Eastern tribal leader wounded in assassination attempt

A car exploded in Benghazi on Friday, wounding a prominent tribal leader who recently helped eastern forces take control of major oil ports, security and medical officials said, Reuters reported.

Saleh al-Ateiwish, head of the Magharba tribe, was wounded as he left a mosque in Benghazi’s Sidi Frej neighborhood, the security official said.

A hospital official said Ateiwish’s condition was stable, adding that three other people had been hurt in the blast.

In September, Ateiwish had appealed to a faction of Libya’s Petrol Facilities Guard (PFG) to relinquish control of blockaded oil ports to Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army (LNA).

Tribal backing was seen as crucial for the rapid and largely bloodless takeover of the ports. Haftar’s forces then handed control of the terminals to the National Oil Corporation (NOC), allowing it to reopen them and double oil production to nearly 600,000 barrels per day (bpd).