LIBYAN Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah survived an assassination attempt in the capital Tripoli today after armed assailants fired a hail of bullets into his car.

Mr Dbeibah was returning home in the early hours when his car was targeted. He escaped unharmed and the attackers fled.

The assassination attempt took place ahead of a parliamentary session that considered installing a replacement prime minister amid an intense factional struggle for control of parliament.

Mr Dbeibah was installed as the head of the UN-backed Government of National Unity in March 2021 and was tasked with leading the country to elections that December.

But he declared himself a candidate in November, despite a previous agreement not to stand, in a move opponents said was unfair. The poll was cancelled as authorities said they could not carry it out in time. 

Parliament was scheduled to choose between two new candidates for prime minister, former interior minister Fathi Bashaga and Kaled al-Bibass, after the Morning Star went to print.

Libya has been mired in sectarian violence since the Nato-backed bombing of 2011 which ended with the ousting and eventual murder of former leader Muammar Gadaffi.