Thick smoke billowed from near the house as rival militias, using heavy machineguns, clashed in the mostly business district not far from luxurious hotels like Corinthia Bab al-Africa and the yet-to-open J W Mariott.
The cause was unclear, but some witnesses said the militias were fighting for control of the house.
Saadi fled Libya across its southern frontier to Niger in August during the fall of Tripoli that ended his authoritarian father’s 42-year regime.(AFP)
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Rival militias fought a gunbattle on Wednesday in the centre of the Libyan capital, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.
The reporter said exchanges of both heavy and light weapons could be heard coming from the area of El-Saadi beach, next to the heart of Tripoli. He said the road along the beach was blocked, and smoke was rising from the location of the fighting.
An Interior Ministry official said the fighting was between militiamen from the city of Misrata, and units from Zintan. Both groups fought to oust former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and maintain a heavy presence in the capital.