14 August 2018•Update: 14 August 2018
By Walid Abdullah
TRIPOLI
Two people were injured, including a Libyan lawmaker, on Tuesday ahead of a session to vote on whether or not to hold a popular referendum on a new constitution, according to local media.
The private Al Ahrar TV channel said gunfire was heard outside a hall where the session was scheduled to be held, and a lawmaker was injured, without giving further details.
The local al-Wasat news portal said the gunfire took place during an armed clash between members of the Libyan Presidential Guard and MPs opposing a bill for holding the constitutional referendum.
The portal, citing a security source, said a lawmaker was slightly injured in the clash. An officer was also injured in the violence.
A UN-proposed roadmap for Libya, unveiled earlier this year, calls for presidential and parliamentary elections and a popular referendum on a new national charter.
Libya has been dogged by turmoil since 2011, when a bloody NATO-backed uprising led to the death of strongman Muammar Gaddafi after more than four decades in power.
Since then, Libya’s stark political divisions have yielded two rival seats of power -- one in Tobruk and another in Tripoli -- and a host of heavily-armed militia groups.
