Libyan PM suspends interior mister for criticizing army general

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's official prime minister has suspended his interior minister for criticising an autonomous army general whose forces have been instrumental in protecting the internationally-recognized government, officials said on Wednesday. The decision exposed divisions inside the government and elected parliament which exercise power only in a remote eastern swathe of Libya since being forced to relocate there by an armed factional takeover of the capital Tripoli in mid-2014. The oil-producing North African state is dominated by armed factions which helped topple Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now chaotically compete for power in a conflict involving tribes, former Gaddafi troops, Islamist militants and federalist forces. Last year, to add firepower to regular army forces, Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni and parliament formed an alliance with General Khalifa Haftar, who commands his own armed faction including an air force. The regular army, largely destroyed during the anti-Gaddafi revolt, has been too weak on its own to fight Islamist militants and secure parliament's venue in Tobruk and Thinni's seat in Bayda, two eastern cities. While the alliance has managed to win back some territory from Islamists in the main eastern city of Benghazi, Haftar has drawn criticism for calling in air strikes on civilian airports and seaports in an attempt to regain Tripoli. A self-styled rival government now rules in the capital. Thinni's interior minister, Omar al-Zanki, accused Haftar's troops two weeks ago of having tried to block the premier from visiting Benghazi, an incident confirmed to Reuters by several army sources. Thinni's spokesman Mohamed Bazaza said Zanki had been suspended and a replacement appointed. He did not elaborate but another official said he was being investigated for his accusations against Haftar. Zanki dismissed his suspension as illegal. "I am still in my position and running the ministry," he wrote on his Facebook page. U.N. negotiators resumed talks with delegates from the warring camps on Wednesday, another attempt to defuse a conflict that threatens to escalate into full-blown civil war. (Reporting by Ayman al-Warfalli and Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Mark Heinrich)