Libyan tribal clashes

Libya's interim government said that a ceasefire was in place on Saturday after a week of clashes between black African and Arab tribes in the south of the country killed 147 people.

"We are pained for the south and we are sorry that the clashes reached this stage," said interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib. "The government is working to solve this problem. We have reached a ceasefire agreement."

Fighting in the desert oasis city of Sabha broke out on Monday when a member of the black African Tabu tribe allegedly shot dead a member of the Arab Abu Seif tribe. The Tabu fought against slain dictator Moammar Gadhafi during Libya's revolution while the Arab Abu Seif supported him.

Tribal tensions

Residents of Sabha, located 600 kilometers (373 miles) south of the capital Tripoli, reported that the two sides had exchanged fire with automatic weapons, rockets and mortars. Health Minister Fatma al-Hamroush reported that had 147 people had been killed and 395 injured in the six days of fighting.

The chief of staff of the new Libyan national army, Yussef al-Mangush, said that calm had largely returned to Sabha after the latest ceasefire agreement. Prior attempts to reach a ceasefire had failed.

"Now the situation is clam, and defense ministry forces are securing strategic zones and installations, notably the airport," Mangush said.

Six months after Gadhafi's overthrow and execution at the hands of Libyan rebels, the country's interim government - the National Transitional Council (NTC) - is struggling to maintain law and order amid a patchwork of local militias awash in weapons.

slk/pfd (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)