Libyan rebels’ oil export hopes hit concerted international opposition

A strongly worded resolution against attempts to illegally export oil from Libya passed by the United Nations Security Council on 19 March was a further major blow to the rebel federalist organisation led by former Petroleum Facilities Guard chief Ibrahim Al-Jathran. When the Morning Glory tanker set sail from As-Sidrah terminal on 12 March with 234,000 barrels of oil on board, Jathran appeared on course for an unlikely victory over a divided government in Tripoli. The subsequent General National Congress (GNC) vote to dismiss prime minister Ali Zeidan suggested that the federalist strategy of using a power vacuum in the capital to assert autonomy in the eastern province of Cyrenaica might be working.