[An Nahar] Protesters fired shots at Libya's parliament building in Tripoli...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Tuesday, hitting it several times and prompting the session to be suspended but causing no casualties, a politician told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Demonstrators have attacked or broken into the General National Congress (GNC) building several times in the past, either trying to force the adoption of laws or to air other grievances.
"We heard the shots before the bullets hit the front of the building," the congresswoman said on condition of anonymity.
Demonstrators calling for a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Ali Zeidan
... served as a diplomat for Libya during the 1970s, serving in India under Ambassador Mohammed Magariaf. Both men defected in 1980 and went on to form the National Front for the Salvation of Libya. Zeidan spent nearly three decades in exile in Geneva after the defection. During the revolution Zeidan served as the National Transitional Council's Europe envoy, and is credited as having played a key role in persuading French President Nicolas Sarkozy to support the anti-Qadaffy forces...
's government fired the shots, she added.
Security personnel helped politicians to evacuate the building.
The GNC, the country's highest political authority, had been discussing the future of Zeidan's cabinet after a no-confidence motion was tabled by 72 politicians.
Zeidan has been repeatedly criticized for his government's failure to tackle the instability that has plagued Libya since the ouster of strongman Muammar Gadafi in October 2011.