Airport guards stopped Libya's Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni from boarding a plane to Tunis because they were against his choice of interior minister, officials told Reuters.
The guards demanded the job go to someone from the southern-recognized government, instead of the current western-backed holder. Economy Minister Munir Ali Asr became caretaker interior minister after the interior minister was suspended in February, when he criticized an army general who has been protecting the internationally recognized government.
State authority in the oil producing country has been contested since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted four years ago, after which the country held several regional factions still in dispute.
Thinni's internationally recognized government has also been fighting extremists in Bayda after militants seized the capital in August. The Cabinet has been struggling to make a difference working from hotels in the city over 1,200 kilometers (745 miles) away from Tripoli, Reuters reported.
Thinni suspended former interior minister Omar al-Zanki after he publicly said Gen. Khalifa Hafter tried to stop the prime minister from visiting Benghazi. Haftar's aides said inspecting troops was his job, not the prime minister's.
