed Magarief announced his resignation after the passage of the “political isolation” law, which critics and diplomats fear could strip government of experienced leaders, further complicating the transition to an orderly democracy.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya’s central government has long had only a tenuous grip on the eastern city of Benghazi, but the bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli shows its control of the capital may now also be under threat.

The early morning car bomb devastated France’s embassy, wounding two French guards, in the most significant attack against foreign interests in Libya since September’s deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – France’s embassy in Libya was hit by what appeared to be a car bomb on Tuesday, injuring two guards in the first such attack in the capital Tripoli since the end of the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

Residents living near the embassy compound, in the capital’s Hay Andalus area, said they heard two blasts early in the morning around 0700 a.m. (0500 GMT).

GHADAMES, Libya, April 22 (Reuters) – Perched on a low wall
in the centre of the Libyan desert oasis town of Ghadames,
80-year old tourist guide Mohammed Ibrahim says he is waiting
for the foreign visitors he used to show around to come back.

For more than 30 years, Ibrahim used to work as a guide for
the thousands of tourists who came to Ghadames, walking them
around its enclosed old town that is a designated UNESCO World
Heritage site and known locally as the “pearl of the desert”.

TRIPOLI, April 18 (Reuters) – A probe into an April 2 blast
on pipelines to the Libyan oil port of Zueitina points to
sabotage, industry sources said.

If confirmed, it would compound existing security risks for
oil companies operating in Libya, a country awash with weapons
and where militias often do as they please.

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s former intelligence chief, jailed in Libya for eight months, has not seen a lawyer or been told what charges he faces, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday, underscoring concerns about weak rule of law under transitional rule.

Abdullah al-Senussi, once among the most feared members of the Gaddafi regime, is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). But Libyan authorities who evolved out of the rebel movement that overthrew Gaddafi in 2011 are resisting an order to hand him over, saying their courts are capable of trying him.