Gunmen Storm Libyan Parliament, Stop Vote on New PM

Gunmen stormed Libya's parliament, firing shots, and causing lawmakers to suspend a vote for the country's new prime minister.

Libyan officials say the armed men broke into the building housing Libya's General National Congress in Tripoli Tuesday and fired shots in the air.

Reuters news agency reports several people were injured in the shooting. It quotes a parliamentary spokesman (Omar Hmeidan) as saying the gunmen were linked to one of the defeated candidates for prime minister.

The vote was to replace Abdullah al-Thani who resigned earlier this month.

The interrupted second round of voting was between two candidates: businessman Ahmed Matiq and Omar al-Hassi, a political science professor.

The Libyan government has been struggling with security since the 2011 overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi. Militia groups that helped oust the longtime leader continue to operate over wide areas of Libya, including in eastern Libya, where they have seized control of major ports.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.