By Ebi Kesiena
Libyans angered by rising prices, chronic power cuts and political deadlock planned further demonstrations Monday after a night of angry protests across the capital.
Masked youths set alight car tyres and blocked roads including a major coastal highway between central Tripoli and its western suburbs, but security forces did not intervene.
Videos carried by local media also showed demonstrations in Beni Walid and the port city of Misrata.
A youth movement calling itself “Beltress” said further protests were planned in Tripoli’s Martyr’s Square at 4:00 PM local time (1400 GMT).
The movement demands elections and the dissolution of both the country’s rival governments and their two houses of parliament.
Public anger has been fuelled by power cuts that often last 18 hours amid soaring summer temperatures, despite Libya sitting on Africa’s largest oil reserves.
The vast country has been mired in political unrest and armed violence since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
On Friday night, protesters stormed the seat of the House of Representatives in the eastern city of Tobruk, ransacking its offices and torching part of the building.
In both Tripoli and the main eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of the 2011 uprising, thousands took to the streets to chants of “We want the lights to work”.
Some brandished the green flags of the former Kadhafi regime.
